i love how you see the world

It's weird how one day you have small children, and then without notice they grow up.

A four-year-old is no longer a toddler, not yet a teenager, and certainly still needs his mom, yet almost overnight they find more independence. During a busy weekend, I spotted my energetic little guy in our backyard wearing his big brother's tackle football pads. I paused to watch my son play alone, mimicing the moves he sees from the sideline. After snapping this picture, I wrote this...

Dear Hayden,

Today I stopped to watch you play and it melted my heart. Your energy is contagious and I love how you see the world, how nothing bad happens in your little corner of life, at least nothing to keep you down. The way you admire your big brother makes my heart smile, from the time you asked me if you could get glasses 'because Griffin wears them,' or when I ask what you want for a bedtime snack and you respond, 'What's Griffin having?'

I love how you don't walk down the sidewalk, you gallup, how you dance in the car and sing way off-key with your ipod, how your tongue sticks out the side of your mouth as you squeeze the ketchup out of tiny packets at Chick fil-A, and how you shout while running out the door, 'Love you, Mom!'

Your enthusiasm for baseball is sweet, how you sleep in your wristbands, sometimes two or three at a time, how you tuck in your jersey cause 'the real players do,' and how I can't get you to sit in one place for long, but you won't leave your seat at an Indians game.

How you almost panic when you hear the music of the ice cream truck, how your blue eyes sparkle from across the room, and how the same boy who told me at the age of two 'I got it' when being buckled into his carseat still reaches for my hand.

I mostly love your heart, the way you hug our dog and cover her with a blanket, how you share without being told, and how you are content to play in a group or solo, because you never sweat the small stuff.

Sure, you have your occasional temper flares which have certainly been passed down from me, still I'm hoping it will become the passion that drives you in life. The life you love so much. If only I could capture your innocence and bottle it up, so you could always be carefree. You are the glimmer in this world, the calm when things seem tough, and the much-needed giggle at the end of the day.

Be proud of who you are, Hayden. I am.

Love, Mom