Y3 - 66/365: He Is Love

This is how Ryan appeared when we left to head to Em & Daz's around 2 o'clock this afternoon...

...and this is what we saw upon returning home about 7pm. Simply. Spark. Out.

I popped upstairs briefly to turn the heater on in Ryan's room and get his cot ready since I planned to get him into PJ's right away, feed him, and put him down for the night. When I got back down and started to walk into the front room I saw Matt just standing there facing our sleeping son in his car seat with a giant grin on his face. The look you see on any proud father, I'd imagine.

This is something we find ourselves doing from time to time and would highly recommend it to any new parent (or any parent for that matter). Just stop and take in the moment. People aren't joking when they tell you how they aren't this little for long and although he is bigger than he once was, much bigger, he's still little enough to want to savour the time while he is this small. So stop and take it in. Freeze the moment in your mind and count those blessings.

I'll tell you something, too. There's something magical about it when you just look at your child as they sleep and thoughts pour into your head and heart with how lucky you feel to have them, how beautiful they are, and how they can make a bad mood disappear in an instant.

It really is powerful and an instant pick-me-up -- the best feeling EVER, I always say.

So Matt continued standing there, watching while I removed his shoes, cringing at the sound of the Velcro and hoping it wouldn't stir him. Then I carried on and took off his mittens and then his socks, all while we stole glances from one another and marvelled at our baby's precious (and ever-growing) hands and feet and how cute it was when his fingers and toes curled ever-so slightly when exposed to the air.

I unbuckled the harness and unzipped his coat, again, tensing my jaw in fear he would wake up, but he didn't. Not until I had to physically take him out of the seat to remove his coat and hat, revealing a sweaty little blond bonce. And his initial reaction can only be compared to that of a deer in headlights -- eyes wide open and a face that questioned 'where the hell am I?!' All he knew is that one moment he was crying his brains out being strapped securely into the backseat of the car at Auntie Emma's and now here he was back inside his own living room with Mommy and Daddy staring back at him with huge, goofy grins.

It was then that we knew the magical moment had passed and we were now on borrowed time to keep a meltdown from occurring. Fat chance. He clenched his gums and let us have it!

Here we stripped him of his warm, cosy comfiness and were trying to change his nappy and get him into his one and only barely-fitting sleep suit and sleep-sack. Not to mention, something about waking up and being disoriented causes his gums to give him pain, but thankfully we had some Calprofen on standby.

Finally, as quickly as he was removed from his seat and prepared for bed, I managed to whisk him upstairs to the bedroom for a good feed and tucked him in! You better believe I took another sneaky mommy-moment for myself before I placed him in his cot -- holding this darling boy of mine and rocking him in my arms, I was completely and utterly filled with more love than I ever could have imagined, because he is just that...love.