Neuf Neun Nueve Nove Negen Nine Ni Ennea Naoi

Nine months!  We have been together for nine whole months now, kid!

Hooray!

And I have a secret.  You know how new mom's are supposed to get excited when their baby turns nine months old?  I never really understood that.  Yeah, I understand that the whole symmetry of 9 months in/9 months out thing is pretty neat.  And I thought that maybe, when my own baby hit that magical number that I would feel something too.  That I would turn introspective and get all mushy because of it.  But...nope.  So far month #9 feels like the rest.  A heady mix of awesome & exhausting all rolled into one big bundle of love.  But then again...I am writing specifically about it...so maybe it has effected me, just not in the way I thought it would.

But what about motherhood has effected me the way I thought it would???  Who knew that just looking at him would make my heart melt?  And who knew that the silliest things would make me so happy - like watching him crawl over to his dad and stand next to him in the kitchen?  Or having him rest his head on my shoulder when I pick him up to say goodbye?  Oh motherhood, I thought I understood you before.  But I had no idea.  None.  

And would you like to know another secret?  I truly believe that I have the best baby in the entire history of the world.  That smile?  And that giggle?  And when he just looks so sad and slowly stretches his little arms out to me?  Is anyone else seeing just how fantastic he is?  

To all of the other moms out there - please don't be offended when I say that my baby is better than yours.  I give you full permission to think that your baby is far superior to mine. Because isn't that what we owe our children?   As a Mom (and a Dad, and maybe a Grandparent or treasured Aunt or Uncle...) isn't it our job to love this little person in a way that no other person on the planet has ever been loved before?  The love of a mother is one thing that is pretty much guaranteed in this world.  "Not even his own mother would love him," is the punch line of half a dozen different jokes.  And it is funny because - and only because - it is so incredibly and powerfully true that a mother will love you, no matter what.  

How awesome it must be, to be loved so much.  To not even realize how much love you have directed at you because it is all you have ever known.  You don't have to work for it - you don't have to try.  There is nothing you can do to make it go away, and every single thing you do every single day will only make it grow and grow.  And as a mother, it is such an honest form of love too.  There is no guess work, no if's or maybe's or what-if-he-doesn't-love-me-as-much's.  

This whole love thing is a thought that has been floating around my head for a while now, so I hope I described it well enough for you.  And in other news, we bought a Kombi Van.  Or a VW bus, depending on which country you live in, and it will become our delivery vehicle for the bakery.  And the 16 year old girl inside of me who always, always wanted one, is still jumping up and down with unrestrained excitement.  Sometimes she sneaks outside at night just to smile at it sitting quietly in our driveway.  

Here are some photos of my two newest favorite loves.  

*Also...I had way too much fun, and spent far too much time, finding 9 ways to say 9 in 9 different languages for the title.

Love, 

Cara

It is getting....

...increasingly difficult....

...to take a photo of this child!