Bye-Bye Grapes

In the beginning, there were milestones, and those milestones stretched before us in a neat and tidy checklist of What to Expect anticipation. “At five to six weeks your baby may smile!” And so we waited…and analyzed the latest nasal twitch…and then one day, there it was! He smiled! It happened! It’s a baby miracle! I was not aware before having a child that you can watch someone almost roll over for months on end, but you really, really can! Everything feels a little slow motion. In reality, babyhood is clipping by like you’re at the races with the winning horse and then it’s over…but in the moment there’s much waiting and watching.

Enter toddlerhood…I can’t wait on anything and there’s nothing to watch for because it’s all happening rightthisverymomentallatthesametime! I can’t keep up! That adorable thing that he did where he responded “KAYYYYYY” to everything you said? It was cute and now it’s over! What was that thing that I meant to write down the other day that made me laugh until I was gasping? I don’t know, because 12,000 things have happened since then! I’m always searching frantically for the video camera only to just miss that one thing he did that needed to be recorded for all posterity. What if I forget about “dance party!?” How he says “ohhhh daddy” like a little british hobbit when Mathew tickles him. The way he mimics that thing Elmo does with his arms before he asks a question. How about the way I heard that tiny little voice say "love you" after I turned out the light and closed the door last night? What about the way he greets and says bye-bye to all of the food items in the grocery store? “Bye-bye grapes!”

I guess those things that slip away so fast are always replaced by something else that is amazing in that moment…I just wish that you could hoard everything from this moment too. Would there be something sooo wrong with an 18 year old that says a cheery farewell to the produce? It’s bittersweet, this parenting…