Motherhood's Greatest Gifts

In honor of Mother's Day recently past, I have compiled a list of the top five greatest aspects of motherhood:

1. Knowing that you are the number one source of comfort for your child - Wesley had his first set of immunization shots yesterday, and all he wanted was for me to hold him and rock him and sing to him all day. You can't get that kind of joy in a gift-wrapped box.

2. Seeing that your child gets his greatest joy from your attention - Wesley's favorite game is "Sticking out my tongue," which he will do if I stick mine out at him first. This, for whatever reason, makes him beam as we play, and that makes me feel on top of the world.

3. Watching the milestones as they occur - Wesley has begun gripping things in his hands: his blanket, his toy zebra, and his toy alphabet letters. While his hold isn't 100%, it's great fun for me to watch his fingers close around an object, even if he doesn't quite realize he's done it. Oh, and when those little fingers grip my finger or my shirt, that's one of the highlights of my day.

4. Finding out that I know my son - Wesley loves music; his little ears just perk right up whenever there's a tune, whether it's one of his CD's, the music from his jungle playmat, or his mama's (off-tune renditions, of course) singing. Whenever he gets fussy and can't be settled down by any other means, I just turn on the CD player and there is instant (well, almost instant) happiness.

5. Cuddle-time - This has started to occur during the nighttime feedings. After the feeding, Wesley just snuggles into me with sighs and good-night coos. If I try to lay him down before he is fully asleep, those little fingers have been known to grip my nightgown and the complaints begin. This is my favorite time of the day, believe it or not, because it's just the two of us rocking and snuggling, and I don't think life gets any better than that.