A happy mothering post, for Nicole

Lest you think mothering is all difficulty, let me just say that today was the cutest baby day ever. In the morning Xander sat on my lap during the Adult Hebrew class I teach, and charmed them all. He also played with his Pesach set during a session of the Interdenominational Spirituality group I'm involved in, and he got taken around to see all the sisters at the convent where we were meeting. Lastly, at Tot Shabbat he was the talk of the town, and was "kidnapped" by three separate women at oneg to schmooze and be cuddled. He's an easygoing baby, interested in everything, and always smiling. Such naches (pride) from the little one already!

In terms of milestones, he rolls over in both directions very easily, and if we set him down he can sit for about 3 to 4 minutes without falling over. His mouth is how he experiences the world, so he's always reaching for something, and it immediately has to be tasted. Even if I'm tired and grumpy in the morning I can't help but be happy when I see how excited he is to see me. It's so affirming, like pure love shines through his smiles and giggles. All his expressions are priceless, because everything is so new - whether it be a pen, a loud noise, a cell phone, whatever - he's fascinated by it, and that fascination makes me appreciate the joy of life even more. Playing with him and watching him learn helps me slow down and not worry, and just enjoy where I am in any given moment.

Here are a few pics and videos for you. Notice that he's not smiling in any of them; they were taken with my camera!

Cell phone addict. Next up, texting.





A board book AND a cool hat with my initials: thank you, Josh!!

Playing with his Pesach set:

Random Simcha shot. Talk about easygoing!

Whenever I take a video, I feel like it's always so long. Then when I watch it, it feels like it's cut off too soon. Oh well. There are no captions on these, they're pretty self-explanatory.