Mobility~The Wheels Are Turning!

A parent learns and grows as much as the child in the first year. Of this I have no doubt. The only dramatic difference is that we (parents) have real examples of past triumphs, tribulations, and failures to gauge the process from.

I am immersed in waves of real life. Awe and wonder are ingredients of my everyday life and more often than not, I simply find myself smiling ear-to-ear while I watch his little wheels turn.

Currently Braden is on the launch pad to independent mobility.  He is exploring the desire for things just out of his reach surpassing his ability to reach them. He can scoot on his belly, which usually just ends up in a tummy pivoted 360. He can bring himself to his knees from sitting by simply extending his reach, which usually just ends up on him lightly face planting. And he can reach further than humanly possible in the manner that one might take one last reach for the lifeline that will pull them back into the boat.

The fascinating thing is to watch the facial expressions depict his internal monologue  I am convinced that while he cannot form words or sentences externally , his internal monologue is well spoken and seemingly narrated  in a James Lipton fashion. "If I just do this than perhaps I can do this...DAMMIT!" or "OK. Let me move this foot here and try to stretch...DAMMIT, why is the other foot wedged so helplessly behind my knee?".

The other notable nuance of this whole scenario is the juxtaposition of my son learning to get mobile and my mother having recently lost the ability to be so, sharing the same property. Everyday I smile that "he's up to something" smile while watching him explore his inevitability  while everyday I sigh that "I wish it weren't this way" sigh of watching my mom comes to grips with her inevitably.

Some days, most days, the simple desire to write about this battle keeps me from watching them fight to the death, and a part of my daily internal soundtrack is the Lion Kings-Circle of Life, but one without the other would be far too much emotion for one "new parent" to handle.

Time~Resistance is Futile!

I have always wanted to use "resistance is futile" but never imagined the term would quite be in the scope that  I am using it.
Having taken a crack at this parenthood thing now for the better part of eight months I have drawn various conclusions. Most done so out of the sheer necessity sanity saving tweaks.
Time is one that would make the largest difference in a parents life, yet remains (timelessly) out of our control.

In a young parents life, everything is time-

The seconds last for eternity but the days/weeks/months are gone in the blink of an eye.

Hurry up were, late! Why is he up soooo early?

Warm the babies food up for 38 seconds only! No more/No less.

What time is the babysitter coming? How long do we have the sitter for? What time does the sitter have to be home? Sorry your late getting home.

If the trip takes 14 minutes, I can feed him for 23 minutes which will give us 2 hours and 15 minutes to enjoy the show before we have to take the 7 minute walk back to the car to feed for 23 minutes and come home.

Are you recording the TV tonight because he wont be bathed in time?

4:00 pm-When will you be home? 1 hour. 4:07 pm-How has it not been an hour yet?

We should have the party at 2 pm so everybody comes on time. Everybody's late.

Dinners not until 9 tonight, he took a 2 hour nap.

You don't usually poop at this time a day, and never this much!

Happy 1st Birthday little man......Happy 21st Birthday son....I can't belive your 40.

I have always known, as any free thinker would, that to resist time is futile. There is nothing you can do about grey hair, an extra candle, or a couple of creaky joints. But until I became a parent I had no idea how important a minute can be.