Monday, April 9, 2012

One big cookie

You know, if I had gotten, say, a fortune cookie two years ago predicting that in 2012 I would take a major financial hit, stagger around in a fog of interrupted sleep in drool-stained clothes, and have to take time off work to accomplish even the most minor tasks… I would have done anything in my power to avoid it, and also I would have tipped really poorly. Like 10%, tops.

The difference, of course, is Walter. As much as we try to emphasize the diapers and the razor sharp baby nails and Walter's favorite game "Pee on Daddy" whenever one of the teens at church begins to turn that enamored gaze on him, he really does make all those inconveniences trivial and bearable.

You don't notice. Well, I notice in the moment, and then it slips away. And the things that I retain? For weeks I've been unable to shake the thought that his first teeth looked just like two periwinkles in a handful of sand. Tonight he used my ears as handles while I gave him a piggyback ride around the house. He is a voracious eater of books, in a way that conveys a special appreciation for them that I would be proud of even if it were only culinary. He is so happy when he wakes up and we're standing there, bleary-eyed, over him.

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