If you haven't read this book yet, then I highly recommend it. The book follows a mother and her little boy through the years and the mother continually sings to her son while he is asleep:
"I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be."
Even before I had my own little baby, I always teared-up reading this book at the end. (I won't spoil the ending for you if you haven't read it, yet.) And I never had trouble understanding the following pictures and imagining myself sneaking into my baby's room to hold him while he was sleeping:
But, I never quite understood the part of the mom wanting to hold her teenage or grown-up son while he slept:
Now I get it, though. Seeing as Jackson is now the size and weight of an average eight-month-old at the local playgroup, and he just turned three-months-old on Monday, I won't be able to pick him up into his adolescent years like the mom in the story. But what mom could? I understand this picture now and that it was never meant to be literal.
My love for Jackson will keep growing, as he grows. No matter how much I want to, I won't always be able to hold my little boy on my lap while he sleeps, but hopefully he will feel my love enveloping him like a hug no matter how old he is or where he goes in life.
There are some nights that I can't sleep and when that happens, I do take the chance to steal little moments of holding Jackson, watch him sleep, and tell him, "I'll love you forever."
Posing perfectly
Sporting his Cleveland Indians gear
Playing piano for the first time and actually looking at the notes on the page!
Developmental updates: It's been a big week for Jackson as far as growing goes. He's been eating and sleeping as much as he did during the last growth spurt. Jackson is trying harder than ever to sit up. He lifts his head and the top half of his chest, but needs to grab onto our hands for the rest. When he does sit-up with our help, he has a very proud look of accomplishment on his face. Jackson can get himself rocking in his rocking chair on his own by kicking his feet. His favourite new snack is his hand. And he has a new favourite toy: the Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Smart Puppy. He talks to, laughs and smiles at, and reaches for this toy so it's clearly a big hit.
If you see Sammie Miles Davis, Jr. and Bella, give them my love.
