With so many people expecting family arriving for the holidays I thought a letter from the Newborn to the grandparents would be fun. It is a reminder to all of us, that there is a difference between a " newborn" and the adorable baby imagined from so many photos.
Dear Grandparents,
Welcome to Beijing! It is so good to have you with us. We all appreciate the long journey you have made to come to welcome me your Grandchild.
I thought that if I wrote to you to tell you in advance what to expect from first meeting me you would enjoy your visit with me a lot more.
First of all, a little about me, I believe that I have now been around for eight days. I had a pretty exciting arrival, I kept everyone in the dark as to exactly when I would show up. To be honest I wasn’t 100 percent sure when I would make it.
However, here I am very pleased to see you. I should be in some sort of routine (so my parents often say) but actually I am not too familiar with that word yet. It doesn’t sit well on my ears. You may find your own meal times and nap times disrupted by my unique form of communicating. A piece of advice, I am not meant to communicate too much with my lungs. I love this new word, it’s called anticipating my needs. The idea being that I can give out cues for when I am hungry and tired. The experts tell me that this should reduce the need to use my special communication voice. Of course I can gurgle and coo without distress.
So, do I live up to your expectations? Do I look like my Mum or my Dad? Maybe you can see Uncle Fred or Aunt Nancy in my eager face? Actually, I will let you into a secret, I look just like ME, I am unique. There is only one blueprint.
Do I smile? Maybe, I fool my parents into a smile as often as possible. It really is cute to watch them gazing adoringly at me. I like it best when they make those funny shapes with their mouths and say "oh" very frequently. I can actually smile in many languages, just try me out.
What else do I do to occupy myself? Well, I eat a lot, and I like my food fast. I like it free-flowing no charge and delivered very shortly after my order has been taken. Don’t worry about how often I feed it’s normal for someone my age. I need my food to grow. It’s hard work eating and growing so in theory I am programmed to sleep quite a bit. The problem is I am still figuring this part out. Don’t be in the least bit surprised if I don’t yet sleep when you expect me to.
On your next visit, I will have worked on my sleep schedule. You may hear me during the night, but please don’t be alarmed. I have to communicate quite loudly to rouse my adorable parents. They need their sleep too, so I communicate pretty loudly at times to tune in with them. Unfortunately, this form of communicating has a bad press, it is often written as "crying."
So, can you delve into your memory an think of all those tricks you used on my Mum or Dad many years ago? Of course you can, I would welcome some new tricks, I love being held close, I will enjoy getting to know your voices and to acclimatize to your wonderful grandparent essence. I don’t like whiskers too much though, so Grandad do keep up the shaving even though you are on vacation.
If I seem a little different then you expected, remember, I am a NEWBORN. I need a different set of your parenting skills than my cousin aged 3 months whom you just waved goodbye to in Ohio.
I am so pleased that you came to visit me in Beijing. Do take lots of photos for my albums of our time together.
I will give you my permission to take a few days off during your visit for some sight seeing. My parents do take me out but there are times when I might prefer you to enjoy yourselves without me. You will have so much to tell me after you have been to The Great Wall.
I hope that I don’t disappoint you with my lack of response to your visit. I will become an experienced baby soon, I will smile much more often, I will stare at you adoringly and I will welcome your experienced arms for a cuddle when my folks are bushed.
I am one lucky baby to have you as my grandparents.
With love,
Your newborn grandchild
