Scents with no sense

When you are pregant, there is a neverending list of things that people tell you in order to try and "prepare" you for once you have the baby. First let's just address the fact that all of these helpful hints dissolve out of your already overloaded pregnant brain as soon as you hear them AND that, honestly, you have to learn it all yourself anyways. You can't just trust that it is a possibility that the baby might become much like a lawn sprinkler for the nursery when you take his diaper off - you have to LEARN it.

Anyhow, this list usually encompasses absolutely everything that has ever happened to anyone else and their child, how to fix it, and how to ensure it doesn't happen again. Most often you gather a few conflicting stories: "Always put rice cereal in the bottle first" versus "Never put rice cereal in the bottle" and so on...

But never, ever, does anyone mention the new realm of odors that your new little addition will allow you to explore. Sure they mention the bad-smelling, gag-inducing poop odor, but no one ever touches upon all the other various odors that will be made my your adorable bundle. These odors include, but are not limited to:

1. Poop - As we have discussed, Abigail's smells like buttered popcorn - mixed w/ poop.

2. Neck cheese - We won't go further with this one for our sensitive readers.

3. Warm formula burps - Generally combined with a splatter of half-way digested formula.

4. Fresh out of the bath - Ah. A favorite. When baby and baby's hair smell like yummy lavendar/aloe soap.

5. New baby smell (much like new car smell in its popularity and its inevitable fading away) - combination of diapers and wipes smells which are constantly touching the baby.

6. Spit-up - self explanatory.

But the top and the most recognizable of them all:

7. The smell of your baby - as a person.

This may sound dumb, but I never thought of the fact that Abigail would have her own scent. One that is uniquely for her. As her mother, I feel like I can tell this scent from anything. Go ahead. Test me. Blindfold me and hold another baby to my face. I am positive that I would not confuse that smell with any other.

It smells sweet and warm. I like it best at night when she has fallen asleep on my lap, her head next to mine. Sometimes during commercial breaks I catch myself turning towards her, nose to her head, just to breathe in that smell. There is no better way to relieve stress than to see her little chest moving up and down, watch her hand holding onto my finger, and smelling her hair knowing that this won't last forever. There will come a day when Abigail's hand will no longer fit in mine, when she can hold more than one finger of mine at a time, when she will not need a nap before bed, and when she won't want to nap on me. Thankfully, those days are far away, but in the meantime, I just keep breathing her in. Though I can't recreate the smell, I do feel like I can remember it when I am not with her. Or at least the way it makes me feel.

And so now, while she still lets me, and before it becomes a "strange" thing to do, I relish every moment I can smell my baby. Most often right before bed so that when I lay down to sleep, her scent still lingers around. It is just enough to last until morning when I can pick her up, kiss her cheek and eyelids, and jog my scent memory with her perfect smell.