How cool is it to be a parent?

We've started Zachary on a bedtime routine. For what its worth. Two days, so far so good. We cuddle, and change his diaper, and read a story and then he gets his bedtime snack. I was singing and rocking him and realized that parenting is a little bit like prayer. You build up routines and some days you just get through it because its rote and you're tired and the only way you get there is by following the tracks. But sometimes? It is the very fact that it *is* so ingrained that allows you to step back and realize how truly incredible the moment is. Sometimes you can muddle through on intention alone, and other times the structure allows you to discover the intention that we often don't have time (or energy) to appreciate. He's figuring things out and changing so fast. The hidden moments are all around and sometimes its when we're the most burned out or when he's been crying at the top of his lungs and they just flit in and out. I wouldn't trade this for the world.