moment to moment
The kid is changing every day in seemingly very small ways, yet, when you really stop to think about it in about a week he has gone from not being able to lay without being held to parking it under his new Chinese-Plastic-Rainforest for 15 minutes at a time.
He can sit under there coo, smile and occasionally pout.
These may be small steps for mankind but, huge steps for this little boy.
Marc, like most dads, is having a bit of a struggle waiting for the kid to become, well, a kid. Babies are whiny, stressed out little creatures that change moment to moment. The trick that put him to sleep for his nap this morning, yeah, you can forget that because it’s not going to work anymore. Men, seem to like absolutes - like working on a car - the car doesn’t fire, replace a spark plug. Done. Marc has been blessed with the gift and now, it seems, curse of being able to live in the moment. I on the other hand have the tendency to live in the future - this means that when it comes to the kid I can already see him growing up, riding bikes, going off to college - I can see the light at the end of this spit-up covered tunnel. But, Marc only sees this and can’t fathom it changing.
My mom sent over a photo this morning of me as a tot playing in my sandbox with my dad.
I think this is all I did as a child. I LOVED that sandbox. And many memories of childhood summers begin in the backyard and end in that sandbox. I can’t wait to watch Marc play with the kid in his sandbox (I can only assume that my dad has started designing one for Harrison… hint, hint). I promise, Marc, sooner than you can imagine you’ll be out there covered in dirty sand, surrounded by old spatulas, buckets and ham containers (OK maybe not ham containers) building sand-cities with your son.
Listening: Iron & Wine
Aimee you always were the hands on type. Remember, the neighbors who lived in the house above us dubbed you “the sandbox queen” because they used to love to watch you playing there. Mom
Ooh. Best sandbox innovation idea ever: Get an old tent. Set it up in the area you want your sandbox to be. Pour sand into the tent. When sand box is not in use, zip up door to tent.
Benefits include: kid plays in the shade (important in Texas), fire ants and other biting insects stay out of the sand (also important in Texas) & neighborhood cats can not use sand for their nefarious purposes (important everywhere).
Got this from a friend who’s nannied for about 15 years; she swears by the sand tent!
very nice! i like it, but, you will notice that the “dad-designed-&-built” sandbox that the photo is of was built at a 2-year-old’s waist-height. so that i could play in the sandbox without having to get dirty or sit down… so, maybe we can find a big enough tent to place a “grandpa-designed-&-built” sandbox in it!
Now that is a cute baby! He is really taking shape.
We just got back from our reunion in Hawaii. The t-shirts were a big hit, thanks to you. Close your eyes and visualize 32 people all in t-shirt floating around the big island. On group trips, the shirt made it easier to heard everyone along.
Love to all.