What is it about new babies?

Is it that they smell so wonderful that they’ve made a product (baby powder) that is supposed to smell like a newborn (it doesn’t come close).

Is it their teeny tininess? How exactly is it that something so small can be a miniature version of the rest of us- the almost huge lurching beings that surround them?

What exactly is that power that slows you down to “the moment” when all five fingers wrap around your finger?

Is it the way nothing sounds like a newborn baby’s cry? Part surprise, part anger, perhaps part discomfort but all too clear that attention is required NOW. And why do we feel compassion, joy, and somewhat amused when we hear these little beings expressing themselves so clearly and honestly?

Is it the way you can’t help but be awed by the fact that their butts fit so well into your hand? Or the incredible amount of heat they give off when you hold them close?

The way they only briefly open their eyes taking in the world and then figuring they’ve seen enough for now, they close them again.

It’s their easiness when they’re content and quiet. And it’s the realization that this little person will grow to one day be an adult marveling at how small and vulnerable we all are when we are born; they are reminders that life will form us into who we currently are and that perhaps we still have some choice in how we let it determine how we will live, love and become.

Always say “yes”.