Growing Up So Quickly

This morning, as I do every morning, I sat down with my children at the breakfast table. I placed a pile of Cheerios on Master's highchair tray, and I poured a bowl of cereal for Miss. I plunked down in my own chair, and took in the scene before me. Miss bobbed back and forth to the hymns playing over the stereo, whilst milk dribbled down her chin and onto her bib. She cocked her head to the side and sang out, "Praise da Loooord, praise the Looooord, let de earth hear his voice!! Praise da Loooord, Praise da Loooord, let da peeeople reeeejoice!"

In response to this, Master shoved a handful Cheerios into his mouth and grinned at me. He then added his own exclamation of "Da-da-da-ba-ba-ba-maaaaaa-haaaaa!"

In this simple moment, I was struck again by how quickly these little peanuts are growing and changing. My little Master is cruising around the living room these days, balancing with his hands on the furniture. Miss visited our playground this afternoon, and immediately ran up to the other children, exclaiming, "Hellooooo everyone! I am here to play on the playground with you guys! Come on!!! Let's go down the slide!" The other girls looked shocked and unsure of what to say to this boisterous, outspoken little thing. From a distance, I smiled and shook my head.

How could my baby be on the verge of walking and talking? And, how could my *first* baby be performing the duties of social director at the playground and singing full verses of To God be the Glory? When did these changes happen? Watching the little Peanuts grow and change makes me wistful at times, but it also makes me so thankful for God's blessing in the opportunity to see them develop and mature in little ways every day. It reminds me that my role in their lives will change greatly in the coming years, and it motivates me to get this part right. They will never be these amazing little people again, and I need to relish my role as their mommy.