The Love Filter

During Whitman's first few months of life, he was teeny tiny.

It wasn't so much his height and weight - but, he just had this very fragile look about him. He had skinny arms and skinny little chicken legs and not an ounce of fat anywhere.

Though I took hundreds of pictures of him, I felt like every time I sat down to look at the pictures I'd taken, I saw a fragile little preemie. I didn't see that when I looked at him in person, but in photographs, I just couldn't capture what I, his Momma, was seeing.

My husband calls it "The Love Filter." His theory? That parents, from ages past and for all eternity, see their children through eyes full of love for them. "Let's face it, SG. Some newborns are just not, uh, pretty. But, ask the child's mother? She's got the most beautiful baby ever born."

He's right.

I know he's right. I definitely think of my children that way. Cutest kids on the planet? Most adorable newborns ever? Yep.

I'm guessing, you mothers of babes of your own, feel exactly the same way.

Well, at four months, our little Whit is now 9 pounds, 7 ounces.

He's still small. In fact, he's still in newborn clothes and diapers and not even charting.

BUT.

When I look at pictures of him now, I see...

* Blue eyes - that sparkle like the water in Aruba.

* A double chin that begs to be munched on.

* A pouty bottom lip.

* Inquisitive eyebrows.

* The sweetest, most precious smile on earth. {See what I mean? The Love Filter strikes again.}

But, as I sift through his photos, I don't see a fragile little newborn. I see the adorable, healthy, sweet-faced baby boy that has changed our lives, enriched our days, and colored our family a brighter shade of blue.