My son started pronouncing his Rs, and I did not expect to be this sad about it.
He's been speaking for a while now... he has a bit of a lisp, and there are a couple letters he hasn't quite gotten the hang of. He pronounces both L and R as W, which is fairly typical for english-speaking toddlers, and also adorable.
But just the past couple of days I've noticed a shift. He's been more talkative and outgoing, and his Rs have rounded out into a true "arr."
I got choked up hearing it, realizing we were closing a chapter.
I know that this will happen again and again. There will be a crib taken apart, first days of school, lost baby teeth... and of course there are things he's already moved on from. His bottle and high chair have been in the basement for months.
I think what caught me off guard was the there-one-day-gone-the-next-ness of it. I'll have time to steel myself for the crib, and when I noticed he wasn't using bottles anymore it had been long enough that it was a dull ache instead of a sting.
Overnight we went from reading books, with him struggling to say "fuzzy fur feet" (The Foot Book) or "front-end loader" (Cars and Trucks and Things that Go)... to the next day saying "I'm dRinking wateR" and "We'Re going faRtheR and faRtheR in ouR Rocket!" - it just snuck up and crashed into me.
But, like any parent, I knew the price of admission. I knew I'd have trouble watching Boyhood or listening to Harry Chapin (let's be honest, I'm not listening to much Harry Chapin). I knew the day he was born I'd be helping him move out some day. I certainly don't want to encourage him to hang on to things when he's ready to move on.
Anyway, this is life, flowing water. You can try to bottle it with photos, videos, and mementos, but they're never the real thing, and that's what makes life so worth it. The moments are real, they're here and they'll be gone. And not just with kids but with parents, friends, loved ones. Drink in the moments with all your senses, hold them, and let them flow through you when the time has passed.
And to myself:
You started him up, and now he's going. You're along for the ride, and you can take him part of the way but at some point you'll let go and he'll keep going farther and farther.
