The solstice has come and gone. Joonsu is four weeks old, almost exactly one full lunar cycle. So much has happened that I do not have the time or energy to document. Here are some things that pop to mind.
I like the idea of one protected day per week with the family. Protected in the sense that friends will not intrude on this quiet time. Several close friends wanted to stop by on Friday, during the Winter Solstice. Mackenzi and I wanted this to be a close-knit experience of the shortest day and longest night of the year, Joonsu’s first. So we asked them to either delay or cancel plans, so that we could honor this quiet time together.
This protected time will become more and more important as we return to the hospital and pick up clinical responsibilities. We need to ensure that the time we have together is quality. If we don’t build these practices now, how will we do so when we have even less energetic reserve?
Joonsu is already waking up into the world. He is starting to track objects with his vision. He utilizes his hands to grasp for objects, but not quite accurate enough to do so with any efficacy. He is moving with a proto-crawl, and I predict that he will be quite a troublemaker once he gets his own locomotion going.
The forced abstinence of childbirth has changed Mackenzi and I’s concept and idea of intimacy. We are learning how to be close as a couple when we have two needy babies, one furry and one human, always within arm’s reach. Again, if we don’t rebuild this practice of intimacy together, then when will we do so? When he’s out of the house on his own? No, we need to ensure our cohesion as partners so that we are strong together for our family.
During this family time, when we dote and watch our son enter into the world, I feel a deep desire to show and expose him to the wider world. I want him to feel the cool gusts of wind as they blow through the trees. To feel the cold spring water coming out of the ground near our home. To hear the birdsong. To feel the sun. I know this will be a slow process, to gradually expose him to stimuli so that he can grow into a connected human.
However, as I mention above, I need to do this now so that the practice is built as he grows. I need to ensure my own connection with nature and the elements, so that I am not asking him to do something I am not. And so after posting this, I will enjoy a little romp through the local forest with my pooch.
Long Form Sundays
- On self-care in the time of a newborn (or baby chronicles: Part Six)
- On newborn reflections (or baby chronicles: Part Five)
- On a birth day (or baby chronicles: Part Four)
Eugene H Kim 
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