Waking up on the wrong side of the bed

Sometimes when Sylvia wakes up too early, she just cries and cries. There isn't much to do in those cases except try to get her to go back to sleep, which frequently involves leaving in her crib to cry herself to sleep. This evening, after a walk to my advisor's house to see the duck nesting in their garden (which was very cool, and which I would totally have missed had they not shown it to me) Sylvia fell asleep and then apparently woke up too early. I, of course, had taken the opportunity to make dinner (an asparagus omelette with feta cheese--oh so tasty) and call my sister. Sylvia woke up just as I was about to start eating and proceeded to cry so loudly I couldn't hear anything on the phone.

I soon abandoned my (hot, tasty) dinner and my conversation to nurse Sylvia. This was apparently the right move since she calmed down quickly. Soon she took her hand and started stroking the ends of my hair with her palm and smiling, happy at that moment to be held by me.

There are some moments of motherhood that really do make my heart melt.