From the moment she grasps your finger in her tiny hands or he gazes at you with his big blue eyes, a baby steals your heart. You feel, in a word, blessed. And if that feeling is difficult to remember during the 2 a.m. feedings, Baby Beatitudes is a pleasant reminder.

Baby love takes your breath away. Yet a new baby can send a family on a roller coaster ride of emotions. How can a creature so small bring such joy and such exhaustion at the same time?

Amid all the challenges parenthood brings, Baby Beatitudes offers comfort, encouragement, and humor to the participants in a baby's life-mothers, fathers, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents.

* Blessed are those babies who arrive on schedule, for they give you your last moment of ever being on time to anything.

* Blessed are the mothers who make mistakes, for they will learn to forgive their own mothers.

* Blessed is the father who changes dirty diapers, for he will learn that men can do what women do. Almost.

* Blessed is the mommy who organizes a playgroup, for she shall be called Chosen among all mommies.

New parents will smile in recognition at the truth and wit collected in this keepsake. Original art warmly illustrates these tender reflections, making Baby Beatitudes a book to cherish.