Baby Dear

Brothers chatting (right before The Bairn bopped Nate on the head with that pipe cleaner and then made him wear it as a mustache).

I was talking to the baby the other night and suddenly remembered this poem that my mom used to quote when speaking to infants.  Steve found some of the lines a bit much (he doesn't think Natey's cheek is like a warm white rose), but I like it.  There's something nice about the thought that people have always spoken to their babies this way and felt they were a gift.  I especially like the last line.  

Where Did You Come From, Baby Dear?

by George MacDonald

Where did you come from, baby dear?

Out of the everywhere into here.

Where did you get your eyes so blue?

Out of the sky as I came through.

What makes the light in them sparkle and spin?

Some of the starry spikes left in.

Where did you get that little tear?

I found it waiting when I got here.

What makes your forehead so smooth and high?

A soft hand stroked it as I went by.

What makes your cheek like a warm white rose?

I saw something better than anyone knows.

Whence that three-cornered smile of bliss?

Three angels gave me at once a kiss.

Where did you get this pearly ear?

God spoke, and it came out to hear.

Where did you get those arms and hands?

Love made itself into hooks and bands.

Feet, whence did you come, you darling things?

From the same box as the cherubs' wings.

How did they all just come to be you?

God thought about me, and so I grew.

But how did you come to us, you dear?

God thought about you, and so I am here.