He’s Right, He’s Growing.

My little boy and our dog, what a wonderful connection they share. Dylan speaks to him and Denali listens as if he understands every word perfectly.

You know those moments… those moments when your child says something and it just brings tears to your eyes? It happened to me yesterday. Dylan, my little 3 year old boy, had a discussion with our puppy, Denali. I was making breakfast as Dylan ran into the kitchen, calling out to our dog before basically dive-bombing beside him, laying his head on Denali’s side. (That poor puppy puts up with so much from him.) As Dylan lay beside Denali he spoke to him, telling Denali how he can do things all by himself now. Then he said “That’s because I’m growing. I’m growing up. I’m getting bigger every day and one day I will be big  like daddy.” Then Dylan asked as Denali looked down at him, “Are you still growing Denali?”

This wasn’t anything sad or extremely touching that Dylan said, and there have been plenty of times I’ve heard Dylan say he’s growing. It was just that moment that really hit me, because he is so darn right. He’s growing right before my eyes. He’s so independent in so many ways now, like letting me know EXACTLY what he likes and wants, or getting the exact toy he’s looking for, or grabbing a snack from the pantry or even using the bathroom. He speaks of growing so happily and proud, and believe me and I am happy and proud too. But it just happens so fast. My little baby is growing up, so fast.

Dylan is to the point he understands it now, that’s he’s growing and changing. Maybe that’s it too. It’s amazing when you watch your child grow and you look back and wonder…’when the heck did they go from a baby to a kid?’ In all honesty, it feels like it happens over night. I swear it does.

So to all you moms and dads out there, cherish, cherish, cherish your children. Cherish the moments you still have when they are young because they will be ‘older’ kids forever. They will only be young and little once. It goes fast. So love them, hold them, kiss them, listen to them…like really listen to them. Watch them play and listen to the words they say as they play, listen to their wild, long imaginative stories and become part of it as you speak to them. Photograph them…a lot…for one photo can bring you back to what you did that entire day. Take their hand in yours and remind them once again how much you love them, remind them they are your favorite little boy or girl in the world, or favorite 3 or 5 year old if you have more than one child. Just cherish them and the moments you still have with them because looking back, life goes by insanely fast. Slow it down by slowing down yourself and taking the time to really hear the words your children are speaking. The truth to many of their words are real. “I’m growing.” Dylan says. I smile. “Yep you are little guy, you’ll be growing into a fine young man.”