Growing Up.
Time has caused me to reflect on how quickly Ethan is growing. Each day I'm reminded that he's no longer a baby.
Last weekend I bought some fresh green beans on a whim. It's a sort of rite of passage in my family to help snap beans -- I remember well sitting on my grandmother's sunny back steps snapping beans, breathing in their summery smell. Laurel has long been helping with this, and I determined it was Ethan's turn to have a hand. It helps that he has a well-developed interest in helping me cook. Nearly every evening he lobbies to be my supper-making assistant. I was shocked at how well he did with the beans -- I would pick off the stems and place them on the counter for him to snap. He was at least as fast as I was, even with stickers lining his arm:
Ethan is at the stage now where he is beginning to understand love and family. He showers me with kisses and hugs in the morning before I leave him at school, and showers all of us before going to sleep at night. Rather than us having to grab him for a hug and kiss, he will decide to give them to us first. He grabs our faces in his chubby little hands and pulls us to him for kisses -- sometimes a little more exuberantly than we'd like. He is a boy full of wonder who is beginning to ask 'what's that?' questions which we know will lead to 'why, why, why?' questions. He loves cars and playgrounds and string cheese. He hates messes and bugs and taking off his shoes.
Our little boy is growing up. He and I have changed places -- I no longer carry him wherever I go. These days he's yanking his reluctant mom behind him as he launches into boyhood:
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