Ahhhhhh

That was the sound I made when I woke up yesterday morning to a quiet house and a book next to my bed. Let me back up a bit...

On Saturday, we woke up bright and early (courtesy of Joseph Daylight Savings Time which roughly translates to 5:30 a.m.). Joseph and I decided to make apple walnut pancakes for breakfast. I swear the child is a chef in the making. He loves to help me cook and Lord knows, I need all the help I can get. The pancakes turned out yummy, even if they were a little lopsided. Poor J couldn't reach the far side of the pancake so all toppings were on one side.

After breakfast, we got bundled up - it was only 36 outsides (Fahrenheit, not Celsius) - and headed to Downtown Park to watch the Pioneer Day parade. We were accompanied by Buzz Lightyear - who is apparently a flag-waving kind of space man. Joseph and Buzz waited patiently for the parade to start.

After sixty tractors, four marching bands and fifty horses, we went to Subway to beat the lunch rush.

There was something so...so bittersweet about eating lunch in Subway. I know...Subway's not usually a place for revelations or poignancy. Bear with me. We ordered our sandwiches and headed to a booth. Joseph sat Buzz Lightyear next to him while Chad and I took our places across. This was the first time one of us hasn't sat next to him in a restaurant. This was the first time he didn't need a booster seat. This was the first time that I looked at him and saw, really saw, that my baby is growing up. Sure he still has a way to go, but he looked like such a big boy, drinking his milk, eating his sandwich and talking a mile a minute about the airplanes and firetrucks and horses and tractors. I understood 90% of the words coming out of his mouth. He spoke in sentences. He laughed when he talked about the horses. He offered Buzz a bite of his sandwich. He swung his legs and smiled, mustard and mayo smeared across his mouth, napkin in his lap, eyes bright, a baby no more.

While he was down for his nap (fortunately even big boys need naps), I threw together a veggie soup in my crock pot.

Side note: I love my crock pot. Every autumn, I drag it out from the cupboard under my counter and go crazy with soups and stews.

After J woke up, we took him over to his grandparents' house for a sleepover. After three weeks of the child not sleeping past 5:45 and getting up as early as 4:30, we needed a sleep-in day. Badly. Ironically, Joseph slept in until 7:15 while over at Boppa and G's. What's that all about?

That brings me to Sunday morning and the contented sigh that passed my lips as I awoke to a quiet house. Chad was puttering around on the computer, having woken up an hour and half earlier. I stretched out my hand to pick up my book, glancing at the clock...8:30. In my pre-child days, it would have been barbarically early. Post child, it was as decadent as sleeping until noon.

Ahhhhhh....