Little Snapshots

Pictures are great because they allow you to freeze time for just a moment as your kids travel the path of growing up, which at times seems like it's happening at warp speed. Videos can be even better because they capture the voices, higher than they are just months later, more cryptic, with funny little anomalies of language. But as kids get older and life gets busier, the cameras get dragged out less frequently, reserved only for special occasions - holidays, vacations, performances, etc. - and the precious moments of daily life get lost in the shuffle, and thus forgotten. And this is why I write. So many times a day, something funny happens, or one of the boys cracks me up with one of their nuggets of early language, and I think to myself, "I've got to write that down!". But then the day goes by and I forget and the moment is lost. So I am going to resolve to be better about recording these little moments, to capture these little snapshots of life.

One thing I have been meaning to record is Ethan's bedtime ritual of late. I'm not sure when this started, but every night, at some point after we've tucked him in (could be 5 minutes on a good night or much longer on a rough night), he calls down to us and says "Mommy, good night, I'm going to sleep now!". He says it in such a sweet little voice, and since he still has some trouble with his "l"s, it's more like "I'm going to sweep now!", which is even sweeter. Then I call back "Good night sweetie, I love you!", and he says "I love you too!" (or "I wuv you too!"). And he promptly falls asleep. It sounds silly, but it is such a sweet little interchange, and no matter what kind of day we've had - what buttons he's pushed, how much we've bumped heads - this nightly ritual smooths everything over and puts a smiley face on our day. In that moment, Ethan still seems so young and innocent, so sweet and pure, and I just want to freeze time and hold that moment in my heart forever.

Adam has his own bedtime ritual, albeit a bit wackier. As we are tucking him in, Adam will say "I want to sit and hug for a minute". I have no idea where this came from, but he likes to be propped up, sitting on the side of his crib, and snuggle for a moment. Then he says "kiss" and we obey. Then we tumble him into his crib upside down, to which he responds with a big guffaw as if it is the first time we've ever played this game. Then some "I love you"s (as an aside, Adam has just started saying impromptu "I love you"s, which is such a lovely development; he has been returning these words for awhile, but now he'll just walk up and tell us he loves us at random times) and some more giggles and it's off to bed for our little monkey.

I treasure these tiny morsels of Ethan-ness and Adam-ness and want to remember them forever, to be able to tell my boys what they were like at 4 and 2 when they're all grown up. And this is why I write.