Oh my, traveling solo with an almost-9-month-old is exhausting. I had no idea. Everything went as smoothly as possible and Charlie Mae was an angel on our return trip yesterday (she didn't cry once during all of our travels from 11am-7pm!!!), but still, I have never been so relieved to cross over the bridge onto Cape Cod... Of course, that doesn't mean that our trip wasn't wonderful and totally worth it, because it was! It meant everything to me to see Charlie Mae with my side of the family for only the second time ever, and watching her interact with both of my grandmothers and my great aunt was more touching than I even imagined it would be--especially on Mother's Day weekend. Also, I got to see my dad do a poetry reading for the first time! He's an incredible poet and there was something so special about seeing him read his poems aloud, despite having read so many of them over the years. When he read the following poem about feeling Charlie Mae in my belly when I was pregnant, I lost it... Feeling Her Move for my daughter She’s moving now, you say, feel here. I put my hand on your round belly: your baby is upside down and in the right place, and her hip or knee makes an angle against the soft wall between us. She slides several inches under my palm. I remember doing the exact same thing, my invited hand feeling you moving in your mother, the first time for me, a new father to be, thirty-two years ago, and in this instant these two moments fit side by side. I stand between the two soft mounds, my hand on each one, life kicking in each. One hand is in the past before I knew about the blossoming of a father’s heart, the welcome and slow-motion detonation turning me inside out, and my other hand is here in the present feeling already joined with the new girl coming through you to you and her father to alter you in ways we can’t yet know. Ugh. How sweet is that? Makes me cry every time. Thanks for such a wonderful weekend, fam!
Hope all of you had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend, too ;)
Ellen
5/16/2017 07:50:48 am
Charlie Mae just grows more beautiful with every passing day! Your Dad's poem is a treasure. So happy that your First Mother's Day was filled with special joyful moments that you will always remember. Thank-you for sharing these splendid photos.
kate
5/16/2017 08:41:01 am
BAWLING. So. Beautiful. xoxoxo Comments are closed.
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HELLO!I'm Mary Catherine, a Cape Cod-based yoga teacher, painter, designer, writer, mom, and list-maker extraordinaire. My goal is to inspire you to start living a more creative, simple, joyful, + purposeful life.
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