I like that generally speaking, I feel like I'm always learning new things. I try to, anyway. Some things are small (e.g. how to make a .gif file in Photoshop), & other things are big (e.g. how to make my baby fall asleep & stay asleep). I'm always keeping a mental list of the other things I'd like to know how to do (knitting a bear, train for & finish a marathon, play the guitar, be really great at using Illustrator so I can create the things that are spinning around in my head, make really fantastic cookies, etc. etc...). Our learning in life is obviously progressive & increasingly complex. We walk before we run. This holds true with motherhood. Despite the fact that I surveyed my lovely friends & read every book that I could get my hands on before last September, I'm still constantly humbled to realize that I still knew very, very little about raising a child. I still find myself asking a dozen daily questions, calling my friends or mother for help, or jumping on my computer to look something up. Lots & lots of questions. Always. Trying to learn how to mother best, & remembering that basic building blocks turn into mountainous milestones.
Quinn! He's a perfect example of this. He's learning new things every day, & we celebrate the most mundane achievements with more excitement than I could have ever understood before we had our own. We're teaching him these tiny things every day & all of a sudden he's developing into a person. Who eats vegetables, & giggles, & has a personality. 7 months later & he's sitting up in a swing.
We went to Texas to visit the Burtons last week. One of the zillion reasons why I love Erin is because she's one of a small handful of my most special friends who has taught me how to be mother. Every time I think about these girls, my throat starts to feel funny & my eyes get watery. I'm grateful to them (& will continue to say this over & over again). In all seriousness though, one of the loveliest things about being in Texas was remembering + getting to see first hand again what a wonderful mama Erin is. She is smart, & patient & kind. She's a good teacher. She is a good mother. Fox & Indiana are going to grow up to be really fantastic human beings in large part because of her.
We took the kids (3 of them! 3 car seats in the backseat!) to the park one afternoon. It was hot. Quinn had never experienced weather like this before & I caught him a few times just taking it in - the hot sun on his face. And then we put him in the bucket seat swing, & all of a sudden, I had a little boy who was swinging. Or at least sitting in a swing & moving just a tiny bit. Indiana was happy & swinging away & laughing, & Fox was pushing her (because he's three & so grown up), & it was like this full circle of life right in front of us. Even if it was just a swing set. It was just simple & beautiful & happy.
I feel like I'm having a really hard time lately avoiding waxing poetically about motherhood. But really, there are these sweet but poignant moments - like when my little boy gets in a swing for the very first time - where I'm just really grateful, & really content that I get to teach him about small things every day. Like warm sun & swinging.
(Erin took some of these & I took some of these.)
9 comments:
the one where his eyes are closed, feeling the wind in his wispy hair... heart palpitations. also. it's imperative that you wax poetic once in a while. it just means you're on the brink of divinity here. because tomorrow he might throw up carrot puree all over the man next to you on the subway or you'll discover that is NOT leftover bean burrito on your shirt and you're going to have to be able to come back to this proverbial place of total bliss. that's the cyclical beauty of motherhood.
p.s. how's the sleep situation coming along? you're a wonderful mom.
oh, as for erin... she's on everybody's "favorite" list. erin, your babies are so big and so beautiful. houston, houston, houston...
those pictures turned out really cool. the colors and big blue sky are so texan.
the first sit in a swing is special. but for me, those are the kind of milestones that always came after seeing another little baby in a swing and I think 'could he really be old enough?' (then I try it and feel bad that I didn't figure it out myself.. sooner). I love that age and it's amazing how much will come at you and quinn in the next 4 months! exciting.
And I think you're really lucky to have the kind of friends to mother/learn together. you seem to be in such a good place.
i love all of these! quinn is a natural in that swing. and i can't believe how big fox and indie are. this trip looks perfect.
whitings + burtons make me happy.
This was so beautiful, both the words and the pictures. Kids really are so good at that- enjoying and appreciating all of the simplest gifts that life has to offer and teaching other people how to enjoy them, too. That picture of Quinn closing his eyes, catching some rays, pretty much says it all. I really wish that we were all like that. There's no doubt that this world would be a whole lot happier.
I love these photos--all of them.
So cute.
I love when they are big enough to swing at the park. I (obviously) always love your photos, but these pictures are just perfection!
my nose stings. that was a good day. and most of it was spent in the car trying to find the playground.
i cannot even begin to count all the things you've taught me, since the day i met you. and this is why we need to live in the same city or be sister wives.
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