Change

Change.... Life is constantly changing and evolving and yet change is still hard to accept sometimes. My little guy decided to wake up at 5am this morning and stay awake until 6am when I decided maybe we should just get up. I texted my husband in the other room and he came in to take Lucas and let me sleep but I was awake enough that I got up too. 

My son isn't very active, he's walking around unsteady like he's tired so hopefully he'll go back to sleep soon. In the meantime I might as well have my Cheerios metaphorically speaking. 

Getting up this early makes it easy to snuggle with my son. For a while he and my husband were snuggled on the couch nice and cozy. He's on the floor now watching juicebox (fid friendly music videos). It's a quiet morning for us but my son still finds a reason to smile, puffy eyes and all, just happy to be alive with Mommy and Daddy. His smiles make a lot of things seem better. 

So while I would have loved another hour or two of sleep, I am glad for the extra time with my son and husband when we have nothing better to do than just hang out in the living room. 

Cheerio: change is a chance to experience the norm differently. Embrace it, even when it happens at 5 or 6 in the morning. 

Not wanting it to end

I have been observing this more now that my son has been walking for a little over a month. I let him walk beside me on the side walk and at some point something will catch his attention and he'll stop and look at it. I usually give him a few minutes as long as he's safe then try to get him to keep going. 

When he finally decides to walk to me he'll take a few steps then promptly turn around and walk the other way. I'm not sure if he wants me to follow him, if the walk is over, or if he wants the walk to take longer. Some days I'd really love to know what he's thinking. 

This is a great practice of my patience. I don't want to curb his curiosity and hurry him all the time so I try to let him explore as long as he wants. I think it is a practice I will continue to work on because for now we have the time to take to explore. 

Cheerio: making the journey just a little longer is helping me to enjoy my son just a little but more. Thank you for this lesson. 

To experience life for the first time

Pure excitement and smiles that encompass the whole body... Excitement that can't be contained (hence the squeals that accompany them). That's what it is to be a child who doesn't know the difference between being cool and not. 

My son also vibrates with excitement too.  He'll do a little shake with his arms and hands and he'll even squat like he doesn't know if he should sit or stand. Makes me realize that society and just maturing forces us to lose that abandonment and wonderment that children are born with. 

Cheerio: pure joy and excitement that children experience that as a parent you have to smile and encourage. 

Personal challenge: to try to look at the world like a child goes and get back to experiencing the here and now. 

Milestone

The last two weeks of July my son started learning to walk. The big question had been if he would be walking by the time we arrived in New Brunswick because he has a cousin who is almost three. He walks all the time now and only seems to crawl if he wants to go somewhere quickly. It's a very exciting time for him as we encourage him to walk to us as well as to so many other things. 

I have to admit I sometimes wish this development took longer as I did not appreciate the ease if caring for him before he could crawl. Ah the days when I could sit him somewhere and know that he was safe and would still be in that spot when I come back into the room after starting the laundry or cleaning a bathroom. Hindsight is both wonderful and frustrating. 

Cheerio: He can now explore and chase and run (still walk) to meet daddy. From this milestone I can see him learning at a much higher rate.