What happened to my little boy? When did he get all grown up on me and his Mama?
Maybe it's that he's gearing up for Kindergarten, but I'm feeling a little blue about my Jakey-Wakey getting ready for real school. Where did the time go? Seems like only yesterday when we welcomed him into the world and into our family, novice parents as we were. I know we've done a good job with him. He's caring, smart, friendly and has a wonderful sense of humor. You can see that all he wants is to either impress us or make us laugh, sometimes both.
Much like a baby bird learning to fly, he's learning to spread his wings and find himself in the world while his Mama and I, well, mostly I still want to hold him tight and keep him for as long as I can.
I tell him that even when he's old and gray and has grandbabies of his own he will still be my baby. That's will always hold true, I believe.
His mom gave me a wonderful gift of memories this past Fathers' Day and we took a great family trip to the happiest place on earth just a few weeks ago and all of the memories of putting him to sleep each night, playing with him, singing songs to him, teaching him about the world, about life, about being a man has got me feeling so many things lately. I'm sad that time has passed us by so quickly. I'm proud of the boy he is and the man he is becoming. I love him as a father should, and love him more because of who he is. I see so much of me in him it's scary! I find myself feeling the same feelings I felt meeting him for the first time in the hospital, holding him, scared about what we were about to embark on, scared about how fragile he still was and how unjaded he still is about the world and how I could protect him from everything as any father would.
All I can say is that Mama and Daddy love you so much. So many other people love you and care about you. And though we may not always be there beside you, we're always here to hold your hand and guide you, to make things easier for you and to show you that there is still so much good in the world when sometimes all you see is bad. We're proud of you, Jake. Just take your time and don't grow up to fast. Mama and Daddy need time to catch up. Well, I don't know about Mama, but Daddy needs time to catch up.
