I have gotten to spend a lot of time with Ethan lately. Rachel works as a middle school counselor and leaves early on work days. On those days, Ethan and I have gotten into a morning routine.
I get up around 5:45 or so to spend time with Rachel before she leaves for work at 6:30, then I spend some time in the Word. Usually around 7:00, Ethan wanders out to the kitchen table where I’m sitting, climbs up into my lap and buries his head in my shoulder for around 10 minutes. Don’t be fooled: he’s not awake, he just isn’t fully asleep.
[side note] More than any other time of the day with him, at that moment I am beyond satisfied. I could sit like that hours. More than once this moment has brought about the analogies to God as our Father and us taking refuge in Him (…but that’s another blog post). [end side note]
Once he regains some sort of consciousness, I fix him breakfast. This usually consists of a cereal bar or something that lacks any sort of preparation – although this morning he had blueberry waffles (that’s right: dad-of-the-year right here). Then we play and wrestle on the floor until around 8:00 when it’s time for me to go to work and I have to drop him off at daycare.
Sometimes I shower and get ready for work in that time, too… but not always.
It is beyond comprehension how fast this kid is growing up. He’s walking, talking, climbing, high-five’ing & fist-pumping like a rockstar. It feels like Rachel told me she was preggers just yesterday, but in less than three months (78 days to be exact) he’ll be turning two years old.
That’s the paradox of fatherhood: I can’t wait to see him grow up, and I never want to see him grow up.
