Motherhood: What You'll Love About Your Baby

We all have our own romantic ideas about what motherhood will be like, and while some of them are right, there is much about becoming a mother that is a great surprise. It is common knowledge that babies have the softest skin, but there are things you will love about your baby that you were not warned about. Here are some reasons to look forward to meeting your newborn and getting to know him, in case you didn't have enough already.

1. I love the way you smell. I love the scent of your skin, unique only to you. I love how sweet your soft hair smells after being washed with baby shampoo. I love the way your breath smells, like your skin but sweeter, sometimes even like mild cheese after you've nursed. I never understood why they would name a flower "Baby's Breath" until I met my precious baby.

2. I love how soft you are. I love stroking your velvet hair and touching your smooth baby skin. From your crown to your tiny rump, you are polished like a fine jewel, but even the most dazzling opal could never compare to you. No sapphire can match the deep beauty of your eyes, like the sea before a storm or a crystal pool of water.

3. I love how tiny your little baby toes are and the way your small fingers curl around my own, even when you're sleeping, a silent profession of love. I love the way your little hand fits so well in my own with plenty of room to grow, so that I shall always be able to hold your whole hand in mine for comfort so long as you are a child.

4. I love what a cuddly baby you are! I love your squishy fat rolls, your chipmunk cheeks, and your round features. I would use you as a pillow if you weren't always nestled in the crook of my arm, using me as a pillow.

5. I love the way your smile lights up your chubby face, brightening even the darkest days, and how your laughter rings through the room, bringing pure joy. You are a beautiful reminder that we should all take pleasure in the little things and smile more often. If everyone took a lesson from a baby, the world would be filled with love and laughter.

6. I love how warm you are. I love holding my darling baby close on winter nights as we keep each other warm. Soft, smooth, sweet-smelling, and warm, you are the perfect teddy bear. I don't even mind that you sweat so much.

7. I love the way you reach for me, grab my face in your hands and look into my eyes, and...try to eat me. You just have to taste everything, don't you, baby?

8. I love how peaceful you look in your sleep, how sometimes a smile flickers across your face as you dream, and the way you nestle into me for warmth and comfort to ease your restlessness. When I'm with you our world seems to slow down, despite the fast chaos that surrounds us.

9. I love your little bald spot, for no reason other than it's cute. I will miss it when it's gone, because it will be a sign that you are growing up. You'll learn to sit up on your own, then crawl and walk...and as you do, your hair will fill that patch. You won't always be a baby. I love that right now, you still need me to hold you and carry you everywhere. I need you, too.

10. I love the way you fit perfectly into my arms and against my body, making me whole. You complete me. We were made to fit together, like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle carefully carved to connect. We belong to each other. We are part of one another. You are my heart. Stay close. It's not easy having your heart outside of your body in this great big world.

It is amazing how motherhood changes not just the way you live your daily life, but the way you see the world. I never knew the true meaning of unconditional love until I met my sons. Now I know what it means to love everything about someone, even the flaws, and to know that nothing could change that love. I would fight fiercely for my children, die for them, abandon every moral to ensure their well-being. No one can never put into words what being a parent is like. Only a mother or father can understand.