Sweetest thing

I'm learning that being a mother is so many things. Days spent with an infant bring ups and downs, doubts and confirmations, challenges and triumphs, soaring pride and deflating anxiety. Oh! It's such a mixed bag. Sometimes minute by minute. It's exhausting and also, great.

There's this thing that sometimes happens though and it's just the whole wide world; all the difficult minutes dissolve. I'll be doing something - laundry, computer, makeup - and he's quietly sitting or lying, my son over there (but not too far away), then I look over and he's intently watching me and smiling this smile that communicates total adoration and trust. It's the reason and the validation and it's pure love.