sweet challenges and joys

 

i’ve concluded that nothing can prepare you for the intensity of becoming a parent, or the wild adventure of mothering a newborn.

since i was practically a baby myself, i’ve learned about babies. as a child and then onwards throughout all the years of my life, i have been around a lot of tiny humans, and have heard a whole lot about the joys and challenges of new parenting – all the dreamy details and all the gory details.
yet, i’ve realized that no impassioned description of profound parental love, or detailed explanation of postpartum toil, or lengthy narration of inconsolable crying and uber-sweet newborn cuddles could allow me to truly understand the depth of this joy and challenge. it’s just one of those things that you can’t comprehend until you experience it.

 

the past forty days with moses have been so very sweet, and also pretty grueling, and all around just really incredible. there’s been a bit of worrying and so much adoring, some persistent pain and soreness and concern and discomfort, swells of fierce tenderness and warmth, bouts of hormonal tired tears, a lot of different bodily fluids to deal with, some trepidation and an abundance of learning, hearts filled with wonder and love, and, of course, many nearly sleepless nights.

my body and mind have ached so acutely when i have woken (again and again!) in the wee hours. but then, as i look at moses, the sweet, sweet joy in my heart – a peculiar and novel and spectacular brand – truly melts all ache away. after he has eaten and at last drifted back to sleep, i lay in the darkness and listen to the breathing of both my true love and my tiny son, and i am thrilled with gratitude (to borrow a phrase a blog reader used in a comment!).

 

these days are so intense and so, so special. and i am extremely happy in a whole new way.

a couple of weeks ago, our friend kami came to our flat in the morning before ian left for work and took some photographs of our little family of three. i’m so glad we were able to capture a little bit of the sweetness of being at home with little baby moses. he’s already grown so much since these pictures were taken!

click through to see all our favourites that kami snapped. it was so hard to narrow them all down!

^^ maybe our favourite of moses’s features – his wild, wispy, a-little-bit ginger hair. we are constantly giggling at it. ^^

^^ he is such an expressive boy. his most common expression seems to be a bit concerned – haha! here he looks like a little old man – i love it. ^^
  
^^ we are obsessed with him. every single day ian exclaims, “look at him! look at our little son!” ^^

^^ such a squishy little baby :) ^^
   
^^ i love the progression of this photo and the ones below – first, sleeping soundly… ^^

^^ then, the pirate eye – taking a peek around, deciding if he should wake up… ^^

^^ then, a biiiiig yawn… ^^

^^ then, awake and curious… ^^

^^ and then … after some wiggling free from the swaddle … time to cry! ^^
  

i am really loving being a mom – all the challenges ^^ and all the joys ^^.