My Shaker and Mover

It is such a wondrous thing... life. I caught myself staring at pictures on my fridge this afternoon with the biggest smile on my face. You know those silly pictures you take in the machine in an arcade... those ones where everyone is crammed in a small space. I could spend hours watching Toby explore the world around him. I could spend hours watching Griff and Toby play on the living room floor as Toby crawls all over Griff. Before he came along people would tell me, "you're house is going to be a disaster and you won't care anymore" and I would think to myself, not me I'm too much of a clean freak. And today I found myself in the middle of the living room surrounded with toys, Toby pulling books off the book shelf and throwing them carelessly over his shoulder as he conquered the challenge of getting the next book off the shelf, two 13 year old boys yelling at each other through the heating vents from different rooms around the house and I realized that my cup runneth over.

This morning I went in to get Toby from his crib at his usual early morning hour and there my little man was standing up in his crib, his little chubby fists clenching to the rails waiting for mommy to come through that door to play with him. And I couldn't help but wonder, how did my little 7 pound Toby who would lay in the same spot and not move turn into this almost 10 month old. I just can't even anticipate the day that I send him to kindergarten, or I give him the car keys, or help him move into his own place, watch him get married, rush to the hospital to see his first child being born... the cycle of life that is so awe inspiring now that I am a parent.

The way Toby laughs at Griff and gets really excited as Griff follows us up the stairs when it's bath time.
Reading to Toby as he sits on my lap as we listen to daddy's voice on the book.
Grabbing his two little hands in mine and letting him lead the way to the bathtub.
Watching him swim around in the tub, switching from his belly to his back, to sitting up as he chases his toys around the bubbles.
The way he grabs 6 snack puffs at once and tries to shove them all in his mouth normally only successfully getting 1 in his mouth if he's lucky.
The way he grabs his juice cup and sucks happily on the straw for minutes on end.
The way he pulls himself up to stand next to the couch then looks at me like "did you see that momma... did you see that!"

You truly see the world in a totally different view then you did before him, before your child enters your life. This little being that looks up at you with tears in his eyes when he falls over and over again when trying to conquer a new skill. And there you are as a parent to scoop him up, give him kisses and hugs and words of encouragement as you continue to give him skills and support until he conquers it. The look of pride and accomplishment that can cross a 10 month olds face is amazing.

This little man will soon be 1. One full year. How quickly life goes by. And I do not want to waste a single minute of it.