It's the little things that get me

I truly love being a mama. I like having the rolling cycle of needs, food, sleep, diaper change, play, repeat. I love watching him learn things. I didn't cry when he weaned himself, learned to sit up, roll over, or walk. Those are all good things that I have seen many babies learn and it seems so exciting and good. It doesn't bother me that he will never hesitantly drag himself along on his belly again trying to learn how to be mobile. It's the small stuff that really puts a lump in my throat. Let me explain.

 It was the first time he sat in the bathtub playing with his bath seat instead of sitting in it. That was a lump-in-the-throat-don't-cry-moment.

 

 It was when we took his bouncy seat over to Aunt Kimmi's for Josiah to play with since Jack was longer than it. We sat in the car for a few minutes to get over that lump-in-the-throat-don't-cry-moment. He wasn't supposed to actually outgrow stuff, just learn new things! :)

It was when we sang "Happy Birthday" on March 31st and everyone in the room said "dear Jack" in the song. That little boy came to us from God and everyone was singing about it a whole year later! I almost choked on that lump-in-the-throat-don't-cry-moment as I tried to finish singing the last "Happy Birthday tooooooooo you!"

(this is the video of his exuberant first-time-cake-eating that I have tried to load multiple times before. Hopefully it works this time!)

Most recently it was the "first hole in the knee of his pants" that gave me a lump-in-the-throat-don't-cry-moment. It makes me laugh that I was actually proud of him for playing hard enough, chasing that soccer ball fast enough and long enough to get it that he earned that hole in his pants. But, a hole in the knee definitely means he is a bigger kid than the little guy that outgrew the bouncy seat.

He took 11 steps in a row on Saturday morning. Soon he will be walking without the wobbly loopy steps that send him reeling forward or plopping backwards. That doesn't make me cry, but probably watching him race with Jon someday soon will. Especially when Jon lets him win.