Word to yo mutha

I know you are all anxiously awaiting a belated 10 month post, and although it is in the works as I type, I wanted to take a quick second to shout-out to all the mamas in the crowd, being that today is Mother's Day and all.

It's probably no surprise that I have a whole new perspective on Mother's Day now that I'm a mom. I've heard - many, many times - about what a...challenge I was as a baby. I never slept, I was (in)famous for my ability to project vomit across a room, I crawled and climbed and clawed my way to any no-no I could find, and I was fond of eating poisonous houseplants. But it was always hard to relate to the woes of early motherhood, as my own mom described them, before I had actually experienced them myself.

On many more occasions, however, I have heard (and read, thanks to my mom the Queen of All Journal-keepers) about what an incredible joy I brought to my parents, about how smart and energetic and spirited I was, about how thankful they were for me - despite my many "challenges" - and how much I was loved, adored, and appreciated. That, too, was hard to really comprehend until Alex came along. I finally understand what a mother feels, how a mother thinks, and how a mother loves. How much a mother loves.

And Mother's Day is a wonderful concept. I'm a big fan of the idea that there is a day dedicated to the moms of the world, that honor them for the hard work that they do, at a job that requires them to be on duty, every minute of every day of every year, 'til death they do part. But the greatest gift is having a happy baby, one that loves his mom abundantly and unconditionally, the way she loves him. And I have that! What a lucky mom I am.

Happy Mother's Day!