Making Memories

Over the past few weeks I've had Sarah's boys over regularly to play, giving her a chance to nap and regroup after the birth of her new baby girl. It's been fun.

One day I had just Gavin while Jaxon and Nathan were at school. Gavin is two and a half. He doesn't say much, but has found many other ways to communicate his wants and needs. His latest obsession is to play games with me...dominoes, yahtzee, jenga, etc. So this day, he ran in, shed his boots and coat, stole a candy from the office desk and headed for the game shelf, pointing out the one he wanted.

We play most games with widely modified rules and often abandon the actual game for building forts or towers with the game pieces. Gavin has quite a sense of fair play, always insisting that I take my turn. He is beginning to understand my requirement that one game be put away before another is pulled out.

Anyway, we spent nearly an hour playing a variety of games before opting to read books. This is another favorite at my house. I recently moved the children's books to a lower shelf next to the grankids' toys. Now the kids can more easily see what is there and pick out the ones they want. Gavin chose four or five "Critter" books. He climbed up next to me on the couch and we read them all.

The next thing on his mind was food. Opting for strawberry milk and cheese and crackers, Gavin was contented at the kitchen island for a long time. He likes to put his own flavoring in the milk and stir it up. He also prefers to lick off the squeeze cheese before eating the cracker.

After the snack we played air hockey, cheering every time the puck went into the goal. It never matters whose side. Then it was Gavin's version of billiards, that involves putting all the balls up onto the table and into the holes and watching them come out again.....repeated over and over and over again. It's a very loud game!

All too soon it was time to go home. On went the boots and coat. There was a quiet hand in the candy dish and a big smile flashed my way as he headed out the door.

Our visit was over, but I'm amazed how often the memories of those simple moments together have come to my mind and brought a smile to my face. Childhood doesn't last very long, but those memories will be mine forever.