2003 Journal Links

Today Archie's world got a little bit bigger. Up until this morning, Archie was content to play on his activity mat. I knew he had recently figured out how to maneuver his body around the mat, and knew, too, he was spending a lot more time playing on his tummy, up on his elbows, since he had figured out how to flip from his back to front, but I have to admit that Archie's new-found mobility surprised me.

I watched from the kitchen table this morning as Archie discovered he's able to roll off his activity mat, across the keeping room's rug, right up to the skirt of the couch where, if he tries hard enough, he can look underneath. After I pulled Archie from underneath the couch, congratulated him profusely, and returned him to his mat, I watched again as Archie rolled to the other side of the room. He smiled at me then, his chin on his fists, pleased with his accomplishment. "Well, aren't you all grown up?" I asked him, smiling.

When Archie was in the hospital and very sick, I wished for the days to pass as quickly as possible. But today, as I watched Archie's horizons expand right in front of my eyes, I remembered something my father always said to me when I was a little girl. "I'm going to stuff you in a jelly jar and put you on the fireplace mantle," he would tell me every night around bedtime. "Because that way I can make sure you won't grow up!" I understand now what he meant.