Growing Up and Filling Out

I realized this morning after a chain of random happenings that all around me are signs of growth and passing time.

A couple months ago I reorganized Abel's dresser to enable him to reach all of his everyday/play clothing in order that he could start learning to dress himself. He has been very excited about this new "big boy" responsibility, but getting to the point where he could fully dress himself (minus the shoes) on his own happened only this morning. Pants and big boy underwear he conquered right away, followed much later by shirts. And now this morning I looked down at Abel to find that he had gotten his socks on all by himself. Perhaps that doesn't seem like a big accomplishment, but let me say that getting socks on feet as wide and thick as Abel's is sometimes difficult even for me. And so I realized, my little boy is growing up.

As I was getting Amariah dressed this morning I decided to try pulling back some of her hair to help keep it out of her face. I had never put anything in her hair before because I wasn't sure it would be long enough to stay. As I finished securing the little ponytail on top of her head, I thought to myself, my baby girl is growing up.

A little later this morning Abel asked me to play him a song. One of his current favorites is John Waller's "While I'm Waiting" (from the movie Fireproof). As he sat at the computer watching the music video on YouTube, he began singing the words in a softened voice--another sign that my little boy is growing up.

A little bit ago as I put my hands on my hips, I noticed that the muscles on both sides of my waist are sore. It was the same feeling of muscles stretching that I remember from both of my first two pregnancies (only it's coming a little sooner this time around!). Then I looked at myself in the mirror and saw that my formerly loosely-fitting shirt isn't so loose anymore--not in the belly or in the chest. And on the heels of the things mentioned above, I realized that with each passing day, growth is happening all around me. For my kids, it's a growing up; but for me, it's a filling out (currently speaking, anyway).

We all know that time brings change; and the changes I'm witnessing every day are a most blessed and exciting part of my life. Praise God for my children--for Abel and Amariah whose growth I'm watching daily, and for little Ande and these twins whose meeting I anticipate is growing me daily.