Feeding Babies, “I still love you.”

I got to spend one of my days off helping Mama watch a two month old little girl. She is going to be with Mama one morning a week until we leave so her mama can keep ties with her work as a veterinarian in a nearby office. It was the first time she had left the infant with anyone and she was justifiably nervous.
It was little trouble since she slept peacefully in her car seat until after 11 a.m. When she woke she was hungry. That’s when the adventure began. I had already warmed some frozen breast milk (the “golden” kind according to my granddaughter) and Mama had ensured it was the proper temperature for the needed meal.
The child was quite unhappy with the nipple of the bottle her mother had provided us with. She was mad, very mad since she was used to the more fleshy kind of nipple. So the juggling began. We searched the apartment high and low for a replacement to the only bottle provided and found nothing so we headed out to the store.
As long as we kept her moving, she would settle down and wait whether the movement was on the way to the car, in the car, or in the grocery cart. So I kept her moving as Mama scoured the shelves for the type of bottle and nipple combination that struck her as right. Several packages were not-to-carefully opened to verify the contents and she finally settled on one – trusting her gut. (I am no nipple expert in general so I deferred totally to Mama.)
We got home with the new bottle, sterilized it and the nipple – which was described to me as “more like the real thing” although I refrain to say it struck me as such, and thawed more “golden” milk. After only a moment of struggle the baby latched on and began to feed greedily. Mama, true to form said, Oh, Honey! I want to cry!” The baby did not finish the entire two ounces before she started to spit out the nipple, but it was a rewarding success.
The mother, when she came to pick up her child and heard the story, was thrilled. Her husband, Mama was told that night at church was ecstatic since he had, to date, been unsuccessful in feeding his daughter. I assume he knows there is a fundamental equipment difference between him and his wife.
Later that night we went to a third birthday party for our little Victoria. She goes to school now and we do not get to see very much of her at all; which is sad for us because she always was such a joy to us during the almost three years we had watched her. She met us with her usual enthusiasm and as she hugged Mama she reassured her by saying, “I still love you!”
Mama’s influence is greater than we will ever know, but it is nice to be reminded – especially by a pure heart.