This is our world...

"Your love lifts my soul from the body to the sky

And you lift me up out of the two worlds.

I want your sun to reach my raindrops,

So your heat can raise my soul upward like a cloud."

--Rumi, Thief of Sleep

The days are the same but different. I wake up several times at night and sleep during the day when I can ... All for my little cachorrita, my sweet baby girl... Being a mother is an instinct: strong and primordial. There is no thinking, just feeling, listening to the voice that comes up from the depths of my being, and trusting. I trust you, darling daughter, I trust myself, and I trust that our grandmothers and great grandmothers guide us...

Maia's strong character is evident already. At almost six weeks, her voice gets stronger and louder. In the morning, she tells me when it's time to get out of bed and get going. After her milk, she likes to look out the window and see the boats in the marina, then she looks carefully at the plants around the house, especially her orchids (the white one bloomed in the days when my body was preparing for the birth and my baby to enter the world ...). Then she sits calmly in her chair by the window, she likes the natural light (notice i do not say sun because here in the land below sea level there is not much sunshine around this time of year) and is delighted! She waits patiently for me to make my tea and prepare breakfast.

Now here I am writing this next to her. It's almost three in the afternoon and she is tired after a morning of activities: milk, massage, bath, more milk... When she dozes I can fold the mountains of laundry, or prepare a sandwich or make more tea. Today I even had time to take my first bubble bath after her delivery and apply an oatmeal face mask! Friday marks my 40 days in the red tent and what I crave for most is to go to a hot yoga class.

The snow that fell on Sunday has melted and in a while we'll go for a walk around the marina to get some fresh air in our lungs...
This is our world: this house, the marina, the supermarket.
Our world is us, laughing and crying and eating, drinking and learning.
And it is enough ... it's more than enough ...
Cold outside and warmth inside.

This is how we spend our days, looking at each other and being in love,
recognizing each other time and again.
What a privilege you chose me to be your mother, princesita.
Nothing makes me prouder.

The certificate that arrived yesterday as a record of my master's degree in education is only a piece of paper and does not compare to seeing my reflection in your deep blue eyes, or feeling your little hand in mine, or your sweet breath on my neck ...

I adore you, little goddess!