Mother's Day

Today was my first Mother's Day as an actual, y'know, mother. Some of my relatives and friends sent me good wishes last year, when Ari was but a large and protruding belly. We didn't celebrate here much, though, because I didn't feel like a mother. In retrospect, I still don't consider myself to have been a mother then. I became a mother in those first moments when I held that tiny little girl in my arms. Or, in many ways, in the moments that followed, as I first had to take up the responsibility for caring for her- for being her protector and her food source and her comfort and her warmth.

It's sappy and cliche, but I've never done anything that mattered as much as having Ari. I've never loved anyone like I love her (and mind- I love my monkey man an awful lot). If I had it to do over, there's no question that I'd choose to be her mama again.

Anyway, to leave the mushy stuff behind- today was an up-and-down day. Mostly, I just had way too much work to do, so I spent much of it at Oxley. The monkey man made me breakfast (and was very cute about it- he made me a whole menu and "took my order" before he started cooking). As a present, he gave me a little crossword book wrapped in the Life section of a newspaper I'd thought had been accidentally thrown away. This may sound kinda dumb, but I always save the Life (and accompanying crosswords) to read and puzzle through while I nurse Ari to sleep. It was a very thoughtful gift, and I'll definitely use it.

Speaking of nursing, I just wanted to say that I really love nursing Ari these days. She's been clawing me less since I made myself an assortment of nursing necklaces, which is nice. The main thing is, though, that she's so snuggly when she nurses. She just curls her little body up against mine and cuddles right up. She doesn't stop for snuggles so much anymore- she's such a busy little explorer these days. I only get unwiggly cuddle time when she's tired or upset, these days. Or, when she nurses. So, huzzah, boobies!

Oh- one last thing! Today was Ari's first real go at solids. Thad gave her a pear (a whole one that he'd been eating off of) and she had a grand old time chewing on it. I think we're really going to try giving her foods she can feed herself, and we're going to totally skip the bib-and-spoon-and-here's-the-airplane stage.