First published in 2008 by Conari Press, LLC.
Copyright 2008 by Conari Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any
information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser LLC. Reviewers may
quote brief passages.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request.
Cover, text design, and illustrations by Sara Gillingham.
Typeset in Emily and Jillsville.
A baby is God's opinion that life should go on.
Carl Sandburg
Every moment of your life has led you to this oneholding a beautiful, sacred, burping
little wonder called your baby. Whether this is your first time or your fifth, new parenthood
delivers a sweet and exciting jolt of electricity into your life.
In every corner of the world, a new baby is cause for joy and celebration. Over the years
I've been lucky enough to meet some of the finest babies ever made (yours is most likely
the very finest of all) and each time I am bowled over by their parents' ability to make the
perfect place in their hearts to fit a being they never knew until the moment of its birth.
I'm delighted by a mother's warmth and a father's silliness, and all the shades of love
in between.
So welcome to the sweet life of parenthood, and from my family to yours, here is a book to
celebrate and support what you do bestloving your baby in every way, from top to bottom.
Mina Parker
Welcome to the world my love
we've waited just for you
and made a place right in our hearts
that's strong and deep and true.
Watching you grow and learn thrills me to my toes.
I love you more than I can say, and each day my love grows.
A happy family is but an earlier heaven.
George Bernard Shaw
May true happiness grab hold of you and never let you go.
The family is one of nature's masterpieces.
George Santayana
Our family makes a circle around you
of love and giggles and fun.
We'll give you everything we've got
our precious little one.
I kiss your nose, your ears, your toes;
I kiss your little knees.
I kiss you all over, then wrap you up,
and give you a great big squeeze.
We'll wrap you up warm,
and your grandmas will spin yarns
of days when your parents were small.
Each child has its fairy godmother in its own soul.
Francis Thompson
Grab hold of my hand and we'll ride on the tail of a star.
In our imagination, we travel near and far.
Let's make some silly faces
just to make you wiggle.
You put us through our paces
all to hear your giggle.
Children learn to smile from their parents.
Shinichi Suzuki
A child is a curly, dimpled lunatic.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
The sillies are coming,
the goofies are growing,
I simply can't hold them in!
Smashed crackers.
Drooly chins.
Sticky fingers.
Milky grins.
Happy gurgles,
blowing bubbles,
tiny kicking feet.
Kisses after bath time
when you smell so sweet.
A new baby is like the beginning of all things
wonder, hope, a dream of possibilities.
Eda J. Le Shan
This is the beginning of our story together;
I wonder where it will take us?
Children are the hands by which we
take hold of heaven.
Henry Ward Beecher
The first time those small fingers
clasp round yours and hold you tight,
you know you're in for the longest, happiest haul.
Whisper, whisper in your ear,
I... love... you.
There is nothing more thrilling in this world,
I think, than having a child that is yours, and yet
is mysteriously a stranger.
Agatha Christie
Whose toes grow on whose little feet?
They look good enough to eat.
Stretching fingers, stretching toes.
See how fast my baby grows!
You will always be your child's favorite toy.
Vicki Lansky
A cardboard box, a wooden spoon,
keeps you and me busy all afternoon.
A child's spirit is like a child, you can never catch
it by running after it; you must stand still, and, for
love, it will soon itself come back.
Arthur Miller
Hope me happy,
Plan me fulfilled,
Love me to pieces
when I'm strong willed.
Mashed up peas all over the chair.
There's some cracker in your hair.
How'd the spoon get over there?
A two-year-old is kind of like having a blender, but
you don't have a top for it.
Jerry Seinfeld
Grant me sleep the whole night through.
Gassy smiles from me to you.
Tickle me, snuggle me, play peek-a-boo.
Celebrate futures and memories too.
A swing that rocks you to and fro.
A chair that bounces as you kick.
A sweet mobile to sleep below.
Fun things we hope will do the trick.
Children are poor men's riches.
English Proverb
Even though you've just arrived,
we're proud of everything you do.
Can't imagine, can't quite think
What did we do before we had you?
Trilling r's, rides in cars,
Pats on backs, walks in the park.
Every balm to soothe and
Calm you when you're fussy.
Wish my legs chubby
and soothe my long cries.
Sing to me softly,
kiss my sleepy eyes.
Allow children to be happy in their own way, for what
better way will they find?
Samuel Johnson
First smile.
First roll.
First sleep through the night.
First laugh.
First crawl.
You do it all just right.
The hot, moist smell of babies fresh from naps.
Barbara Lazear Ascher
The smell of youheaven scent.
You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
Kahlil Gibran
You try one step and then another.
My heart takes leaps like any mother's.
Soon you'll head out on your own.
I'll always be here to welcome you home.
Ma Ma Ma Ma
Da Da Da Da
Every sound from those tiny lips
is music to my ears.
Every child is an artist. The problem is how to
remain an artist once we grow up.
Pablo Picasso
How big is baby?
So big! So tall!
Walking on your tippie toes.
Butterfly kisses on your nose.
Taking stairs
First one, then two.
Getting bigger
Look at you!
If you carry your childhood with you,
you never become older.
Tom Stoppard
Eating lunch, spitting up.
Changing clothes, repeating.
Who knew we could wait
with so much eagerness
for a sneeze, a burp, a yawn
and then (literally) applaud it?
I love you now.
I love you tomorrow.
I loved you before you came.
It seems that I have always loved you,
since before the world had a name.
The things which the child loves remain in the
domain of the heart until old age.
Kahlil Gibran
Music gets those legs all kicky.
Shake that rattle and roll.
Jelly makes those fingers sticky.
Shake that rattle and roll.
Dancing to the music,
Pushing up to see,
Rolling over, do the twist,
I'm grooving, look at me!
A goofy face
A rhyme, a song.
A happy place