Precious Moments

Scooping him up from his afternoon nap, which he still takes in the crib, I pull him close to me and he nuzzles his face into my neck, like he did much of the time as a baby.

Now, no longer a baby, these moments, these neck nuzzling moments, are fewer and even more precious.

He tucks his arms underneath his belly, cozying them between my belly and his for warmth, and comfort.

We talk in whispers for a bit, just after he wakes, about his nap, our evening plans, where the dogs have wandered off to, perhaps a cup of milk, and definitely a snack.

I put him in the little nook between my body and my arm, pulling him close and covering us in a fuzzy soft flannel blanket.

Together on the couch, in our chilly living room, we briefly tuning into a kids show on one of his channels.

In these moments, these precious moments, he is still, calm, and cuddly.

Husand and I both speak of the rarity of these soft moments makes us even more grateful for them.

The show plays softly, volume barely on, and I remind him of that afternoon snack.

"Would you like a snack?"

"Yes! A snack!" he shouts, falling back into his two year old self and wriggling out of my arms, the moment broken.

"What snack would you like? Maybe a fruit bar? an apple? a...."

"NO, I wanna pick it out!" he declares, waltzing to the pantry, opening the door and browsing the lower shelf. His shelf.

This line, this 'I wanna pick it out' line, is said a lot these days.

When it comes to any meal, any snack, and even what exact waffle comes out of the box, he wants to pick it out.

One day I quickly snagged  waffle out of the freezer and well, lets just say it was not the right waffle.

I point out a few options on his shelf, but he reminds me....

"Mommy. I wanna pick it out!"

"okay okay...." I agree as I open the fridge for him.

He opens the fruit drawer, grins and pulls out a big red juicy apple.

"I want an apple!" he tells me.

I nod, he bites right into it, holding it with both hands, and wanders into the living room.

I've gone from pureeing apples and feeding them to him off a tiny little spoon to this boy grabbing his own apple and eating it right off the very core.

These moments... well they're precious too.. but sometimes a little bittersweet.....