My precious boy

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach.

My precious boy,

I don't get many chances to have alone time with you, which made today's thin slice of time even more special. I find it absolutely amazing that putting a ball in and taking it out of a container, then placing the lid on and off kept you busy for 20 minutes. Watching you learn how this world operates is truly the mark of our Heavenly Father and a reminder that we are surrounded by His master engineering.

You are starting to sit still for me to read books to you, especially when there's no one else around. You love to throw balls. You are very intent on running everywhere you go. Just this week, after supper, I got you out of your high chair and put you down to let you play. Although, most of the "play" was you walking/running from room to room, carrying something in your hand while holding it up in the air, confidently declaring, "Dah! Dah!" I said to Daddy, "He doesn't slow down or be still. He just wants to walk around everywhere, all the time." And in true Daddy wisdom (since he understands being a boy a little bit more than I), he said, "He's a boy, Kel. That's what he's going to do. Go, go, go."

This morning I let you play with my hair dryer and cold curling iron while I was getting ready. You loved banging the end of the curling iron against the metal closet door, which was very loud. Daddy said, "He loves to make noise. That's a true boy."

I'm not saying I'll ever totally get this "boy" stuff, because I won't. But you sure are a wonderful little being to offer me the chance to learn more about your type.

So before you really start restricting me from loveying up on you, I will cherish every time I get to rest my lips on the top of your head to smell your sweet babyness, hold you as tightly against my body as I can while your body surrenders to the idea of rest, caress the soft skin on your cheeks and gaze into your eyes. I sense the time is coming where all that is going to be "too still" for you and the rest of the world will become much more enticing.

I am looking forward to being different with you than I am with your sister: playing rougher, letting you get dirty, admiring your "natural finds" from our yard, being splashed much more in the bathtub and re-discovering my inner growl.

I pray for you without ceasing and constantly remind myself that you are a big-person in training. I pray for your continued good health, for your mind to develop, for me and Daddy to be good examples of loving parents who love God, for your sister and you to love and care for each other, for you to love others and for God to place a strong desire in you to seek His will.

You are growing up so handsomely and your smile is contagious. I love you more than you'll ever know,

~Mommy