I was in my second home, a.k.a. Target, doing some normal grocery shopping. I picked out a t-shirt for the boy and was skimming the edge of the baby supply section. That's when it hit me.
We're pretty much done with the baby section.
Other than diapers, which can't possibly go on for more than another year (right?), I just don't need anything there. No more mushy food, no more super-safe toys with electric colors, no more endless parade of baby-entertainment-and-supply stuff. We're over it. He's moved on.
He's in the squishy middle world of not quite a fully-functioning child, definitely not a baby. The morpheus toddler years.
And I felt my stomach sink just a tiny bit. Where did my baby go? Looking back, that first year was such a blur. Honestly, I can barely remember him actually being a baby even though it was only a little more than a year ago. Did I really feed him from a bottle and watch him kicking his legs on a blanket on the floor? I have to review my photos and videos just to jog my memory.
Shortly after his first birthday, life with my son has been a fast motion picture crammed with learning activities and new discoveries every day that fill my heart and mind so fast I don't have much time to look back and remember. What's more, we pretty much have to replace his wardrobe every six months so we don't get sentimental over most of his clothes and shoes. It's always about what's next.
That's what makes parenthood so exciting, and underscores the need to live in the moment. Because that's the best moment I have when I can hug him, love on him, and show him how beautiful and fun life can be. And it's the greatest way to remind myself of the same.
