Being a Mom is ...

Being a mom is a very fluid experience. Every time I think I know how to define what being a mom is, it seems to change. When Asa was a newborn, just a few weeks old, I would have said that being a mom means never eating a warm meal, or for that matter, a meal of any sort, again. Then he grew a bit and required less frequent holding, rocking, swinging, bouncing, changing, feeding ... When he was a few months old I thought being a mom meant never sleeping more than three hours in a row, though to his credit he slept 5 or 6 hours, it was my damn boobs that wouldn't let me sleep (sorry Jeff, the boobs have resurfaced in the blog again ...). Then something changed and my boobs started letting me sleep, Asa let me sleep, and I found I could get 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep even if I went to bed at 10pm. It was great except that now being a mom (and dad, props to Jeff for being a trooper right along with me) meant waking up between 4 and 4:30am to play with a baby who was done sleeping. That phase seemed to last forever but it was probably just a few weeks. We managed to ease bedtime back from 6pm to closer to 7pm and suddenly we weren't obliged to play peek-a-boo at 4am anymore. Now Asa is nearly 9 months old (I cannot believe it) and I feel like being a mom just means smiling, laughing, occasionally having my patience tried,  but that mostly it's being able to actually see the love we've poured out being returned. He smiles at us, shows off for us, entertains us, impresses us, calls us by name, hugs us, snuggles and nuzzles ... Despite the middle of the night feedings he's taken a liking to again, and his general refusal to take milk during the day (much to the distress of our phenomenal daycare providers and also of course, my boobs) at this point being a mom is just a pleasure and a great adventure. Let's hope this phase lasts a while.