Up the mountain.

Rainbow is wiggled into her front carrier forward for the first time for a walk to Papa Murphy's pizza to acquire a pepperoni pizza, half olive, half mushroom. Two years have passed since the baby bjorn and I were constant companions, i found myself a shy bride when trying to figure it out. I buttoned Rainbow's arms so they protruded out raised just a bit, reminding me somehow of John McCain. She seemed to like it ok so off we went. Turning the corner onto 79th I see a mirror image of a baby travelling via bjorn toward us! As our distance lessened we exchanged understated, knowing smiles and the parents asked how old she was. Her eyes were open only a sliver like little crescent moons. When we stopped motion she expressed her uneasiness. The couple I approached like an oracle wore loose, natural weaved, organic cloth. he had long dreadlocks and wore the papoose. She had a gentle hum about her and said "She wet herself...or is uncomfortable." Then shared that they were on their way to return a Dunstan baby language book back to the library if I was interested. Decoding what each cry means to empower parents. The analyzed cry Rainbow had omitted was what I think of as a "recovery cry", after she gets all fired up she submits with a gentler sigh of a cry. Like a prophetess the kind woman shared her knowledge. But alas, to me it does seem a fairly safe bet that a baby cries a great percentage of the time for one of those two reasons...so is it really the cry that reveals the truth? I snobbishly chuckle internally thinking I've cornered the market on knowing my childrens needs. I assume these are two first time parents and I assume they assume I am as well. Alas I think of baby Sunny Carolina and her endless crying. Quite frankly I think these prophets might truly have had something I could have used if I had croseed this street 6 years ago in a linear co-existant world for this daughter I think in the same linear co-existant world was surely a red-head. Moses' early tears greatly caused by his weakened lungs....was "uncomfortable." Adrianna "wet herself" with her sweet coos? I pummel through my motherhood experiences and each of my children's needs and think of the baby we lost. What might he have cried for. I cried because I was "uncomfortable." Rainbow has already had two little colds. Before it was clearly apparent my honed skills surfaced and I recognized her cry being one of definite pain. Chalk one up for learnign something as a mother. Simple, predictable dialogue ensues when stranger parents connect. "How old is your child?" "What is her name?" "Oh, how fast they grow." Kind and sweet intentions but nothing more. The prophets offering was more. I might grow if I listened to others stories rather than presuming my experiences are conclusive. Next time I see a parent maybe I'll ask something new.