Tender Moments

Carter is a picky eater. I've raised him that way, unfortunately. Not that I meant to because I'm certainly not that picky and neither is Marc, but it's one of those mistakes first time moms make. His food repertoire consists of waffles, pancakes, toast, yogurt, lots of fruit, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, pizza, quesadillas, peanut butter sandwiches, grilled chicken, french fries, tomatoes, fruit snacks, fruit leather, gold fish, cereal, wheat thins, and animal crackers. Seriously, this is what he eats most of the time. If we want him to try new things, we typically have to force feed him and count bites. When he was younger I would cater to his needs if we were invited somewhere for dinner. I've stopped doing that. The other night we were at some friends' house for dinner and I hadn't given his food needs a second thought. Apparently, neither did he because after the prayer, I watched him dish himself up, just like a big kid, some cooked carrots, some pineapple and some tomatoes. That's what he ate for dinner. There wasn't a single whiny word that escaped his mouth. When he wanted more pineapple, he asked someone to pass it to him, please, just like a big kid. It seems a little silly to share this moment, but it touched me and made me realize he's getting so big.

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The other night, I was in bed early. Earlier than the kids. I was crying (I cry a lot, have you noticed yet?). Marc was brushing the boys' teeth. Each of them came in when it wasn't their turn, to say goodnight to me. Anderson climbed on top of me, put his face inches away from mine and placed his hand on my cheek. He stared into my eyes with his big blues and filled my heart with love. He was concerned and showed me with his tender touch. Then he poked my eye and said, "Eyes, water. Mommy sad." When it was Carter's turn, he stood next to me and explained to me why I was a good mother. I don't remember what he said exactly, just that he strung two thoughts together with the word "and." When he does that, the word starts high and ends low and sounds like it's two syllables. He does this a lot when he's trying to explain himself and I think it's the funniest thing. I ADORE my kids and I'm pretty sure they love me too.