kindness of strangers

i went for a walk a few days ago with little ryker in the ergo.  the weather cooled off a bit (still in the 80's though) as the sun began to set.  as we walked along, i described our surroundings to my little boy and pointed out fun things on our route to the grocery store.  in the store, we had many oohs and aahs and exclamations of "kawaii!!" (cute!!) as people saw ryker's blue eyes and drooly grin.  after we paid for our goodies, we headed out...to find the weather took a turn for the worst.  it was raining.  oh well.  i plopped a burp cloth on ryker's head and away we went.  we passed a couple of small shops and apartments.  suddenly, i hear a woman calling "sumimasen! sumimasen!" (excuse me!) behind me.  i stopped and turned to see a small japanese woman running towards me with an open umbrella.  i gladly accepted her kind offer, bowed and said thank you.

i could not believe how kind and considerate a complete stranger was to me.  i was floored.  that one small act made my day.

adventures in motherhood

the last couple of months have been incredible - incredibly amazing, incredibly trying, incredibly challenging & rewarding.

you know that saying "sleep like a baby"? i imagined a swaddled baby snoozing away peacefully in his crib. my reality: my sweet little munchkin hates to sleep. and when he does sleep, he snorts, coos, kicks and flails his tiny limbs around. but i have to admit it's pretty cute.

the days of 8 hours of sleep are long over. i've had about 3 hours of sleep at the most and no caffeine. i'm functioning at a level i never knew existed - and in college i thought i was tired...HA!

there are some days that i am overwhelmed by taking care of this tiny little person. the only other thing i've been able to accomplish during the day is brushing my teeth. but there are moments during those difficult days that make it all worth it - like when ryker looks at me and smiles when he wakes up from a nap. i look forward to those moments every day.