Adelyn's Cheek.

When I try to think of my favorite part of being a mom I think of Adelyn's little cheek.

This morning after I'd gotten done feeding her, I was holding her up against my chest, and she was staring back up at me, spit-up hanging from her mouth. You get so wrapped up in the logistics of parenting in the beginning that sometimes you forget why you're really doing it. You sort of forget the beautiful part of it. Crying fits and rectal thermometers and formula stains on your shoulder aren't beautiful, really. And in the beginning those things are all-consuming.

But that cheek, completely pore-less, indescribably soft and unadulterated, is more beautiful than anything I've given up by having a child so young.