Each of my children have a special lullaby that I sing to them. I didn’t really plan what their songs would be, they just came about naturally. Jonas’ song that I sing him is “Baby, Now That I’ve Found You”. It isn’t really a lullaby, or even a song for an infant, but the lyrics fit so well, “Baby, now that I’ve found you, I’ll build my world around you, I need you so. . .Baby, baby, when first we met, I knew in this heart of mine, you were someone I couldn’t forget.”
There is nothing like your first child, when you are so newly thrust into motherhood, to change you, to make you completely revamp your life and re-prioritize. With Jonas, my life went in an instant from being all about me to being all about him. And I mean that in the best sense. Motherhood didn’t cause a loss of self- just a discovery of a new, better self, like suddenly reaching Nirvana. Everything that mattered became clear. I build my world around my family because I really don’t think it gets any better than this.

Maggie’s song is “Baby, Let Me Take You Dreaming,” from the old musical The Court Jester. (If you haven’t seen this movie, well, that’s a shame. It is completely hilarious and wonderful in every way. Go watch it. Seriously, stop reading this entry and go watch it right now. Come back later.) This song is an actual lullaby, sung to the infant king. It is very beautiful and soothing, (In the movie Danny Kaye sings it.) Some of the lyrics go as follows, “and someday, when you go dreaming, when you’re very old, when your crown is rich with rubies, diamonds laid in gold, none will shine as bright, as the stars we find, tonight.”
The song focuses so much on how this particular moment, through the rain watching the stars, is so perfect and wonderful. That is how I feel with Maggie. I am not in a hurry for her to grow up. With Jonas I was so achievement oriented, when will he sit up, when will he run, etc. With Maggie, I just cherish every moment. I know this is where I want to be. This is the sweetest part of life. I don’t want her to rush to get big. I want her as she is now; I know it will slip away much too quickly.