before the baby was born, luke’s mom asked me what i was most looking forward to. i told her i couldn’t wait to smell my little baby’s head.

i remember from my younger brother — who is only two years younger — how much i loved the smell of his head. i must have been only five years old or even younger when i discovered how special that smell is but the memory of it came back to me during the pregnancy.

today, chiara was so fussy that i felt a little frustrated that i hadn’t gotten much done except for feeding and bathing her. i sat in a bath towel for almost 2 hours because she cried during my five-minute shower and wouldn’t stop for anything except for a long nursing session. but after that, we had a nice quick lunch with dad, and i had a great, uplifting phone conversation with veteran three-time mom kate. finally, i motivated and took a walk outside for about an hour while chiara rode with me in her baby sling.

chiara was hungry by the time we returned but after nursing, she was awake but quiet, in what the baby books call the “quiet alert” phase. I held her high against by shoulder so that her stomach pressed against me, which helps her to burp out all the air she ingests.

in this position, her little head was next to my cheek and i just sat there on the couch, smelling her precious little head, thinking how lucky i am to have this precious little head to smell whenever i want!