Um, how did that happen? I could swear that I was just feeling his kicks against my stomach last night. Oh, wait, I was; it was just from the other side.

You'll pardon me while I get disgustingly mushy for a moment. I don't think I've ever seen a baby whose eyes penetrate as deeply into mine as my son's do. I've never heard an infant whose laugh is as infectious; I've never felt a touch quite as gentle as my baby's is when he pats my cheeks (well, at least when he starts patting them; the strength of the pat always escalates exponentially).

He is amazing. I never knew I could be this much in love with my child. I knew I would love him; I didn't know that it would come so naturally. It's impossible not to be crazy about this kid. Perfect strangers find themselves unable to resist his smiles. This child seeks out the eyes of everyone around him so that he can engage them in a delightful conversation of giggles and wiggles.

I love mornings. Twenty-six years of being a night owl, and my new son turns it all upside-down for me. I hear his morning song of hoots and hums, and I can't help but smile.

I'm not the only one transformed by his presence. Eric, coming home frowning and exhausted, is suddenly refreshed by the sight of a sunny upturned smile. My mother is a laughing maniac who wears her grandson in a sling; my mother-in-law sings lullabies. He sweeps through our lives, changing everything and making it better.

Six months ago, I was holding my Sam for the first time. Six months ago, I was changing into a mother, praying desperately to be the mother he deserved, the one I always wanted to be. I didn't know that the boy Sam is would make my own transformation so easy. I didn't know that he would alter me simply by being Sam.

Words - the words I love and trust so much - can't do this justice. They can't capture what I feel when he looks into my eyes and simply sparkles at me.

He's everything I ever wanted.

Love seems far too simple a concept to describe this, but it's all I have. I love him; I love him.

Happy six months, Sam!