A Day in the Life of Evan, February 2012

February 7, 2012

Today I was talking to a friend about crock-pot recipes as the toddlers and I were exiting their tennis lesson.  I must have been engrossed in the conversation.  I will admit food is my favorite topic.  Suddenly I realized Evan had run off.  Not too concerned I left to search for him.  I looked in the bathrooms of the tennis complex, the eating area, the indoor courts, and outside.  Evan was nowhere to be found.  Of course at this point my heart was racing.  I could only invision him running out to the parking lot and getting hit by a car.  I loaded up Ansley and Colin into their car seats and locked the car, so I could give my full attention to searching for Evan. 

As I walked back into the building I spotted Evan out of the corner of my eye.  There he was in a field next to the tennis complex, and it was beginning to snow with giant fairy tale like snow flakes.  My first thought was to run to the field and scold him for leaving my side.  Instead I thought to myself,  I will teach him a lesson.  So I stood behind the glass and watched him outside the window and waited for him to realize I was nowhere near.  I could see him but he could not see me.  As I watched him out of the window my angst slowly turned into wonder.  He stared up at the sky of snow flakes and then proceeded to run around the field like a horse before a rain storm.  Next he picked up the largest stick he could find and started to swing away at the snow flakes.  After that he decided to throw pine cones.  I was witnessing this whole scene at a distance and in my heart I felt the miracle of childhood.

In these passing moments I recalled my own fond childhood memories of the snow: building snow forts, rolling snow men, and creating snow angels.  I was now relishing every moment I observed of my son's simple joy and awe of the falling snow.  Finally his hands started to get cold and he looked around for me.  At this point filled with happiness to be reunited with my son, I exited the front door to meet him on the sidewalk.

He said to me,  "Mommy you see those tracks in the field, those are my footprints."

Evan age 3

Colin age 17 months

Colin update for February 2012-For a couple of months I have been trying to get Colin to say hello and wave.  My attempts have been unsuccessful.  Then yesterday he started to say Guten Tag and Hallo in perfect German.  Then I realized he does not hear hi or hello often.