Cutest baby just too cute to resist

My children - two now-20-something-year-old daughters - and I are a touchy-feely family: We hug and kiss each other "hello" and "goodbye" and everything in between.

Now that my older daughter is a mom herself and has brought Cutest Baby Ever into the family - 6-months-old Nolan - the kisses never stop. I cannot hold this child for a minute without squeezing him tight and covering his sweet little baby self with adoring kisses.

Maybe it's because I was a single mom with two daughters and it only was the three of us as the girls were growing up, but we share almost everything else, too: Chapstick, mascara, sips of each other's coffee drinks and samples of each other's food. Most of our conversations include the phrases "Here, taste this" and "Would you like some of my double-fudge chocolate brownie?" If one of us has something, all of us have it.

Literally.

My younger daughter is a college student in Birmingham. Recently, while I was visiting and eating lunch with her, I could tell she wasn't feeling well. Her face was flushed, her throat hurt and even though we did our usual lunch sharing, she couldn't finish her sandwich.

I consulted my M.M.D. - Mom's Medical Degree - and diagnosed her problem as allergies. After I finished her sandwich (I needed the energy for the drive home, right?) I replenished her supply of antihistamines and she agreed to visit the doctor if she wasn't better.

Well, she wasn't, because she had mono. When she called a couple days after our lunch with this verdict, she already was feeling better.

On the other hand, her news kicked my natural hypochondria into overdrive. Was my throat really sore? Why, oh why, had I finished her sandwich?

So I went to get tested. Since it was Friday, I had to wait until Monday for results, which meant for at least three days, I couldn't kiss a soul. Have you ever tried to not kiss? It's harder than you think. It wasn't so bad while I was around grownups. I mean, I can curb my natural tendency to kiss everybody if I need to, and my brave husband unselfishly volunteered to kiss me anyway.

But when it came to my squirmy, adorable and kissable grandson, it was physically painful to hold him and not give in. How can a grandma be around Cutest Baby Ever and not kiss? It's impossible. Actually, I did sneak a quick peck on the top of his head. I figured that was the one spot he couldn't reach himself, so we were safe. And as soon as I got the all-clear, you'd better believe I made up for lost time.

Cathy Wood is a freelance writer living in the Shoals. She can be reached at cathylwood.wordpress.com or

cathylwood@gmail.com.