I am sure that every parent has had the feeling that they would like to freeze moments in their child's life, moments that stand out from the rest and make a parent excited and happy to be a parent. I am no different. I was thinking the other night as I drifted off to sleep that I would just like to capture and hold certain moments in my son's life that make me smile, laugh, get excited, and surprise me. The list of moments that I would like to freeze is never ending as every day presents a new moment for me to remember, to hold, and to cherish. Some of those moments are amazing in my mind, others are simply cute, and others are just downright adorable. The list I speak of, part of which I will go through today and which by no means will be a complete one, starts with an activity that my son just figured out how to do within the past two days. That activity, rocking himself in a rocking chair. It is by far one of the coolest things I have seen him do yet. We have a little rocking chair, just his size, that he can scoot into and sit in. Well, yesterday after I got home, he got in the chair and started rocking it almost to the point of tipping it over and at times almost rocking himself right out of the seat. He has figured out the body motion necessary and the correct timing to rock it incessantly without stopping. He even went so far as to grab a book in his bedroom, climb into our full size rocking chair that we sit in when we are putting him to bed, and rock himself while flipping through the book. I also want to freeze the moments when, at 21 months old, he grabs either my wife's or my hand and walks right down the stairs from our second floor, no but used, no railing, just a hand and his feet. He has also taken to walking right up the stairs while holding our hand without using his knees at all. Talk about progress.
I want to freeze the moment when I come home in the afternoon, open our back door, and am greeted by my son shouting somewhere in the house, "Dada!" and running into my arms to give me a hug. I want to freeze the moment when I am holding him and he wants to help stir whatever is cooking on the stove. The moment when he points at the coffee maker and wants to make coffee for his daddy, pushing the button on the coffee bean grinder, bringing me to the place where the coffee filters are, opening the coffee maker, pointing to the next steps, and finally pushing the button to start the coffee making process. The moment when he takes a small dust brush for the floor and tries brushing his hair with it. Or the moment when he grabs the electric clippers we use to cut his hair and runs it through his hair in imitation. The moments where we chase each other around the house, him laughing and giggling the whole time, and then just hugging each other when he gets tired. Or the moments when in the midst of chasing, I hide around a corner, jump out, scare him a little, and all he does is smile and say, "Hi!" afterwards. The moments in the morning when I go to get him out of bed, start rubbing his back to wake him up, and he just lays there letting me rub his back. Or the moment like yesterday when I am hunched over on the floor petting our cat and he starts rubbing my back. The moments when he wants to dive face first from my lap over the arm of the couch, onto the couch. The moment when I pick him up from day care, he sees me, drops what he is doing, and runs right over into my arms. The moment when I look over outside and he is weeding, despite the fact that he is weeding actual flowers. The moment when I look over and see him carrying firewood over to me, almost too heavy for him to hold. The moment when we start cleaning up his toys at the end of the day and he helps put everything back where it belongs. The moment when he spills some water on the floor and points to the paper towel so he can clean it up. Or the moment when I walk into the room and realize that every piece of furniture has been scribbled on with chalk, and partially wiped off by him as well. The moment when he wants to help vacuum with the full size vacuum cleaner. The moment when he puts on one of my hats, backwards so he can see, and wears it till he goes to bed. Or the moment when anything can become a hat, a wipe, paper towel, box, or newspaper.
These are just some of the moments that I would like to freeze in my son's life. I could go on and on, probably repeating some of them because I just think they are awesome, but for now this list will suffice. I am sure as I walk away from the computer this morning I will think of many more that I wish I had written down but didn't. One being that despite the fact that our son has never played with one of our iPhones, seen how it works, or anything, can find one, carry it around, and say incessantly into it, "Hello?" He is just amazing to watch grow up. I truly can't believe that it has only been two years and that just a year ago, he wasn't even walking yet. What progress he has made in his short life so far. Every day, every moment, brings unexpected surprises, teaching moments, moments that require a plethora of patience, yet in the end, every little bit of it is worth it. I wouldn't trade any moment away. Even those moments that are trying end up teaching me more about myself and how to handle situations. As parents, maybe we should pay a little more attention to our little ones as they too, have a lot to teach us about life. Through learning how to be patient and deal with them on their level, perhaps we can learn more about how to deal with each other in the real world. For now, though, I must end my writing. It is Friday and I must be out of the house early. To all moments that every parent wants to freeze, I raise my coffee mug and take a nice big swig! Cheers!
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