When Eli was about two weeks old and six weeks old, he went through a couple of growth spurts. Anyone with a new baby knows growth spurts are the devil's handiwork. The kid literally wants to eat. all. day. If they aren't eating, they're sleeping. They wake up and they wail and the only way to quiet them is to feed them. ALL. DAY. You think, where in the hell is all this food going? And then they outgrow all their pyjamas within four days and it all makes sense.

During those times, to deal with the fact that I was spending most of my waking hours doing my best dairy cow impersonation, I got into the habit of making Eli's feeding time into a social media bonanza to "keep from getting bored". I played the maximum allotted number of games of Words With Friends with random strangers. I've drawn "seasick" no fewer than 20 times in Draw Something. Checking Facebook, checking Twitter, checking my email and before you know it, Eli's finished eating and I've multitasked successfully the whole time. Huzzah!

When you do something so frequently, day after day, you start to feel like you'll be doing that thing forever. Same goes for feeding a baby. It used to be eight to 10 times a day. Now it's down to five times a day. But nevertheless, it feels like I'll be nursing this baby forever, that it's like brushing my teeth or drinking water every day, for the rest of my life. It's not. He's six months old and I don't plan on being one of those moms whose school age child runs home after the last bell to get a snack from Mom. I mean, a snack FROM MOM. In a few months, this is going to be all over.

The other day I forgot my iPod in another room so I couldn't go online when Eli was eating (horrors). We settled into the glider and I prepared for an excrutiatingly boring 10 to 12 minutes. Eli reached up and patted my cheek and made a contented little sigh. Big brown eyes stared up the whole time. Afterward we cuddled in the chair and read a story. He smiled, stuck his hands in my mouth, tried to rip my lips off, tried to pull my hair out, tried to rip the pages of the book, closed the book, patted my face again.

What I've been regarding as a chore, another must-do on my to-do list, is probably one of Eli's favourite parts of the entire day. He's warm and cozy, snuggled up, his belly is full and he's happy.

I used to think I wouldn't have to do this forever. Now I realize I won't get to do this forever.