Saturday, November 14, 2009

an hour well spent

Warning: Mushy baby story ahead. Proceed (or not) by your own discretion.

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, there's a baby gate in our house. I don't know why this feels worth talking about considering there's an actual BABY in our house, so the gate is pretty small potatoes, relatively speaking. I guess it's just one of those iconic items for me. I spent so long feeling like stuff like that belonged in everyone else's world but mine. But what do you know? We brought one home last week and M screwed it into the studs at the top of the staircase into our basement. It is clear that a baby lives in our house. Crazy.

He has become so mobile so quickly over the past few days. He went from crawling to zooming around to pulling up to furniture-walking in a matter of days. He's also 8 months old today. The speed with which he is growing up is affecting me a bit, I think...

I was trying to put Elliot down for a nap this afternoon and he was putting up one heck of a fight. When he gets really tired, he gets super-cranky and he stiffens and thrashes and can't relax enough to sleep. He's really strong and it's hard not to get frustrated when he fights like that. I'll admit that it is usually with no small sense of relief that I settle him into his crib after one of those episodes. When he finally did pass out this time, he was nestled against me so perfectly that I couldn't bear to let go of him. I put the foot rest up, leaned the recliner back, and laid there with him sleeping on me for almost an hour. As I was holding him, I tried to soak up every last bit of the experience; to memorize the feel of him. I know that before I know it, he will be too big and too "cool" to snuggle with like that. I feel hyper-sensitive to how quickly these days will be gone and how little sensory memory I'll be able to take with me.


4 comments:

Two Moms, Two Monkeys said...

I love these moments. I try and remember to do the same thing with the boys every day during one of their moments, whether it be napping or playing, I take a second to concentrate and really cherish that moment. I even try and record many of them with the camera. Sometimes I have to set it up on the couch and we may not fit perfectly in the picture but its good enough. They do grow so fast, and its hard to let go of each phase even though you are excited for the next. Miles is absolutely adorable by the way!

Delenn said...

I totally agree, it goes so fast! We recently installed our top stair family gate--and I found the remenents of the gate we used with our first one--who is almost 11 years old now...and I cannot believe that he is almost a teenager (and then there are times I can totally believe it!).

All you can do is live in the moment. Every stage is a pleasure...

Enjoy!

tireegal68 said...

What a sweet post! Elliot sounds like he really is a livewire and walking at 8 months - wow!!!!

Anonymous said...

That is really sweet and I can totally understand the sentiment. Miles never falls asleep on me anymore (although we didn't want him to get accustomed to that anyway), so whenever he's sleepy/cuddly, I always cherish that snuggle time.