She cries. She poops. She pees. She cries some more. She pukes. She drools. She pees again. She screams. She refuses to sleep. She wails. She eats. She burps. She still eats. She has to burp but doesn’t. She poops again, with determination. I change her diaper and before I can get a clean one on her, she pees all over the table. She scratches. She latches. She squeals. She pulls my hair. She rips my necklace. She naps….for a few seconds. She wakes. She eats again. She spits. She sh%#s. She drives me to the edge of insanity and shrieks until I jump off.
But it’s all worth it. Because I know one day, not too far from now, she’ll be able to say the words I am longing to hear. I can see it now. Her cherubic face is going to look up at me and just as the tears of pride begin to well in my eyes from the long-awaited anticipation of her declaration of love for me, she is going to smile brightly, stretch her arms out wide and say…
”I want Daddy!”