He smiled.

It was about 6:45 yesterday morning. Benjamin had been awake about an hour (after waking up at 1, eating for 40 minutes, and then staying up for another 40 minutes until I nursed him to sleep--something I don't usually do), and I couldn't help but wonder why he suddenly decided to make the dark, wee hours of the morning his social time. I was tired, and I really wanted to go back to sleep. I knew the interrupted 6 and a half-ish hours of sleep I'd gotten weren't quite enough to get me through the day with a busy toddler and a newborn. While we snuggled, I worked on catching up on my Bible reading. Wanting to see if he was getting drowsy, I glanced down at my little man's face. Far from drowsy, he was wide awake, his big blue eyes {that sometimes look like they're threatening to turn brown} staring up at me.

Then he smiled his first smile. Just for me. Then he did it again, as if he knew I was wondering whether it was really a smile I had just seen on his sweet face. And, I was reminded {again} that the lack of sleep, the extra dust bunnies, the paper plates, the laundry piles--it's all so worth it.