The Scent of a Newborn

Earlier this week, I was reading this article that cited a study regarding the scent of a newborn, and it wasn't talking about the smell of poopy diapers. The part that stood out to me was where it states that "90 percent of moms were able to identify their newborns by scent alone after having spent as little as ten minutes with them. When the moms spent an hour with their babies, 100 percent of them correctly distinguished their own baby's smell from the smell of other infants."

People always comment to me that they love the way that babies smell, but I never really thought about each baby having his or her own scent. Jack doesn't really have a smell that I can describe, but it's definitely not the soap we use on him since it doesn't have a smell. His scent is unique to him. When I asked Mara what he smelled like, she said, "Baby. Because he is one."

I am definitely addicted to Jack's scent, just as the article stated we are designed to do. Ever since he was born, I constantly find myself smelling Jack – especially on the top of his head. A lot of times I do it without thinking. Even to this day, I still smell Mara from time to time, and her smell hasn't changed that much since she was a newborn herself.

The entire article was an interesting read. In addition to the science behind a newborn's scent, it also discussed the good feelings a mom gets when her baby smiles at her. Each time he smiles at me, it makes me happy and wants me to get him to smile at me even more. I can hardly wait until we get to hear him laugh. :)