The Cradle

Today I'm having another "My kids are growing up too fast" moment. I know that this is all because we are returning the cradle today, and it's the last time we'll be using it for a baby in this house. What's so special about this cradle, you ask? When Chris was a baby, his grandparents got a cradle for him to sleep in. Little did they know then that this cradle would be something of an icon for our extended family. They wrote Chris' name in the bottom of the cradle, and from then on, when a baby was born in the family, their name would be added to the list under Chris' name when they would sleep in this cradle. A lot of Chris' cousins are on there, along with second cousins, his brothers and our nieces. Caleb and Hannah are, of course, on the list, so when Connor arrived, Chris' parents brought the cradle over for us to use. We used it for a couple weeks, with it sitting right by my side of the bed. However, now that Connor is almost six weeks old (sob!), we've been having him sleep in his crib. So, today, Chris loaded the cradle into our truck to return to his parents and before it was loaded, I added the most recent name to the list: our youngest and quickly growing little boy. It's bittersweet! It means that Connor is out of the newborn stage. He looks like an older baby, too, since he's getting his cute baby-chub and spending more time awake and alert. Just this morning, he was not only looking at the birds on his swing and smiling at them, he was also talking to them! All three of my kids are growing up so fast so it's time to capture these memories while I'm thinking about it. Hopefully look for some video of the kids in the future. (If you don't see any soon, be sure to bug me about it. Maybe that will help light a fire under me!!)