Wondering Wednesdays Vol. 21: Baby Jesus

Today I am wondering what Jesus was like as a baby.

Last night I was rocking Joe to sleep. He is battling an ear infection and I have a feeling he'll start teething any day now. I was at my wits end because he had been fussy all. night. long. I was tired and beyond frustrated. Joe kept crying and twisting and turning in my arms. He refused to nurse. He even refused his binky. Finally after what seemed like hours his eyes got heavy and he drifted off to sleep.

I kept on rocking him because I just knew the minute I put him in the crib he would probably wake up again. I hated that he was in pain. I hated that I felt like a zombie. But I knew that motherhood isn't all giggles and rainbows.

I looked over at the crucifix on our wall. Instead of pondering the mystery of the Trinity or the miracle of transubstantiation, I thought about what Jesus was like as a baby.

I wonder if Jesus had ear infections or was ever really fussy? I mean, I know he is GOD, but he is also fully human as well. Did he ever have a diaper blowout? I certainly hope it wasn't when he was running around naked like all the paintings show him if that ever happened! Did Jesus sleep through the night at an early age? What was his favorite toy? Did he ever projectile vomit?

I wonder what Mary was like as a mother to her baby. How did being free from Original Sin play into her role of mommy? So many times I get frustrated, but I doubt Mary ever did. So if Jesus was ever fussy, she'd be the perfect woman to deal with that.

I wonder how much she was in awe of her little boy. I stare in amazement at my son everyday but his birth wasn't announced to me by an angel and he isn't the Son of God. I bet she often cradled Jesus in her arms and stroked his chubby hands. Someday these hands would hold tools and he would shortly take on the craft of carpentry like his foster-father, Joseph. Someday these hands would cure lepers, give sight to the blind and open the ears of the deaf. These hands would take bread and change it into his body, blood, soul and divinity. These hands would have nails driven into them as he died for our sins and conquer death. But as she was studying these hands they were probably being chewed and slobbered on, or reaching out for a toy or reaching out to touch her face. Maybe he was just learning how to clap.

I bet Mary was so thrilled when Jesus started tottling around. These feet and legs would carry him all over Galilee as he taught his followers. They would even walk on water. A sinful woman would wash the feet of Jesus with her penitent tears and anoint them with expensive ointment.

When she looked at the chubby, baby soft cheeks of her son I wonder if she knew that they would be spit on, punched and bleeding as he was marched to the cross.

I bet baby Jesus had the cutest laugh and the most adorable smile.

Was Mary nervous as the mother of God? The Savior of the world. What a huuuuuuuuge responsibility. I think that I worry too much- how much did she worry? She had that jerk-wad King Herod to worry about. I'm sure that there were diseases to worry about, famines, droughts, and evil Romans. At least she didn't have that blasted BabyCenter.com to freak her out. A wise friend of mine told me to unsubscribe to their emails, but since I am a glutton for punishment I keep crawling back. Now I'm worried that since Joe is in the 99th percentile of weight and way, way low on the height chart that he's going to be a 5 foot 1 inch adult male that weighs 400 lbs and will live in my basement forever. I'm worried that since he hates tummy time that he will never crawl, thus never walk, and I'll have to carry around my 400 lb son! OK, so maybe I'm overreacting.

Some of my favorite paintings are of the Holy Family. My favorites is the one below. It shows that Jesus was like us. He was a baby like us. He had a family and liked to play. But I just wonder how much of the whole being God influenced how he acted as a baby.

One thing I'm pretty sure of- he was probably one adorable baby!