be here now

Erin pointed out to me today that while playing with Kai I act like a complete fool. It’s true. We both do. I make up songs on the fly, contort my face into ridiculous poses, and all in all make a complete ass of myself. If anyone were to see me do these things without having knowing there was a baby involved would have me locked up. I love it. No inhibitions. While Kai is around, we get carte blanche to act like silly-willies. Anything to get a laugh. If I were a comedian, Kai would be my ultimate audience. He laughs at nearly anything I do, no matter how dumb.

Kai has officially outgrown size one diapers. We had one last pair lying around so I squeezed his little bootie into them. I quickly realized that his little baby butt-crack was showing, which would also mean that anything that would come out of said butt-crack would probably come out of the diaper. Size one is now a thing of the past.

We had lunch yesterday with an old friend of mine. He literally asked us the same question four times, and he got the same answer every time. It made me realize that most of the time, we are not where we are — we’re somewhere else in our heads. We’re thinking about what we’re doing later, why is she wearing that awful top, how am I going to respond to what he’s saying, etc.. It’s absolutely true.

But in those moments where we are not present, we miss everything — the beauty of life. I’ve heard of people who miss their child’s entire life because they cannot accept the present moment. Which reminds me of an old proverb I read a long time ago:

“One moment of patience may ward off great disaster.
One moment of impatience may ruin a whole life.”

You could substitute presence for patience in that saying and hopefully get what I’m saying. So your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to take note of any time that you’re off in your own world while you’re with another person, and how that affects the quality of time you have with them. Be here now and let the good times roll!