Now I get it...

He is growing up so fast!

I'm sure we've all heard the phrase, "They grow up so fast!" And surely, we all think we know what it means, but after watching a baby grow for the first three and a half weeks I would submit that it's full meaning isn't completely grasped until you watch your own child (or daily care for a child at least). It's hard to truly explain...

A friend of mine recently asked me, "Don't you find yourself realizing that you are learning new things about how to be a dad all the time?" And I really kind of had to say no....it isn't that I'm not learning new things all the time, but I certainly am not realizing it. As I explained to him, it's not so much that I sit and think "Wow, this is what I learned today!" Instead, new things just kind of come up...we've never given a baby a bath before, we've never changed and managed cloth diapers, we've never taken a baby to Mass...and we just kinda figure it out as we go along. Each day is slightly different and new, and before you know it almost a month is gone!

And I think that's kind of what happens with kids growing up so fast...you see them every day, and you are just kind of on this escalator towards your own child reaching a month, two months, a year, 18 years...and you have no control over the speed at which it moves. You see them every day, and each day they are slightly different, but before you know it you look back down at the bottom of the stairs and see how far they've come! You look at a child and realize that he is strikingly different from when you started! Just take a look:

Day 3:

Day 26:

And if you've been able to see him and play with him in person, you'd be even more surprised! He is so aware, much more interactive, and has even smiled a few times! One of these days we'll capture it on camera, but until then you'll have to take my word for it...

Just as a parting and somewhat unrelated note: John' Paul's Current Favorites:

• Mommy
• Window Blinds
• Our CDs on the bookshelf next to where he has floor time
• Alternating light and dark (based on the two above, we figure this is pretty true
• Patterns, particularly the one on our couch...many times we think he is looking at us but he's really staring behind our faces at the couch!
• FACES! Recently he actually has started looking right at us, pensive facial expression ready to go
• Bath time!!! It was shocking to me, but John-Paul Padraig had his last bath without ANY crying, and he actually seemed to enjoy it! This was reinforced by the fact that he started to cry as soon as we took him out to dry him off...what a big guy!

Okay that's all folks...I've gotta go start picking out a used car for his 16th birthday...heaven knows it'll be here before we know it!