Mindy Kaling Jokes Her Daughter Katherine Only Thought of Her as a 'Food Source' Until Recently

Mindy Kaling loves being a mom, even if her 3-month-old daughter Katherine Swati might only have thought of her as "a food source" at first

Mindy Kaling loves being a mom, even if her daughter Katherine Swati may only think of her as “a food source.”

On Wednesday’s episode of the Today show, the A Wrinkle in Time actress opened up to Hoda Kotb about motherhood and the bond she has developed with her baby girl, who was born Dec. 15.

“She’s so great. I just love being a mom. It’s just incredible,” said Kaling, 38, joking with fellow mom Kotb about some of the doubts she felt about her 3-month-old early on.

“It’s zero feedback except for crying for the longest time,” she lamented. “And then you start wondering, ‘Does she care about me [or] know about me besides that I’m a food source for her?’ ”

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But all that changed when Katherine started laughing. “She’s incredibly easy to make laugh,” Kaling, who produces and stars in the NBC comedy Champions, said of her only child.

She added, “It’s very nice, actually, verses my real job where it takes so much effort to make these shows. I just sing from The Sound of Music for her and she’s cracking up. It’s the best.”

Kaling also opened up about how being a mother has changed her.

“She bleeds over into all parts of my life,” Kaling said of her daughter. “Sometimes I find myself staring at my phone at a photo of her in a meeting. I’m just looking lovingly at a photo and everyone’s like, ‘What are you doing?’ I don’t know … it’s a great feeling.”

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In March, The Office alum spoke to PEOPLE about raising Katherine. “I love looking at her and figuring out who she’s going to be,” she said. “It’s so much fun!”

“Her whole thing now is constant smiles,” Kaling added. “I’m waking up every three hours to feed her and it’s a lot. But just when I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is overwhelming,’ she throws me a huge smile. It’s the best part of my day.”

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Though being a first-time parent can be overwhelming, Kaling has had some famous friends to turn to.

“Over text message, Reese [Witherspoon] talked me through how to carry an infant car seat on the airplane,” Kaling said of her Wrinkle costar. “We’re doing so much international travel and she was giving me really practical advice on how to carry a screaming baby on the plane. The most useful!”

As if that weren’t enough, the duo’s fellow Wrinkle costar Oprah Winfrey just may have out-Oprah’d herself with Katherine’s baby gift.

“She gave Katherine a custom bookcase in the shape of a castle and inside of it are 100 of the essential children’s books in the past 100 years,” Kaling shared. “Each book has embossed on it, ‘Katherine’s Book Club.’ It’s the gift that just keeps giving for years and years. I’ve already read her at least 10 of them. I’m so floored by it!”