Dear Parks,

You're currently napping in your bassinet while your father watches and your mother takes a pain killer and has a glass of wine. If it was Saturday night I'd totally breast feed you just so we could have some good times together. But-since its Monday-I'm going to let you get your beauty sleep as your dad and I expect you to be employed by the end of the week to help out with the $24,000.00 hospital bill we got yesterday.

Tomorrow you will be two weeks old and we are slowly getting to know you. So far we've definitely established that you absolutely hate being naked and this lets me know that you are definitely not 100% my child. I'm pretty sure you get this from your grandmother. Your dad and I can't even wipe your ass without lots of screaming and then a little more screaming followed by some screaming. You scream so much your tongue resembles a tiny baby bird where it just rotates around your mouth without really touching the sides. That's a cool trick that I'm pretty sure you get from me.

One day when I think I can do it without crying, I will write your birth story. The only good part of that experience was when they finally let me see you thirty six hours after labor began and a full sixteen after they cut you out of me. For now, I will tell you that when they finally handed you to me-after a night in the NICU because you weren't breathing properly-my first instinct was to strip you completely naked and look at all your tiny little parts. I promptly did this and ascertained you came with everything required and it was all perfect. That and you had a full head of black hair. Your father and I marveled at this as we pretty much assumed we were having a blonde-headed blue-eyed Aryan baby that actually somewhat resembled one of us. This was not the case. You have curly black hair that seems to be some throw back gene from my Italian side. When your great-grandmother held you today for the first time with her still black hair at the age of almost eighty-it seemed to make sense.

After two short weeks I can't say that I've mastered all your moods or faces yet. But, I can say that your dad and I are learning a lot. And, I will never be able to explain to you how much more I've fallen in love with him over the past two weeks just watching how he cares for you. Maybe even as much as I've fallen in love with you after all the hours I've spent simply staring at your sweet face.

Love,
Mama