In honor of Brendan's three-week birthday, I would like to share a few of my favorite things thus far in motherhood...

* Brendan usually wakes up from a nap crying. I love it when I walk down the hallway toward his room and say, "Mommy's coming! Mommy's coming!" and he instantly stops crying and starts cooing.
* During bath time I always kiss him while he watches in the mirror. The past two times this has made him smile! You can tell me they are not real smiles if you want to, but since it has happened twice in a row I will declare that they are!
* I love it when he grabs onto any part of me and refuses to let go -- my shirt, my hair, anything. It makes me feel loved. :-)
* I love how he smells right after a nice application of baby lotion.
* I love how Dan rushes through the door after work and immediately goes to Brendan and tells him how much he has missed him that day.
* I love how every single day Brendan does something new. Today he rolled over onto his side and stayed there for an entire nap.
* I love how curious Brendan is. He is always finding something new to investigate -- a light, a window, something on the wall, a toy -- that he never even noticed the previous day. Think of how much we could all learn if we were as observant as a three week old baby...
* I love laughing out loud as I try to change his diaper fast enough that he won't pee all over me before I get it done. And then laughing again when I don't succeed.
* I love how much motherhood has taught me in just three short weeks. Before Brendan arrived, I had a complete plan on how he would be raised. I had developed a schedule he would follow, and I was convinced it would all go accordingly. However, I quickly realized that he is in charge, not me. Now I cannot imagine not feeding on demand or letting him "cry it out". Perhaps I am just a softy deep, deep down.
* I love how despite how little sleep I get, how difficult feeding him might be, or how much he might cry, I am madly in love with this little boy.
* I love how amazing it is to love someone so little, so very, very, very much.

You see, here's my trick. After screaming red-faced for several minutes (or hours), I can instantly just stop and be happy again without any explanation. I am so doggone cute when I do this that Mommy and Daddy can't help but melt and temporarily forget how devilish I was only moments earlier.

To celebrate my two week birthday, Mommy and Daddy took me to Piedmont Park for a whole hour! They said it was a beautiful day, and the park was spectacular. I have to take their word for it - I slept the entire time so I have no first hand knowledge of this experience.