quiet down cobwebs!

I'm stealing this quote from my cousin, but it's says everything:

So quiet down cobwebs,
dust go to sleep.
i'm rocking my baby
and babies don't keep.

Today was a perfect day to keep the vacuum in the closet and the dirty clothes in the hamper. Not only was it a beautiful 72 degree day, but it was Tate's 9 month check up at the doctor. After spending an hour and a half waiting to see the doctor and hear him tell me how wonderful my son is, we came home and hit the streets, mom on foot and baby in stroller. Seriously, who can stay inside and dust bookshelves or fold underwear when there isn't a cloud in the sky? Certainly not me and Tate.

Pushing Tate in the stroller takes me back 8 years ago to a different baby, but one who looked alot like this one. Tucker and I moved to Cobb county when he was a newborn and I knew no one. I can't tell you how many hours we logged together under an early morning sun, round and round the track at daddy's school. Most of the time Tucker was so cooperative, taking it all in. Occasionally, though, he wanted some attention and I would carry him in my arms for a couple of laps and we would talk until he was ready to go back in the stroller, usually for a nap. Fast forward to today, and that "baby" is a third grader who climbs trees, listens to his i-pod, and has a girlfriend!!

What happened to my newborn who graced us with his presence this summer? The one who looked soooo tiny in the same jogging stroller that he now sits up in? The one who got carted around from Tucker's football practice to Tanner's football practice, back and forth to the Y, and passed back and forth from brother to brother during Scooby-Doo marathons on the couch? That baby who spent many hours in the bouncy seat watching us eat and do homework is now pulling out my pots and pans, turning over garbage cans, and trying to play on my computer. He's the fastest crawler i've seen in a while and now he's standing up and practicing for those first steps that will take him to a new category that i know i'm not ready for. He's babbling, DaDa and MaMa and everything in between. My babies are all growing so fast. Cliche, yes, but "where did the time go?" Tucker will be 9 in just a few weeks; Tanner is 7; and Tate is a nine month old. Somehow, 9 years seems to have gone by just as quickly as 9months have.

So it's true, and we all know it. Babies don't keep. They grow into dirty little tree climbers, tired little athletes, snuggly movie watchers, and someday big boys who will rather hang out with their friends than watch American Idol with me. So laugh if you will-- i'm rocking my baby to sleep, selfishly stealing sunshine afternoons just the two of us, and waiting just a few more minutes before putting him into his crib. Because babies DON'T keep. And there are two sleeping in bunk beds down the hall that remind me of that every day.