At 2:46 pm today, he'll step off the bus as a first grader.
Where has the year gone?
He's gone from wanting to be a chef when he grows up to being an NBA star.
He's deepened his love for math and numbers.
He's jumped reading levels and discovered new authors and new characters.
He's made new friends and learned new dances and new phrases and new games.
He's continued to ask insightful questions and challenged our thinking and parenting in new ways.
It's amazing what a year holds--and how fast it can quickly go by. I know I'll never be able to slow time down, but I sure hope I can learn to slow down and be more present in these moments.
These moments where he walks around with a notepad in hand making lists--lists of basketball teams; and all the Why questions he can think of; and activities for his friends to do when they come to his house.
These moments when he wants to dribble and play catch and hit balls while waiting in the driveway for the bus to come.
These moments when he wants to snuggle right into my belly as we watch the Emoji movie for the 100th time.
These moments when he asks for one more slice of watermelon, and another, and another.
These moments when he runs into the house, kicks off his shoes, and heads straight to his room to sort more baseball cards.
These moments when a hose and a nozzle may as well be a water park in Atlantis.
These moments. These moments that are fleeting. By this time next year he'll be an entirely different boy (deep down every bit the same but with different interests, some deepened versions of the present, others brand new) with his heart and his mind occupied in different ways.
I don't know how to capture it all. I know I am already forgetting a bit of the boy we put on the bus last August. I don't want to spend our lives behind a camera. I know no amount of written documentation will replace being in the moment with our boy.
I'll physically document what I can. Otherwise, my mind and my heart will have to do the documenting as I breathe deeply, take in the moments while we are living them, and remain as absolutely present as I can.
Because if this isn't living in the moment, I sure don't know what is!
