Abby is a cute baby. Now, we know that as her parents we are somewhat biased, but we often have complete strangers comment on how cute she is, so we’re pretty sure that we’re not just blinded by our shared DNA. But what most often follows that comment is the rather perplexing (to me) question: “Is she a good baby?”

Um … suuuure … ?

Now I know that what people are really asking is “Does she sleep well?” or “Is she a happy baby?” or, more to the point: “Does she cry much?”. But that is not the question that is asked – the question that is asked is “Is she a good baby?”. The smartass that lives inside of me would love to answer “Actually, she is the spawn from Hell” but the rational side of me will not let me. So I answer “Yes, she is a good baby”. Because to answer No to the question “Is she a good baby” is to say that she is a BAD BABY. And babies aren’t bad. Babies just *are*. Babies are gassy, babies are overwhelmed, babies don’t sleep. But babies aren’t bad. Babies don’t set out to piss you off or to make you sleep-deprived or to soil their diaper not 30 seconds after you change it (every single time you change it).

If someone asked me if she slept well, I would say “Overnight: Yes. During the day: Not in the least.” If someone actually asked me if she was a happy baby, then I would say “Not overly”. She cries quite a bit actually – because she gets gas, because she doesn’t sleep and gets overtired, because she still hasn’t figured out this world outside my womb.

But she is a very, very good baby.