This Post Is For Me

I want to freeze time.  I always thought I wanted my kids closer in age.  I was really concerned that a 3.5 year age gap would be too big.  Maybe at some point it will be but right now it's perfect.  Kade is old enough to be protective.  He's old enough to be helpful--legitimately helpful, not the "you're-mommy's-good-helper-now-I-have-to-go-back-and-fix-what-you-just-did" sort of way.  He's old enough to be a good teacher and a nurturer.  To give kisses and hugs to Mason and not be jealous of attention being taken away from him.  He watches Mason like a hawk, he keeps small objects out of the way, he brings him toys to play with.

I want to freeze time because Kade is so imaginative right now.  Every sentence starts with "Mom, pretend I..."  It's always something to do with farming, or construction, or sports.  And it's detailed.  "Mom, pretend I have to get the bales in.  But it's raining and I have to go to work.  And I have a football game tonight.  And I have to combine the corn but it ran out of gas so we have to go to Kwik Trip.  And I have to put a shed up."  It's literally never ending words coming out of his mouth.  And he still ALWAYS dresses the part.  He still changes his outfits a minimum of 5 times a day.

I want to freeze time because every morning we wake up to Kade and Mason laying in the crib together, giggling.  Kade crawls in with Mason and they spend the first 10 minutes of the day together,  just the two of them bonding.

I want to freeze time because Mason is getting SO BIG.  He crawls everywhere, fast.  He runs in the walker, especially when Molly is in front of him.  He ADORES Kade.  He's eating everything.  He's drinking out of a sippy cup.  He's signing "more".  He's no longer my snuggly little baby but not yet a toddler.

From the time he was born he was a snorter.  Everyone said he sounded like a little pig.  The Dr said something wasn't fully developed in his throat yet.  I loved it though.  I loved it even more in the middle of the night, when I woke up for the 99th time to listen to make sure he was breathing.  He was so loud I didn't have to listen very hard or long.  I don't know when he finally stopped snorting and that makes me sad.  It just went away and I was too busy to notice.

I want to freeze time because now he's replaced his snorts with with blowing raspberries.  

Mason say mama:  "pfssst"

Mason say dada:  "pfsssst"

Mason say Kado:  "pfsssst"

Always, always accompanied with a big smile and a gallon of spit.  He looks so proud of himself and his shirt looks like he spilled a full cup of water down the front.

I want to freeze time because every night, after he's finished his bedtime bottle, he snuggles into my shoulder and falls asleep in the "sleeper hold".  It's my favorite time of day with him.  I literally kiss his cheeks the entire time and take mental pictures of his sweet, sleeping, baby face.

I want to freeze time because every time Kade wrestles with Mason I think he's being way too rough.  Then I see the ear-to-ear grin on Mason's face and hear the big belly laugh coming from him and realize he's loving it.  I am a bit concerned about the state of my house when Mason is big enough to wrestle back.  I honestly believe Mason is destined to have a promising future in wrestling.  He's never once cried because of some move Kade has tried on him.  The kid is tough!

I wanted to get this written down because I never want to forget what my babies are like right now.  Every stage is awesome but so far, this stage is my favorite.  If I can't freeze time at least I can write down and try to capture a little snapshot of what life is like right now, for my memory.  This post was for me.