The Last Baby Days

During each of my pregnancies since Ella, I’ve keenly felt the approaching end of my baby’s reign as the littlest one.

From the minute I’ve found out I was pregnant every time, I’ve felt like the countdown was on until my current baby was no longer my littlest, snuggliest love.

In some ways, this time around has been the most heart-wrenching for me, because Star has been our babiest of babies.

Maybe it’s because she’s the third, but she really feels like the whole family’s baby.

We all just love her so so much, and none of us can get enough of her little baby cheeks, her funny run, and her tiny little voice. The girls are constantly trying to snuggle her, and even though she’s by far our biggest baby, it’s hard to wrap my mind around her becoming a big sister.

Of course, since this is my fourth pregnancy, I know by now that I’ll love this new baby just as much as any of the other girls, but there is something bittersweet about knowing that your older children will never be the baby of the family again.

It always gives me a little push to spend some extra quality time with my littlest girl in the months leading up to a new baby, and Star and I have been reading more books together, snuggling in the rocking chair to sing songs, and I’m sneaking in a little extra time together when I give her a bath or get her ready for the day.

She’s always a good-natured baby, but she especially loves the extra attention and will happily let me sing to her as long as I’m willing, and giggles and laughs her way through bath time, anxious to show off how she can wash her own baby belly with Aquaphor Baby Wash and Shampoo, and then gleefully snuggles in a towel after bath time while I rub Aquaphor Baby Healing Ointment on her hands and feet to keep them soft and smooth.

There’s a cartoon I see floating around sometimes from my Arizona friends that shows two skeletons lying on beach chairs and one says to the other, “But it’s a dry heat.”

This Arizona weather means it’s super easy for my girls to all get dry skin, and I love that Aquaphor’s Baby Wash and Shampoo is made with chamomile and provitamin B5 in a gentle, soap-free formula so it will cleanse without drying out their skin.

I’ve been using Aquaphor Baby Healing Ointment since Ella was a year old and my mom recommended it because I couldn’t get rid of the drool rash around her mouth. Within a couple of days, it was completely gone; it does an amazing job soothing and protecting dry or irritated skin, and we’ve never been without it since then.

Although I was well-acquainted with their other products, I was new to their Diaper Rash Cream 3 in 1, and it quickly earned a spot in our diaper basket line-up because it’s so effective at preventing, soothing and treating diaper rash, making it easier for me to tackle all these needs in just one step.

I can hardly believe that in another 14ish weeks, I’ll be bathing a new little baby and pulling out teeny tiny newborn diapers. Until then, I’ll be soaking in every second with my current baby, and ignoring the fact that she’s almost too big and old to be considered a baby anymore.

(This denial of her growing up is made easier by the fact that she’s emphatic about the fact that she is the baby – if you ask her where the baby is, she points to herself and says, “RIGHT here!”).