Four weeks

Michael is four weeks old today.  I can't believe it - can't believe he is already four weeks old, and can't believe he is only four weeks old.  It seems like we just came home from the hospital; when he is inconsolable at 11:30pm and all I can think about is how much I want to be asleep I certainly don't feel like I've had a whole four weeks of experience.  But on the other hand I feel like I can barely remember a time before our lives revolved around this little person.  Nothing that I read, heard, or dreamed about prepared me for the extremes of motherhood - the extreme joy of cuddling my little boy; the extreme wonder at God allowing Alex and I to participate in creation in such a way; the extreme inadequacy at the responsibility of being entrusted with this new life; the extreme exhaustion of getting up for the fifth time in as many hours to nurse and change a diaper.