Here at home, in the quiet of this space that has begun to feel so sacred between Jason and Henry and me, I am drinking in every sound and moment and memory and action that takes place. Already, I feel as though I would recognize any detail about our son–in any room, among any crowd, anywhere. His scents and cries and toes and fingers are magically cemented in my mind, like a thousand little finger prints in a mental registry that will always be Henry’s to me. I cannot get enough of this little person; I’m fairly uncertain of what we ever did without him, because everything suddenly feels exactly as it was always meant to be.

It’s true that we’re tired and trying to figure out all of Henry’s needs and wondering minute to minute whether or not we can get everything right…as parents, we’ll spend the rest of our lives this way out of love for our first child and for those to come. And we are learning so much with every turn. We listen for breaths and pray over each moment; we suspend ourselves above these past few days, wishing that we could stop time and freeze each one for all of the amazing discoveries and memories–and for the overflow of abundant love we’ve never experienced like this before. The memories will be forever forthcoming, sure, but these have to be among the sweetest, as we are learning each other. This precious, precious baby is teaching us so much about who we are and who he is and who we want to be, together. Henry is unmistakably, absolutely, permanently and perfectly, ours.

A few more favorites from another beautiful day:

Today is also significant because it marks what would have been the 83rd birthday of my grandfather and Henry’s namesake. Born just three days before this date on which we remember the remarkable and kind person my grandfather always was, Henry surely makes today all that much more special to me now that he’s here. We are utterly blessed by his presence in our world.

exceedingly in love,

mm