Soooo…the latest in our house is that Henry likes to make sure he’s keeping up with our conversations. If he’s in the room, and he’s not already part of the dialogue that’s taking place, we hear a carefully plotted out, “Soooo…..” from his corner of the world. Sometimes he precedes his “Soooo…” with a “Let’s talk!” or an “I want to talk with _________.” And then our conversations range in topic from there. Yesterday, we had a chat about the color of every piece of furniture in the room. The other night on a walk with daddy, the conversation was more about playing with cars and seeing a bug. The train of thought is random and on the spot, which makes it pretty hilarious. And it’s endearing that H wants in on all of our little chats.

While we’re getting a good laugh and appreciating this new (cute) stage of social development, we’re also trying to figure out when to catch up on things and get a word in edgewise with one another. With H’s recent fear of trains and the late nights we’ve all been pulling as a result, there’s not an abundance of time at the end of the day for adult conversation. Often, calendar comparisons, weekend plans, and the nitty gritty details of life are getting sorted out past midnight. I’m not sure either one of us is on our game in the wee hours, so this has made for an interesting dance as young parents as of late.

Tonight, I’m so grateful for J’s resilience with H in this very conversational and sometimes exhausting phase. We both worked today, and I’ve been having some pretty intense discomfort with baby #2, so I just didn’t have anything in me when bath and bedtime rolled around. We did all cozy up on our bed for story and prayer time, but otherwise, J took the reins and sent me upstairs to rest. For the first time all day, I wasn’t miserable in my skin, and it was doubly sweet to listen to the boys interact and laugh and wind down the evening together sans mommy. I love our bedtime routine and that sacred family time together every night, but I just didn’t have a bit of conversation or toddler wrangling left to give.

The munchkin has been in bed for a while now–post-snuggle with daddy, a lot of laughter, and a good amount of chatter about going to bed, H’s fear of trains, and plans for “weekend time!!!” It is so beautiful to me to watch H adore his daddy. Their growing friendship and relationship as father and son is a blessing to my heart. Sometimes I have to just sit back and observe from a distance to really see the magic (it’s so easy to be hands on and to want to be involved in every moment). Otherwise, on nights like tonight, I would miss the chance to see my little one pull his face close to daddy’s, I would never get to appreciate the team work and creativity that’s gone into hours of LEGO play, I wouldn’t know firsthand how to really play cars and do it well. And I would certainly miss out on hearing about the amazing adventures my boys dream up–trips out to the lighthouse, crazy fro-yo creations on a Tuesday night, and “Sooo….we went outside for a walk, and we saw an ant…and then…” And then.

toddler stories (and the really amazing dads who help create them) are quite possibly the best. at least, i’m inclined to think “sooo…”

mm