Felicity and the Age of Discovery

Almost six months has Felicity been a part of our everyday household. (Sure the nine months prior, she was present, but her needs manifested themselves in mommy eating extra ice cream). Somewhere around month four she became really curious about everything. Now when I hold her unless she is very sleepy, her arms and legs wiggle and she thrusts her little head out looking around at everything drinking in the books, the Christmas tree, the piano, the light, and the color contrasts. Then if she is let down, she grabs objects with her little hands and soon after grabbing them, they make there way to her mouth for a more thorough investigation.

Today it is raining. When I opened the shade Felicity couldn’t take her eyes off of the dripping world. Watching her watch the world I can't help but wonder what thoughts cross her brain? Does she know the difference between rain and sunshine? Does she recognize the window as the same window she looked out before?

The world of our little house is large to her and I think she finds it as wondrous as I find England or Italy or any other place I visited and explored. Her England is the kitchen and her view of the Thames is the raindrops outside our home. Her museum is the books on the shelf and her exotic foods are the taste of water or berry or ice from her teething ring.

We all must start in the world as explorers and the first age of life is an age of discovery. Yet, her exploration reminds me that we should never stop exploring. Eliot says it well, “We shall not cease from exploration, but the end of our exploring will be to arrive at the place we started and to know it for the first time." All ages of our lives need to be ages of discovery. Eventually exploring leads a person home to wonder at the raindrops falling outside the window.

Comments

Two Little Girls and a Bench

It was one of those moments before dinner in which I could have easily moved into the busy rush of dinner, clean-up, and bed-time, when I was stopped in my tracks. Isabelle, with her round face, and bright eyes, and fifteen month strength, clamored onto a bench and made it apparent to me that she wanted to jump from its one foot height with the help of my hand. I obliged and a game began, a game that was immediately joined by Emmaline, her three-year old sister, who does everything with full abandon. Soon, I found myself holding two little hands as two little girls jumped off a bench in unison. What joy this moment held for them. Again. Repeat. They would have jumped as long as I allowed. Each little face starlit with the joy of leaving the earth for one brief moment in the company of one’s sister and one’s mommy. Tonight I read in Chesterton’s Orthodoxy that, “Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want t...

When you’re not the Main Character

*love- supporting the protagonist. Frequenting coffee shops is an established habit. Lately, it’s included a little pal—my Felicity baby. Sometimes she insists that bouncing must happen or else crying will happen. I bounce her and people watch. Four teenagers sit against a window. The boy has his arm possessively draped around the shoulders of the leggy girl in the shorts. A woman by herself attempts to use her phone. She goes up to various tables and makes observations about their lives. She smiles a lot. A girl with a pretty face and textured hair sits focused on her studying. A college couple sits in the high metal chairs. She speaks about ethnic diversity and the blond haired boy listens with eyes alert. They lean in just far enough to show they are not a couple yet. A million wishes, wants, prayers and thoughts must radiate from the coffee shop. Main characters plodding along their own plot lines. And I bounce my baby, and I also march along my sub-conscious starring r...

They Say One Gets Tired as a Mom

My mom tells me that little Leilani cried her first six months of life and then began to crawl and the crying ceased. She said I just wanted to go places and my baby body inhibited me. Since learning what hands and knees were good for, going places and doing things has been standard operating procedure for me. Energy in abundance and curiosity has enlivened me. And it’s been fun—The read books when one wants, stay up late, travel the world, spend money without thinking, talk to friends whenever, carefree, self-centered, child to adult type of fun. Now the fun is different, because I am a wife and mother. Getting married and having Felicity are the two best things that ever happened in my life, but with those wonderful happenings, I discovered burden bearing in a way never previously experienced. Marriage is said to be sanctifying. The same can be said for motherhood, because in these two experiences an overwhelming desire for the good of one’s husband and daughter becomes ...

MuellerMommyAdventures

Search This Blog