Saturday, July 29, 2006

Too fast...too fast...

My little man turned two years old today.

How this happened is beyond me. Because about eight seconds ago, he was >>this<< big. I could hold in him one hand. He slept in a bassinet beside my bed, when he wasn’t snuggled right up next to me nursing. I carried him everywhere, and it was like carrying thistle-down.

He was this.



And now…suddenly…overnight…



It’s gone so fast.

He’s traded in his sleep-n-play rompers for button-down shirts and blue jeans; rubber-bottomed socks have become miniature Nike’s; fireman-crawling across the playroom rug has become running full-tilt through the house.

My baby is a toddler. He is becoming more and more complex every day.

Funny – ever since I became a parent, it’s like the planet has sped up. Days go by in a blur; weeks and months and years shoot past. I see my children growing before my eyes.

On the one hand, I want to wrap them up in my arms and not let them grow any more. I want to protect their childhood, to lengthen it, to let them have as many hours as I can of this time. This time when things are simple, when the rules are clear, when mommy and daddy can fix anything in the whole world.

On the other, I can’t wait to see what they’re going to become. I look at Captain Adventure and I see a complex little person. Smart, adventurous (as long as Mommy’s around), sweet, funny, sensitive, stubborn, creative…I can’t wait to meet the man he will become.

Although I suspect, even if he develops a baritone voice and a mountain man’s beard, I’ll still hear his infant laughter and remember the butterfly-wing feel of his infant head against my lips.

6 comments:

RM Kahn said...

You are training my Godchild just right. I see a pirate ship in that picture! Whoo Hoo the BIG 2!! All right Mom & Dad.!

Unknown said...

Two years? Say it isn't so!

Very Herodotus said...

oooh, he's a handsome cuss! Happy Birthday Captain Adventure!!

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday to the Captain!
He's a cutie!
My nephew just turned two this weekend as well. It's amazing how fast they grow :o)

21st Century Mom said...

Whoa! Seems like he was just born yesterday to me, too.

Come to think of it - it seems like mine were just born yesterday and they have had all had the temerity to turn into adults. How does that happen? There is no reasonable explanation.

21st Century Mom said...

... not to mention robbing me of my ability to write a coherent sentence. Oh well..