watching them grow

How do we measure growth? The obvious methods of height charts and scales, okay.....

But really, as mom's, we measure the growth of our littles in entirely different ways.

And it's in these special ways that we realize how fleeting each moment, each period, each milestone is.

I don't get teary-eyed when I see that my son has gained 3 pounds on the scale, or when I realize his shoes are now in single big-people digits size. 

The tears and moment of pause come from other things.

When I watched my little girl brushing her hair the other morning and pulling a section neatly back with a bow, then she sat down on the floor as she tied her sneakers and then offered to help her little brother with his shoes- it stilled me. One moment it's slip on shoes like Mary Janes or Crocs or flip flops, the next she is lacing up her sneakers and tying them into perfect little bunny ears. She is not a baby girl anymore. Tears.

When I go to wake Tyler up for school and see him sitting on his bed reading a book, all dressed for school, backpack next to him and a full lunch box ready to go. My son can make a turkey sandwich all by himself. Wha....when did he...whaaa?? Why do I want to cry when I see him using a knife to carefully spread a dab of mayo across the bread, stack nice layers of turkey, and then use the knife to divide his sandwich into two? The lunch making is no longer an exclusive duty of mine. It's not something he needs me to do for him anymore. When did he get so big?

Don't even get me started on the day Jack learns to properly pronounce the "L" and "Th" sounds. Oh my gosh. When our cat becomes Lucky instead of Yucky, when he gets his Legos instead of his Yegos. When things are This and That, and not Diss and Dat. I'm gonna need to sit down for that.

And then there is this one. The little strawberry patch on her forehead is fading fast, leaving not much trace of the baby that came her own way a little over a year ago. She is walking and dancing and likes to yell out "RAHHH!" to us-- cause you know it's super scary! The same little girl that was stretching and kicking inside my belly not too long ago is now lifting my shirt up a bit to blow raspberries on my tummy. In a blink.

It's a blessing to watch our babies grow, to watch them learn, absorb, apply and do. But as a mom.......as a mom.....it's a reminder of how fast it all passes and sends my heart on that impossible quest of bottling every drop of every moment up.

Those height charts ain't got nothin' on watching my kids skip away from me in shoes they laced up all on their own. And a turkey sandwich.....a turkey sandwich has me in tears.