A day in the life . . .

Everyone told me that the first few weeks of parenthood is magical. They are right. There are hardly words to describe the roller coaster of emotions and teeny tiny moments that leave you literally breathless.

I feel like I have a perma-grin on my face that has softened every part of my being. I can literally sit and stare at this perfectly formed and shaped little miracle for hours. Her presence brings about such peace. My mom and I sit and cry at how "peaceful" Matine is. She doesn't have a moment when she is anxious or upset or even the slightest bit "cranky." If she needs something that mom didn't catch onto withing 20 seconds, she so sweetly and gently might make some squeeky mouse noices, but she rarely needs or wants to raise her little voice.

She sleeps and you just daydream about what she is thinking or dreaming about. SOMETHING is going on in that brain of hers and you can see her run the full range of emotions in one sleep --- scary faces, pouts, little grins, big toothy all mouth smiles, pursing the lips . . . They go on and on and I just sit imagining what they will look like as she develops her personality and that these are the same faces taht she will have with her for the rest of her life, the same ones that we will intimately know and be able to read.


As I have said, she LOVES her sleep. She sleeps for 4 hours at a time, with about 1 to 2 hours of "awake" time in between. She loves to be swaddled for her sleep and in her tight little burrito wrap she lays there perfectly still except for her contorting little face occasionally.

When she wakes, she wakes bright eyed as can be, looking more rested and beautiful than when she went to sleep. She looks around with such intensity and you can actually see her learning and developing her knowledge of the world. When her sweet big blue eyes lock on mine it brings me to tears each and everytime. She knows I am her mom. She knows already the love I have for her. It is an indescribable feeling.

After being awake for a few minutes and chatting about what she dreamed about during her nap, she will start "rooting around" for "the boob." She looks like a little bird the way she cocks her head and just opens up her mouth, waiting for something to plop right into it. She never cries when she's hungry, she just opens that mouth and occasionally will stick her fingers in her mouth and suck them with a vengeance. Now, I admit, the kid hasn't had to wait a whole 2 minutes to get anything she wants - but I am convinced this builds her trust and confidence in us. Her needs will be met --- with love, love, love.

She eats like a champ, and like a lady of course - taking her sweet time, burping, resting and doing more looking around between courses. Nursing time (one of my favorite times) usually takes about an hour with all our "restarting" the sucking, burping, and slow eating. When she is done, she is done and her little red face falls back like she is full or drunk and it might be the cutest thing I have ever seen in my life.

She then might hang out for a bit longer, or we swaddle her back up an d down she goes again. We wash, rinse and repeat in another 4 hours.

I LOVE my new job! Being a mother is by far the most amazing thing I will ever do in my life. Peter and I admited and laughed that it was amazing how quickly you fall in love with someone. Matine, we fell in love with you even faster than we did with each other - and that was pretty quick. It took about 1 minute to realize that we were head over heels, beyond measure and unconditionally in love with YOU!