One of the weirdest parts of having a young child is how long each day seems vs how quickly time flies. One experience that really showed that to me was the life cycle of a single set of clothes I bought for him.
The second week Finn was alive I realized that much of the clothing people got us were cute and not practical clothing, and that he would soon grow out of most of it. So I got on Kohls.com and ordered him some new clothing that I went and picked up. Some of it I ordered for what his size was then, and some of it I ordered in a three month size that at the time seemed very far away.
My favorite clothing bought in this round was some onesies that had whales on them. One had a whale that said "tons of fun." Another had a little whale on it following a big whale. I saw both me and him in that piece of clothing and I looked forward to him wearing it. We would be my little whale one day once he would show me that he even realized I was on the planet.
As the month passed soon he grew enough for the three month clothing, and by the time of my sister's wedding he was wearing the favorite onesies I am describing. In fact the day after the wedding he was wearing the "tons of fun" one when my extended family came by to meet him for the first time. It was thereby enshrined in the pictures of that day, but all of the clothing in that set including the little whale one was used very often throughout that month and the next.
Then on May 12th I had a realization that brought tears into my eyes. He was almost already too big for the clothes I bought him, the clothes I once fantasized he would be big enough to wear. And at that moment for the first time the realization of how quickly he would grow, and how each stage could never be returned to, hit me with the force of a hurricane. Eventually he wouldn't be my little whale anymore, he would be a big whale. And as our only child as each stage passed so would pass an experience in our lives that we would never relive again.
I also realized that somewhere along the way the really really hard newborn stage (which I was neck deep in when I ordered that outfit) passed, and at the time I had a cute and wonderful baby that was in a stage of his life I would cherish forever. In that moment, when he could finally smile and coo at me, when he could sleep through the night, when I could share him with family, he was truly my little whale. The vision I had had the third week of his life came true.
So that day I put on nice clothing, put on his little whale outfit one last time, and I took pictures of the two of us to commemorate the moment. When the day was done I washed the outfit and put it in my nightstand where it remains today as an artifact to remind me of that time in our lives.
The second week Finn was alive I realized that much of the clothing people got us were cute and not practical clothing, and that he would soon grow out of most of it. So I got on Kohls.com and ordered him some new clothing that I went and picked up. Some of it I ordered for what his size was then, and some of it I ordered in a three month size that at the time seemed very far away.
My favorite clothing bought in this round was some onesies that had whales on them. One had a whale that said "tons of fun." Another had a little whale on it following a big whale. I saw both me and him in that piece of clothing and I looked forward to him wearing it. We would be my little whale one day once he would show me that he even realized I was on the planet.
As the month passed soon he grew enough for the three month clothing, and by the time of my sister's wedding he was wearing the favorite onesies I am describing. In fact the day after the wedding he was wearing the "tons of fun" one when my extended family came by to meet him for the first time. It was thereby enshrined in the pictures of that day, but all of the clothing in that set including the little whale one was used very often throughout that month and the next.
Then on May 12th I had a realization that brought tears into my eyes. He was almost already too big for the clothes I bought him, the clothes I once fantasized he would be big enough to wear. And at that moment for the first time the realization of how quickly he would grow, and how each stage could never be returned to, hit me with the force of a hurricane. Eventually he wouldn't be my little whale anymore, he would be a big whale. And as our only child as each stage passed so would pass an experience in our lives that we would never relive again.
I also realized that somewhere along the way the really really hard newborn stage (which I was neck deep in when I ordered that outfit) passed, and at the time I had a cute and wonderful baby that was in a stage of his life I would cherish forever. In that moment, when he could finally smile and coo at me, when he could sleep through the night, when I could share him with family, he was truly my little whale. The vision I had had the third week of his life came true.
So that day I put on nice clothing, put on his little whale outfit one last time, and I took pictures of the two of us to commemorate the moment. When the day was done I washed the outfit and put it in my nightstand where it remains today as an artifact to remind me of that time in our lives.
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