How Baby

I had the pleasure of holding a friend’s newborn a few weeks ago, which was absolutely lovely, but made me realize exactly how much I’ve forgotten about newborns. Specifically, how gelatinous they are. And floppy! And the noises they make! Newborns don’t really know how to breathe regularly, so they’re this cacophony of weird grunts and wet noises, and it’s like… are you breathing? Am I choking you? How do I support your head so it doesn’t crush your windpipe? Oh god, she’s not breathi– no, we’re good– wait–

All I could think was ‘holy crap, I really did forget everything about this part, just like they said I would!’

Drawing this strip gave me the chance to go through all my old photos of Momo, because hoo boy, did I ever take a lot of photos of her weird squishy babyface. All these faces are from legit photos I have of Momo in various states of squish. Of course, going through all of her newborn photos it was obvious why we developed this ability to forget all about the newborn phase, because I kept feeling these pangs of nostalgia for a time my brain knows was an utter disaster, but my heart… my heart remembers the squishy baby. And that’s how they get you to have another, I’m sure.

This strip brought to you just in time by my friend and patron Kat, who loaned me her tablet! My tablet’s battery is swelling (??) and distorting the case, so I’ve benched it until I can figure out what’s up with that nonsense. Thanks, Kat!