Bricks for Breakfast

It's happening.  My baby has grown and he's heavy!  I can barely carry him around now and when I pick him up, I jokingly ask him, "Did you eat bricks for breakfast?" I knew this day would come and a part of me is a little sad that he's not my little boy anymore.  He's growing up.

Over the last weeks it's become abundantly clear to me that we've entered a whole new stage of life together. To fully embrace where we are now, I've found myself letting go of what was by remembering.

He has spent much of his life carried by us. It has been an important part of our parenting. (For some reasons why you might choose to carry your baby check out: this resource.)

We knew we wanted him to be close and he has always been the most relaxed in our arms.  We've used lots of ways to carry him - As an infant,  he loved the baby Bjorn.  He has a vivacious personality and loved being up where the action was - able to read faces, look at what mommy and daddy were doing, and soak in the world. And when we all needed the peace of rest, it was a quiet place to snuggle in close and gently fall asleep.



As a toddler, we carried him mostly in our arms. Up, down, up, down - exploring was the name of the game.  We often used a sling if we were going to be in large groups of people so he could look around if he was curious or snuggle in toward us if he wanted his own space. As he got bigger we made the marvelous discovery of the ergo backpack carrier - fabulous for the outdoors!

And now, he barely fits in my arms.

We don't carry him much at all anymore (he's usually running ahead of us to check things out!).  But we still love the snuggles on our laps when we read or play a game or watch a movie together.

I am confident that the intentional physical contact has benefited him physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I look back and know we've been successful at one little piece of a bigger picture.