Teo

Mateo Gray Cardenas was born on August 8, 2011 at 5:11 p.m.  I'd already been in Austin over two weeks because there was expectation of his impending birth prior to his actual birth due to changes in my daughter's body.  So I came and lived in our apartment in Austin for the duration.  I had promised her I'd be here for 3 weeks after his birth and I am a woman of my word.  I came early because I didn't want to miss one second and it's a 3 1/2 hour drive from Rockport.

My son-in-law, Rey, and I were in the labor and delivery room for the entire process and that poor baby and mommy worked extremely hard to meet each other.  I am so proud of her.  She's such a trooper and so is Teo, for that matter.  I had never witnessed the birth of a child before, not even my own.  I mean, let's face it, you can't see what's going on down there while it's happening, and I've never watched a video of it either.  It's traumatizing for everyone, I assure you.  The fact that the human race still exists is a complete and utter miracle.  I guess we forget all about these things, otherwise we'd all be one-child families.

To say Teo had a cone head after he was delivered is an understatement.  I was truly worried about his poor little head.  In fact, during the delivery when the cone first emerged I thought that was his head, but nope, shortly thereafter his real head came out and I was pretty flabbergasted about the condition of his poor lopsided little noggin.  The doctor, pediatrician and nurse were all exclaiming that it would go away but man, I have to tell you, I was worried.  Most natural born babies have a bit of a cone head from traveling through the birth canal, but geez louise, this infant's head was way off!  He was turned wrong so it took a little longer than it should have to push him out and therefore his head was stuck in the birth canal longer than it should have, resulting in the off-kilter shape of his head upon delivery.  Surprisingly, it was almost gone after only 24 hours, thank goodness!  He weighed in at 8 lbs. 2 1/2 ozs. and 21 inches long, the exact same as his mommy when she was born.  Coincidence?  I think not!

I am a believer in numerology and the synchronicity of people in our lives and families.  I knew Teo couldn't be born on May 11th but his Poppy, Randy; his Grandpa Roland; my niece, Stacy; and Sadie, my daughter's Shih Tzu puppy, were all born on that day.  To tie it all up rather neatly, Teo was born at 5:11 p.m. - coincidence?  No way!

Teo is now almost six months old and I can't tell you all the changes that have occurred so quickly!  He's sporting a perfectly round little head, the biggest blue eyes and longest dark eyelashes and the most beautiful, angelic smile imaginable.  I've dubbed him 'The World's Cutest Baby' or WCB because frankly, there isn't a day goes by that I don't actually think it's 100% true!  Every time we go anywhere people stop and tell us that he is so cute, so handsome, so adorable, so whatever.  He draws a crowd, people.  One time we were in the mall and I was pushing the stroller while Angela shopped in this baby boutique.  Shortly upon our arrival there were several people peering down into the stroller and I watched while this young woman just stared at Teo for a while.  Eventually she looked up at me watching her staring and she said, "I ... Can't ... Look ... Away!"  I laughed out loud.  She literally was mesmerized.  I do the same thing.  He's truly hard to take your eyes off.  And a flirt, oh my goodness, he's the biggest flirt already!  He has everyone wrapped around his little finger.  From me and Poppy, to his God Mommy, to Grandma Jane and Grandpa Roland, to his teacher at day care, to all of my daughter's friends, to Rey's yoga friends, it's just one big happy Teo Fest!  To say he's one well-loved little guy is putting it mildly.

A friend of mine once told me shortly after the birth of her first grandchild that she could try and explain the feelings you have for a grandchild but I would not understand until my first grand baby was born.  She was absolutely spot on.

The love I have for Teo is beyond my wildest expectations.  I tease people and say, "Well, I thought I loved my own kids, but nah, I didn't."  I'm kidding, of course, because my children are the best thing I've ever accomplished in my entire life and I love them beyond reason.  But still, these feelings I have for Teo go beyond even that.  Maybe it's because it's all joy and not much of the hard stuff.  The midnight feedings and lack of sleep, fussy or sick baby, or the myriad of other infant woes are left to the parents and the fun stuff like babysitting and just observing his sweetness are for grand parents.  I don't know exactly what it is, but I'm enjoying it immensely.  Oh, I'm sure I'll have some times when Teo tries my patience in the distant future but I'm okay with that.  He has been and will continue to be one of the greatest blessings in my life.