Our Time Together

There is so much activity going on inside and outside our home these days.  School, Gymboree, swim lessons, CCD, and the latest is Kumon.  We rarely get a break from our day to day routine.  But last Sunday proved to be a beautiful day.  The sun was shining and we decided to hang up the routine and head over to Webb Bridge Park for a much needed breath of fresh air. As I stood taking photos of my kids, it hit me.  They seemed so big.  They both have grown so much.  Christopher will be seven in April and Nathaniel will be four in June.  Time flies...

As I stood there taking photos and a video of Christopher swinging on the monkey bars, I kept thinking back to the many, sunny days we spent at our playground in Tampa.  We would swing and sing silly songs, one of his favorites was Sesame Street's, "Sunny Days."  We would sing number and color songs we learned from a little stuffed worm.  I was always nervous when he would jump or dance across the little wooden bridge that linked the slide to the jungle gym. I thought he'd never grow up.  But here we are, four years and four months later.  Long and lean, he has started a new chapter now.  Gone are the days of singing on the swings.  Now it's about other things like, "Look how high I can go, mommy!"  "I'm beating you, Nathaniel!" and "You can't catch me!"  Gone are the days when we would swing and sing together our funny songs about numbers and colors.  This day gave me a chance to reflect on those special times together.   A mother's preogative I guess.  He is such a beautiful boy with a gentle, kind, and loving soul that is deeply hidden under what can only be described as a ferocious energy force!  He does not have a stop button.  It's only go, go, go.  Yes, he has grown in so many ways.  I want him to slow down.  But I know the truth.  Slow is not in our future.

Nathaniel has come a long way in the growing up game.  He has blossomed into a loving, stubborn (so stubborn!), but happy child.  And like Christopher and I, we also got to spend many, happy, sunny days at our playground.  Swinging, however, was not exactly his favorite thing to do. I would get him situated and just as I would begin to push him, he would cringe with the most petrified look on his face.  I would slow him down to take him off and he would say his most favorite word, "No!"  As I watched him play last Sunday, it was clear to me his relationship with the swings had changed.  He seemed to really enjoy it now.  The picture I took of him reflects his tenacious free spirit, and captured joy that can only be seen through the eyes of a child.  The three years he has been ours have flown by.  It's clear, he has grown not only in size but in mighty personality.  Gone is the small, pale little baby who could barely sit up on his own.  Here now is a big boy.  A big boy with enormous conviction!

Then there is my husband.  Dedicated.  Loving.  My soul mate.  He is the best father, husband, son and son-in-law ever. He's alpha cat to our beloved furry family members.   The boys adore him.  My parents and his mother adore him.  I adore him.  He is the glue that holds our family together.  He is the holder of all things--toys, hands and hearts.

I will cherish the time we took for ourselves last Sunday.  Even though these photos are part of the past now, they captured in a few very brief moments the essence of our family time, reflective time and growing together time.  Our family has grown--very fast, so big and deeply close.