Waking Up

I could hear his rhythmic breathing, his mouth slightly ajar because of his blocked nose. His arms are up over his head as usual, his left leg resting comfortably over his baby bolster. I scoot over to his side quietly, until my face is barely five inches away from his smooth forehead. The way his long lashes rest on his round cheeks never fails to make me smile.

He smacks his tiny lips and turns away from me – I move away to give him some space. He is barely 90cm tall but he commands a lot of bed space, this one.

I lie down on my back, staring at the sunlight that flickers at the movement of the fan on top of us. It has been a challenging night; the sound of JC’s constant struggle to breathe through his blocked nose woke me up, and the only way he could fall back to sleep was by nursing, which made for a tiring and frustrating ordeal.

‘Uunnnn…’ JC has turned over completely and bowing down with his back arched up like a cat. With his back towards me, I could hear the beginning of a whimper. I announce my presence by tickling the soles of his feet. He turns around immediately, and his sleepy eyes crinkle up into two half moons.

‘Mah-mee’, he calls out purposefully as he rolls over to my side. Instinctively, I kiss him on the forehead, breathing in his baby scent. It sounds cliché, but waking up like this more than makes up for the troublesome sleep (of lack thereof) we had the previous night.