Summer lovin’

 I learned something about myself this morning. I leaned over Amy when I woke up to observe my daughter cuddled into her mother’s side, asleep after having nursed, content. It’s totally satisfying to see my kids in the stage of life they are in now. It’s hard not to get a little dewy-eyed and introspective when hovering over a new-born. However part of the excitement of having children is imagining what they will become. What are they going to look like?  What kind of personality are they going to have? Am I going to to resist smacking labels on them? (The quiet one, the cute one, the mouthy one (Noah)… oh no! I didn’t just do that!) I am a fickle person. Sometimes I have to consciously make an effort to enjoy them for who they are now because they are growing and changing so fast. I do this because I know that (fickly) I will look back in the future and mourn the lost childhood of my kids. At the same time, in the future, I will be proud as punch of what my kids have accomplished and looking ahead to what they will accomplish yet.
I once heard a quote about being a good Father that goes something like this: “Easy to please, yet hard to satisfy.” I hope to always be pleased with my children, while urging them on to great things.

Destiny

I love this picture. It shows a very confident Eliot striding away into the farmyard in his little yellow boots so self assured. He has just left his mother as he hurries to join his brother in whatever trouble he's getting into. The sky is just getting dusky and the farmyard smells of cow, hay, and ... summer.

Capiche

Noah, on the toilet, to me..
"Capiche, Dad. Mommy says capiche."
By this he announces what his mother is in the habit of telling him
when she wants feedback.
"Ya, capiche..."
Me. "Are you done yet?"
"Yep"