In honor of Abigail’s upcoming birthday, I thought I’d do a few posts singing her praises. Before Abigail was born, Dr. G predicted that I would want to return to work full time fairly soon after her arrival. I like interesting conversation on complex subjects; having challenging goals and projects; feeling that I am contributing to the community at large; and receiving compensation and recognition for my work. I also hate busywork. Caring for a baby brings none of those benefits but plenty of busywork, so he wasn’t wildly off the mark in his prediction. The reality, though, is that my time with Abigail brings me deep satisfaction, mainly because I like her so darn much.

I particularly love her affectionate nature. If I am carrying her and we walk by a mirror, she immediately hugs my neck, presses her cheek against mine, and beams at our image. She will hold the pose for as long as she has a glimpse of us together. If her dad and I are in a room together with her, she will engineer a group hug by leaning toward whichever one of us is not holding her. Once we are all close enough, she will wrap one arm around each of us and lean her head first on me, then on daddy. She tilts her head back so she can smile up at our faces, and is especially happy if we kiss. She’s been doing these group hugs since she was about five months old.

Abigail likes to play while leaning against me, every so often burrowing her head into my lap. Her favorite thing about learning to walk is probably the huge bear hug she gets when she reaches me. She also loves to clutch her stuffed animals to her chest, bury her face in them, and rock them back and forth. I have even seen her cuddle a particularly satisfying just-finished bottle that way. She smiles sweetly at me at night when she is falling asleep in my arms, and she flails wildly with excitement when she spots me or her dad from across a crowded room, struggling until she gets a hug opportunity. My life was just fine before I got fifteen or twenty Abigail hugs a day, and it will be fine again when she decides that maybe that is a few too many, but for now I’ll wallow in hugtopia.

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