A Walking Contradiction

A funny thing happened while Hudson and I were in the waiting room at the pediatrician's office the other day.  We had to make an impromptu visit, when he woke up from his nap with his eyes swollen shut (a little infection, that some eye drops cleared up within a day, he is all better now).  Along with us in the office was a mom and dad and their brand new, super cranky baby boy.  He was much less than happy and so were his parents.  Hudson, however, was very happy and loved the little baby.  He couldn't stop smiling, waving and squealing with glee at him.  The baby's very tired father said "We can't wait till he is that age (referring to Huddy)."  I replied with the expected; "It'll be here before you know it, and you'll miss the days when he was that small."  The thing is, that I truly meant that drivel.  I did, I meant every word.  It came from an honest and surprising place.  The truthfulness of the words shocked me as they came out of my mouth.
In an instant I was right back in their place, with newborns that I had no idea what to do with, barely keeping my head above water, confused and of course not sleeping at all.  And, true to the euphemism, "That, too, did pass".  I remember hoping and longing for them to sleep through the night, to be done with making and cleaning bottles everyday, to not have a load of burp cloths to wash daily.  Those days are here now.  I'm spending my days with table food eating, mini-humans, who enable me to go up to 3 days without having to do the laundry.
And, so why am I sorting out their old clothes through tear flooded eyes?  Today when they found a box of their old baby toys, and played with them like they were brand new, I found myself sobbing at the sight of the old toys.  How is it possible that they're old enough to have "outgrown" items?  Furthermore, how is it possible that I'm sad that they are growing and becoming more independent?  A quality I looked forward to just 6 short months ago?  I'm not wishing for those days to be here again, make no mistake!  However, I'm still a little misty-eyed that they are gone by.  Perhaps, it's life's way of forcing me to enjoy the present and to be present.  I will have to remember this as I re-direct Dylan away from the trash can for the 17 millionth time today.

Here are some pics of our fun playground days!  These cool temps have been perfect for us to get out to the parks and explore!

If it were up to them, this is what they'd do all day long..
Play in the laundry room (or play with the trash can)