My Big Boy

Owen is 4 years and 9 months old on Monday. So big. So old. He'll be 5 in July. And, come August, he'll go to kindergarten. Kindergarten! Perhaps you didn't hear me--my BABY is going to be in KINDERGARTEN! This is pretty seriously freaking me out. Time flies! It's so cliche, but that must be because it's so true and it's such a powerfully overwhelming realization that you can't help but say it. Time is literally flying by me. I can so very clearly remember the moment that the midwife broke my water, the contractions began to come hard and fast, and then I was pushing, pushing, pushing, and then he was here. And I was--we were--completely and utterly transformed. In a moment we went from being a newly-married couple to a family. "It's a boy!" shouted by our teary-eyed midwife. Those words forever changed our lives. I remember seeing tears in Scott's eyes. Something I was pretty sure I would never see. (Like many foolish men, he prides himself on his stoicism. I say why hold it in? But whatever...) Tears in his eyes as he took in the little face and began to make calls to our family to announce the arrival of the first grandchild.

We became a family. And like I said, that was yesterday. Seriously. Where has this time gone? Since then, we've sold four cars and purchased 3 others. We've put our house on the market, moved to Illinois, and moved back. I've worked at two different schools. I've taken many months off work to care for my babies. We've traveled to Alaska, Yellowstone, Costa Rica, and Jamaica (That's not so bad in list form like that! How lucky are we?). We've repainted our house, sodded the backyard TWICE, put in new carpet and floors, spent roughly a billion dollars on Thomas the Train paraphernalia, and spent countless hours rocking babies, walking babies, swaying with babies, soothing babies. We've hosted barbecues, birthday parties, and baptism celebrations. And still, even with all these markers of time marching on, I can't believe Owen is as old he is. It seems like yesterday that he couldn't support his own head. Now he can name all of the letters of the alphabet, count to 100, list the planets of the solar system in order, and identify the parts of an insect. I can't believe that in a few short months I'll carefully select his first-day-of-school clothes, lovingly pack his first-day-of-school lunch (a good balance of healthy and yummy), and walk him the 0.8 miles to school, dropping him off at his kindergarten classroom. Crazy. And before I know it, it'll be the fifth grade dance, eight grade graduation, learning to drive, first dates, prom, graduation and off to college! Oh dear. I need to stop all this before I'm a blubbering mess. He's my baby. And he always will be. Now I understand that my mom really meant that when I was fourteen, and she still means it now. I love my little man. My big boy. My baby, grown up and (almost) off to kindergarten.

Enjoy the moments, whatever stage you're in. Even if the moment isn't the most fun, even if you're exhausted or up to your elbows in poop, enjoy it. Look at the face of that newborn/baby/toddler/teen/whatever, and drink it in. Love em up. And enjoy them while they're still yours!