That gentle curve of rubber,
leading to bottle or bag,
A mother’s arm reliever,
A father’s place to brag.

Gazing into eyes of blue, cornflower orbs of newborn hue,
That trusting gaze, locked on my face,
a bottle he peers around, silence but that sucking sound,
A bonding experience, once only for mother and nurse.

Life flows into my child,
Not from my body, but still from my hand,
A life giving action, gentle and mild,
The smile in his eyes makes the gesture grand.

We feed as much as possible with boob juice (yes, we call breastmilk boob juice around these parts.)  However, the boy takes after Daddy, who, as Grandma often tells others, never really ate off the tit.  So pumping and bottle feeding is the general order of the day.  And of course, as a good Daddy, I do my best to feed him as much as possible.

Actually, I love doing so.  Do you know that a newborn can only focus on one distance for about a week after birth. The distance from breast to mom’s face.  The first thing a newborn reliably, clearly sees is the face of the one feeding him.  And that used to be a mommy only treat.  The look on his face as I feed him, staring at my face, a little look like, “thank you, for putting life into my body”.  Its just…  it touches me, you know?

Of course, its usually followed by the look that says, “ohh, and thank you for taking the poop OFF my body that is now plastered to my hind end.  Wait….   okay, thats all of it.  You hope. “