Enjoying the Ordinary

Aside from Caleb completely melting my heart on a daily basis, he impresses me with his willingness to enjoy his life. One of my favorite things about him is that he stops to soak things in. Yes he's only 2, and he is as active as ever, but every so often throughout the day he chooses to stop what he's doing, look around and comment on how much fun he is having ("I having fun!" "This a fun game!" "This a fun day!"). He'll simply look around and observe that the whole family is eating "together" or swimming "together" or in the car "together". Or he will suddenly stop his wild game of chase to give a huge hug and say, "I Yuv you soo much, Mama (or Daddy or Ava)". My heart overflows so many times every day.

Tim & I have found ourselves following Caleb's lead by enjoying certain things that, well, might be less than enjoyable to anyone else.

A few examples: 1. Yesterday morning I walked into Caleb's room to smell and see some matter on the floor that I will not go into detail about. What can I say- he's learning to potty train, and he's learning to not "yike" it in his diaper anymore. I most definitely did not "enjoy" this moment at first. In fact my first 5 second reaction was "Oh Caleb!" However, as I cleaned and listened to his joyful chatter, I was simply reminded of how thankful I was for this little guy and how short this young time will be.

2. In the last week, Caleb has demonstrated some kind of "fear" of going to bed. His excuses are innumerable...and hilarious at times. He usually begins with "gotta go poopoo, Mama". We go. "I hungry, Mama." I think to myself-'you should've eaten dinner then.' and ignore the request. He points out the "alligator" in the room. I try to explain shadows in the most simplest way and finally assure him the alligator is gone. "I need meh-i-cine, Mama." Well, honey, you're not sick. When I finally put him in his bed last night, he really REALLY begged for Daddy. Okay- battle won. Daaaaaddy- please come in here. This is where the enjoyment began...

Tim & I both decided to lay down next to his bed. Lights were out & Tim began telling him stories. Suddenly Caleb sits up in bed and whispers, "Story of the yi-yon (lion) peeze Daddy". So Tim begins telling his favorite story in the most calming, loving way possible. Finally Caleb drifts off to sleep, happy and hopefully feeling more secure.

Tim wrapped it up in one sentence when we came out, "I was annoyed at first and just wanted to get out of there to go relax & watch tv...until I realized what a privelege it is to be able to take care of my son that way."

3. I've always thought it was rather morbid to cheer as a fire truck or police car zooms by with their lights and sirens blaring. I know it's exciting, but it usually means someone is in some kind of danger, including the fire fighters and police officers. So Tim told me about a family who prays every time they see or hear fire trucks or police cars go by, and we've done the same a few times. Today I was sitting with Caleb at Chick-fil-A (yum), and we saw a fire fighter go over to talk with a girl. As he left, I was telling Caleb that he was a fire fighter and it is his job to help keep us safe. He looked at me, half-closed his eyes, folded his hands, and said "Mama! Mama! Pway fo fire fighter." As I looked at his crinkled eyebrows with his eyes shut tight, I've never enjoyed praying so much.

The title for this blog was going to be "Enjoying the Ordinary". But I have realized these "ordinary" things are anything but ordinary. These are the EXTRAordinary moments that make a simple life more.