The only constant: Change!

I love quotes. I was thinking about writing about how much Nathan is changing, and I started trying to remember a quote I heard somewhere about change being the only constant in life. I couldn't find that quote, but I found lots of others about change.

If you're in a bad situation, don't worry it'll change. If you're in a good situation, don't worry it'll change. ~John A. Simone, Sr.

Ben and I were talking the other day about how quickly Nathan is changing. He is making new noises and doing new things almost every day. At the beginning of the month, when I started as his nanny, we were not sure that his arm and hand movements were deliberate. He liked to suck his thumb, but only seemed to be able to manage it when he was on his tummy. Now he reaches for things, and brings most of them directly to his mouth. He sucks on his thumbs frequently, especially the left one, no matter what position he is in. At first, when he was lying on his play mat, his arms and hands, waving around randomly, would often hit the giraffe that is hanging above him. Now he reaches for it and pulls it towards him, so he can suck on its feet. For the past few days, when I was giving him his bottle, he grasped the bottle with both hands, and then pulled it out of his mouth, grinned at me, and stuck it back in. He has done if often enough now that I am convinced it is deliberate. In fact, today when he did it, he laughed out loud, as if he was delighted with his own dexterity!

I put a dollar in one of those change machines. Nothing changed. ~George Carlin

Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine. ~Robert C. Gallagher
Those two quotes made me laugh. Of course I have to change Nathan's diaper frequently, which isn't always funny. Yesterday, however, he had a messy diaper. I pulled off the dirty diaper, lifted him up by his ankles so I could stick the clean diaper under him, then started to wipe his butt with a baby wipe. As I was doing it, he finished the job that he had only started in the first diaper, getting my hand, the clean diaper, and his tee shirt all poopy! So changing Nathan made me laugh that time, after I got finished being disgusted of course.

They must often change, who would be constant in happiness or wisdom. ~Confucius

Of course the arrival of a child changes many things for the parents. I hadn't anticipated the things that would change for me, the grandmother.

First of all, Nathan's birth brought up thousands of memories from my pregnancy with Ben. I had lost two babies before Ben was born. The first one I had carried for 26 weeks, and that was four years before Ben came along. So my pregnancy with Ben was a time of hope with a constant background theme of fear. Six weeks before he was due, I ended up in the hospital and thought I might lose him. That was one of the worst days of my life. It turned out that he had dropped and his head had engaged, breaking the amniotic sack abruptly. It sealed itself and I carried him to term with complete bedrest for those final six weeks. It was a scary and emotional time for me. His birth brought more joy than I ever could have imagined.

He was a handsome baby, calm, sweet, clever, curious and able to amuse himself for long periods of time. I had three more miscarriages before Becca was finally born when Ben was almost four years old. When Becca and Seth were little, he was helpful and gentle and loving. I relied on him, and he was dependable. Once he went to school, he suddenly became very independent. It was as if the day kindergarten started, he didn't need me any more. He didn't want to hold my hand in public all of a sudden. I knew it was a part of his growing up, but I didn't like it. From then on he was an independent little person, cooperative and obedient, but aloof somehow, and self-contained.

Nathan's arrival changed my relationship with Ben, and I didn't anticipate that at all. I have always loved him fiercely, and now that Nathan is here, I feel like maybe Ben understands my love in a way he never did before.

When you are through changing, you are through. ~Bruce Barton

Some situations seem never to change. But more often, I think, things are changing frequently around us, and we complain because change requires us to adjust. Certain changes can be very upsetting, especially if it is in a situation where we are comfortable and we do not welcome the change.

There is a certain relief in change, even though it be from bad to worse! As I have often found in travelling in a stagecoach, that it is often a comfort to shift one's position, and be bruised in a new place. ~Washington Irving

Hmmm. I'm not sure if I agree with that concept.

There were lots more quotes, but I guess that is all for now. Nathan's nap times and nap lengths are changing, so I can never be sure how much time I will have to work on this.