Friday, March 12, 2010

Playing With the Big Boys

Yesterday, Ethan took an early nap while Caleb was at school, and since Caleb rarely needs a nap these days, I took the boys directly from Caleb's school to the park (instead of the normal straight home for Ethan's nap). It was a gorgeous afternoon yesterday...mid 70's and sunny, and the park near Caleb's school was rather quiet instead of packed as usual. So the boys' and I enjoyed a great 2 1/2 hours outdoors, playing at the park and then going for a walk on a walking trail.

The reason this afternoon is making the blog is because I got a fun little glimpse of the "big" boy Caleb is becoming. As I've mentioned several times lately, I have noticed a dramatic change in Caleb's maturity during the past few weeks, both in how he handles his own frustrations and in his interactions with others. While we were at the park, Caleb surprised me by approaching two older boys (ages 8 and 9) and introducing himself to them.

Caleb: Hi! Do you guys want to play?
Boys: How old are you? What's your name?
Caleb: My name is Caleb. I am 3, but I will be 4 on March 23rd.
Boys: Do you want to chase us?
Caleb: Yeah!
They take off running, and Caleb follows in hot pursuit.
One of the boys shouts, "DUDE! You are fast!"

And he was fast. He kept up with them in a chase for several minutes, even leaping over playground equipment after them. Caleb continued to play and converse with these two boys for the thirty minutes or so we had left at the park. Watching their interactions, especially their conversations, gave me that glimpse of the school-age child Caleb will be in not-so-very-long. I usually don't get nostalgic about the kids getting older, but, watching them play, I felt a little sad and proud at the same time of how big he is getting.

1 comment:

katherine said...

I do get nostalgic. I keep telling the kids to stop growing and they won't. It's all going too fast. I can't imagine Anna being that big in a year (3 almost 4).