Thursday, May 19, 2011

Better than High School

You know when you're in your senior year of high school and every single day is one step closer to the biggest celebration of you're entire life, the one that is both the most exciting and the scariest? And with every passing class you put your head down and just go go go to get through final exams and college applications and entrance essays. And sometimes it's maddening and other times you have an amazing moment with friends or a strong teacher and realize that this isn't going to last forever. And you eat like crap and you try to join the right groups and steer clear of the drama, although there's always drama anyway, and you remind yourself every morning that one more 6am wake up won't kill you because it will soon be summer and then, on with real life. So you sing as loudly as you can in the car with your friends and you shrug your shoulders and bite your lip on the days when the shit hits the fan and laugh at anything and everything with gusto and full heart. This is kind of what life with an 8 month old is like.

Whoever gave Abraham the 6:30 alarm clock, I request you take it kindly back. That is when my day starts; with a quiet cooing from a little monster who has just noticed nighttime has ended. My husband retrieves him from the second floor and I nurse him and snuggle him in bed. It is the quietest, calmest 30 seconds of my entire day.
"Can he crawl yet?"
No, no he can't. But he can scoot. 
The scooting is remarkable really. Abe gets up on all fours and scoots his knees closer to his hands. Within a millisecond, he flings his arms forward and lands flat on his chest (he's learned to lift his chin the hard way); he'll repeat until he reaches desired object. It is neither a prompt nor comfortable method of transportation. I often don't really notice he's moved until he is halfway across the room.
I, on the other hand, am now faster than it has ever been. My life is composed of 5-15 minute increments, during which I see just how much I can accomplish before the next round of, "Guess what I figured out how to pull?" starts. If I had known years ago that I could unload, reload, and run a dishwasher in under 6 minutes, I would have saved enough time to sit and think of a way to invent a faster washing machine. I was also unaware how much I could accomplish at Target. Did you know Target carries every brand of every thing ever invented? There is no need to go to any other store. Ever. Not to mention when you're there you learn of many smaller items you didn't even realize you needed. Like picture frames. And decorative pillows.
Nights are always a mad rush to finish dinner for my husband and I, eat, feed Abe, bath him, put him down, and spend 10 minutes catching each other up on our days before we watch a show or engage in parallel reading. It's non-stop and every time it's Friday again I turn around to look back at the week and wonder what I did.
During all the madness, one every few days, there is a moment when time stands still and Abe does something he's never done before. This week it was holding himself up on the end of the bed and cruising around the corner to reach my computer. I held my breath for about 5 minutes. What I'm saying is, my baby is growing up faster than I can understand and before I know it, he is going to be ready to go to school. I am loving every minute, or at least the ones that I remember. And what makes this whole thing way better than my senior year of high school is that no one has posted signs everywhere declaring I'm a lesbian. Or a troll. Or a lesbian troll.
Life is good.

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