Nothing To Do and Nowhere to Go

Those eyes.

I can't even.

__________

I'm amazed at how different it is being a grandparent instead of a parent. All my friends who are grandparents kept trying to tell me, but until I became one I just didn't get it.

I want to spend every minute of the time we have together just staring at him. I lay him on my soft cushy ottoman and play with his arms and legs, moving each one and telling him all about how they work. We play patty-cake and sing songs and play "this little piggy" and talk to each other. He loves to stare into my eyes as I talk to him or feed him.

He doesn't blink, that one.

When he gets tired of laying on his back, I sit him up and he smiles. His head is still a little bit wobbly and he looks like a bobble head doll sometimes. But his neck is getting stronger and soon he won't bobble so much. He'll be too busy running.

When he gets tired of sitting, I pick him up and we dance to baby lullabies and children's songs. Right now we're doing a box step but soon enough I'll have him jitter-bugging. We dance a lot. He loves that. He nestles into my shoulder and babbles in my ear. I whisper to him and sing and tell him all about the good things in this world.

I tell him stories about his mama when she was a little baby and all the things we used to do together. And I tell him all about the things we'll do together as he grows and grows and grows.

__________

When my two were littles, I didn't appreciate how fast the time would go. There was always something to do - laundry, cleaning, cooking, shopping, working, all those things that pull you away from just spending time with your little ones. There wasn't enough time in the day to get everything done and I always seemed to struggle with the balance between work and play.

And now I don't care about any of those things. They'll be around tomorrow. Or the next day. 

But little man O? He's going to grow up too fast and I want to savor each moment I have with him. So the laundry can wait and the kitchen counters can wait and the rugs can be vacuumed later. The dust isn't going anywhere and neither is the bathroom. And the cooking can definitely wait. I'll eat a yogurt after he goes home.

Right now, I've got a baby to cuddle and sing to and dance with. I've got a little one to hold tight and look at and watch as he falls asleep nestled in my arms. I've got a little one that just wants my attention.

And you know what? I don't have anything else to do.