Dinner conversation

One night as my husband and son sat down for dinner, the littlest mouth at the table turned to the biggest mouth and said, “How was your day Daddy?”

There was silence for a few seconds as the enormity of the moment sunk in. My husband could barely maintain his composure. The little ones words had melted the big one’s heart.

Happiness in a front loader

Every time my son pretends he is going to work, I ask him, “Where do you work?” He says, as if I should know by now, “with the dump trucks!” He is passionate about dirt and dumping. He knows, without hesitation, what makes him happy.

Kids on a hill

My neighbor comes out and yells up the hill. “It’s like an amphitheater out here.”

I laugh and agree. But, I guess we are being loud, free with our words, obnoxious maybe. The grass is lush beneath our feet and we make a playground of the hilltop.

Cookies for breakfast

When I hear it, I plunk my feet on the floor and walk up the stairs. My chest rises and falls with every inhale, exhale. The voice on the monitor is no longer a baby.

First words turn into first thing in the morning activities. “Honeycombs,” “juice,” “Barney.” One morning he actually said, “pasta.” This boy is hungry for words. He is full of life.

When I say “book” to distract him while I change his diaper, he happily obliges. He looks at Elmo and opens the tabs to see who’s hiding behind the door, under the bed, in the closet. There’s lots of places to look in this book.

Everybody needs a change

The little one’s voice is big. He’s nudging me while I sleep. Mama. Mama!

There are grunts between glimpses of speech. His hand is on my shoulder blade, digging in.

Why?

I try to put an end to the whys but they keep coming.

Please don’t jump on the couch. The little voice pipes up, “why?” He is just getting started.

“You might fall."