Today I had a downright amazing day with Arlo. We didn't do anything new, travel anywhere exotic or interesting, or encounter anything extraordinary. We traversed the mundane... yet had a blissful time doing so. It becomes inherent to me, in times like these, when I realize that with each day my child gets older, our mother/son relationship grows with reckless abandon, and I absolutely love it.
I look back at Arlo's earlier years with fond memories, but if I'm being honest, I don't always necessarily yearn to have them back again. Sure it was nice when I could cart him around to various places and not have to worry about him running off and disappearing into random clothing racks or the candy isle at Target. Of course I loved watching him learn to crawl and walk, and cherished many of the moments that I attempted to rock him to sleep at night. But I have decided that with increased age comes such incredible personality ... and with every morning I am so excited to encounter whatever new phrase he's going to repeat throughout the day, or what song on the radio he's going to either approve or disapprove of, his most recent obsession being the "banjo station" (aka Sirius Bluegrass).
While having lunch today, a little girl ran up to Arlo and began screaming " Hi, Arlo! Hi! Hi!" all the while twirling her hair and looking at him excitedly. His face went from his normal pale complexion to beet red in about 4 seconds. He smirked and said quietly " Hi, Sophia" and then hid his face. She ran off to her mother and Arlo continued to hide his face. I waited a few seconds and then asked him who the girl was, in which he replied " my friend who is a girl at school. Sophia." At that moment I felt really proud, and I don't know why. Maybe it's because I witnessed a key developmental phase in Arlo's growth, the " oh crap, I've been seen in public with my mother" phase, or maybe it was how happy the little girl was to see Arlo. In any case, seeing him grow and develop as a person is so amazing. His interactions with and thoughts about the world around him are incredible, and I feel so fulfilled accompanying him on his life journey.
