Childlike Wonder

Happy baby murmurs echo on the monitor, and I know she is ready to play. I walk into her room, shut off the fan, raise the blind and peek on my sweet Cricket baby. Sitting up and playing in her crib with seahorse and lovie, I greet her with happy tones, "Hello baby, did you have a good nap?" Smiling that signature grin, still a little sleepy, she tells me that indeed she did have a good slumber. I pick her up. I breathe in her sweet smell of lavender lotion and fleece. The smell of sweet dreams. A smell that will always bring me back to moments like this. A smell that I would long to keep forever except that the love that goes along with it is too expansive to bottle up.

Snuggled close I soak in the quiet seconds before she is off to explore the world as only a child can. How do they perfect this skill so early on? It is refreshing to see her with eyes wide and mind going. The energetic playfulness will come soon, as it always does after a little one regains their energy.

For the moment, we pause on the edge of the bed and peer out into the world. Bonnie dog joins in and we all gaze out the window. I tell Cricket about the fall leaves and we notice the neighbor's tree is a even brighter shade of gold than yesterday. We talk about the seasons and soak in the light.

Then, in an instant I see it. It is falling down slowly. So slowly, in fact, that I have to study what I see. Are those leaves? Cricket gazes out the window, to the dog, to me, and back again. I study the flakes...yes flakes. My eyes widen and I get excited. Cricket's first snow! Then, I pause. Remembering, she was born in February this is not technically her first snow. Nevertheless, it holds the same excitement.

The snow begins to fall more steadily. Larger flakes drift down and suddenly they catch her eye. Not knowing what they are she watches. The beautiful white flakes fall and dance through the sky. "Cricket, that is snow! It's falling on top of the pretty leaves," I explain. She smiles. She watches the snow, reaches for the dog and smiles back at me.

This first snow of sorts for this first baby of ours. Many firsts this season but a love that has surely been here since the beginning of time. A love so genuine and strong that only God himself could have brought it to life. A Cricket baby to love on and learn with. It is only the beginning. A childlike wonder has taken over the house. And, oh how we are blessed.

xoxo, Rachel