I thought I'd write my first column as a mom by writing about my first Mother's Day as a mom.

It was a great day, as Mother's Days go, and I feel quite lucky. My daughter is only 6 months old, so I didn't expect much.

I also have a hard time believing Mother's Day applies to me now. But my family and friends were very sweet to remind me it does.

It started Thursday, when the workers at my daughter's day care gave me a flower in a small pot. The pot said "Happy Mother's Day," and also had two artificial flowers in it, made of construction paper hands that were traced from my daughter's.

There was a time when I thought parents were weird to save elementary school artwork or crude crafts from days gone by. But that little flower pot may just stay on my windowsill until my little girl turns 30.

My mother sent me a Mother's Day card, which I thought was nice but also ironic. My aunt also sent me one, which says "Happy First Mother's Day." There is a card for everything.

My husband went above and beyond with a gift, homemade breakfast and dinner out on Sunday. The gift, a Vermont Teddy Bear, was delivered Friday.

For those who've never heard of them, they are quite adorable. Mine actually had two bears in the box, a mama bear and baby bear. The baby had an embroidered dress on with my daughter's name on it and the mama bear had a tag around her wrist that was also personalized.

But the best gift by far, came from my daughter. It wasn't gift-wrapped or hand-drawn, but it was heartfelt just the same.

It came at an unexpected time. It was just after lunch. She was tired but didn't want to nap.

She's just starting to fight sleep, which can be quite annoying. She used to just drop off anywhere, any time in any position. Now she's decided the world is too interesting, and she's not about to miss anything.

So I'm sitting in the recliner, rocking her and thinking of laundry and the other hundred things I should be doing. She finally stops whimpering and lies there peacefully against my chest with her eyes closed.

Instead of shifting her to her crib so I could get something done, I sat and stared for a while. Her face was calm like everything in her world was right again. A little snore began to emerge as her pacifier slipped from her lips. I knew she'd sleep there forever if I didn't move.

That's when I discovered her gift. It was her complete trust in me. She can be at ease while I hold her, cuddle her, even kiss her while she sleeps.

It's an intoxicating feeling to have a baby fall asleep on you. Mother's Day wasn't the first time she did so, but I guess I never thought about how much it means to me until then.

At 6 months, she's not able to say "I love you," the three little words every parent waits for, but that nap is all I need to get me through several more moments of crankiness.

It's a good thing I'm not waiting for that verbal affirmation because so far the only three words I've heard her say clearly are "Da da da ..."