Hospital Hat

It has been while since I did a baby knit - this adorable little hat is for a cousin that will become a father in just a few weeks time.  The baby shower is this coming weekend.

I received this yarn from a friend and I am happy to take this lovely, beautiful, organic cotton yarn (Blue Sky Alpaca) and transform it into a little hat for a new little baby.  What a magical time - the birth of a new baby - full of the unknown, hope and fear all rolled up into a little person.

My youngest is on the verge of being 3yo and we are out of the baby years for good.  No more little ones for me and my husband.  Our oldest are 8yo (twins) and we are so enjoying growing up as a family.  It does feel that the older kids are moving us all along: from Sesame Street to Harry Potter, from Mommy-and-me swim lessons to overnight summer camp.

I am sounding more nostalgic about all of this then I actually feel on a daily basis - mostly I am happy to have conversations around the dinner table (even though they are still punctuated by impromptu shouts of "shake my booty" and a tossed carrot or two by the 3yo) and moments of growth and sharing with my growing kids. 

It is starting to feel that the haze is wearing off, the hours of really intense, not-so-fun work from the early years are transforming into different kinds of child-rearing work.  But work where you can see the result more clearly and directly.  The kind of thing when your 6yo comes home and says with genuine pride, "Mom, I remembered what you said about not wearing my wet boots all day, so I put them in my locker and wore dry socks and my tennis shoes instead!"  Or the kind when you watch your child accomplish a new skill on the piano.

But this hat is not about me - or my kids, or my immediate family - it is about a new baby and new parents.  New life.