Human babies have one way to communicate, and that is by crying. Human babies are obviously not born being able to speak, so the only way they can communicate that they need something is by crying. This can mean that they are hungry, they have a dirty diaper that needs changing, something has disturbed them, such as a sudden sound or gust of wind, or they may be too hot or too cold. So when you think about this, it makes sense that babies crying is just a normal and expected thing.

When we first brought our baby home, I was surprised because her cry really was not that loud. But, as the weeks have passed and of course our baby has gotten bigger and grown older, her cry has also gotten stronger and louder. She has cries that mean different things that we have learned to interpret: she has a cry for hunger another cry for attention, and what Chris calls a fake hunger cry, which means that she is not really hungry but just wants to pacify on a nipple. That could mean a bottle nipple or my own nipple, but nevertheless she wants to have her mouth on a nipple to soothe herself.

Often times when people complain about having a baby, they talk about how frustrating it is when babies cry. But when you are a parent, crying is just a normal sound in the same way that sirens in New York City are a normal thing that you hear while you live here. So Chris was talking about this the other day, and he said that crying doesn’t really bother or disturb him anymore, that it’s just another sound in the background for him. And I would tend to agree… Except when it’s in the middle of the night and your baby is hungry but she needs a diaper change first, and you just want to go back to sleep. In those moments, the crying pierces my ears and almost feels deafening. And it’s funny that I am even saying this because I know based on what our night nurse has said that our baby is very easy compared to most babies. So while I am grateful for this, sometimes the screaming really can be frustrating. I am just so thankful that our baby is not colicky because I have no idea how I would ever be able to manage that and still remain sane.