J. ANNE

This is Griffin.  He’s about to turn 4.  It was his Dad that dubbed the nickname, Pie, as he used to call him Griffy Pie as a baby.  It morphed into PiePie, and then just Pie.  And then I made up this little song that they boys still love for me to sing.  It goes like this:

“Griffy Pie, Griffy Pie.

Griffy ate all of the pies.

Apple pie, pumpkin pie.

Griffy ate… all those pies!!”

We made up this song because your thighs were monstrous as a baby.  You were everything a mama needs out of a chubby baby.  And your cheeks were the most delectable puffy marshmallows.  Each time we kissed them, which was often, they were cool to the touch.   But now those cheeks are melting away.  And you’re becoming a boy.

But that’s okay, because I love getting to know who you as a person.  And, wow, my love… you sure do let us know exactly what you’re thinking.  All the time.

“Hey Mawwm, weemember dat one time…” is your favorite line.  Your memory is insane.  It wouldn’t surprise me if you said, “Hey Mawwm.  Weemember dat one time doze doctahs cut me outta yous belly?”

But, even though you won’t say that to me… yes, I do remember that one time the doctors cut you out of my belly.  You were a big baby.  9lbs 1oz.  And you were delivered at 37 weeks.  Imagine if I let you cook the whole way.   You had a fluid-filled cough, so they took you to the nicu.  Your Daddy told me that you looked like a giant baby in there.  The nurses squeezed you all over because they weren’t used to seeing a baby with so much chub.  You were  a beautiful newborn.  But you had a rough go in the looks department after you reached about 5 months old and all of your hair fell out except for two strips on your sideburns… and I refused to cut them.  They twisted and curled… those two pieces of hair.  They were so long that they looked like a curly cue mustache… connected to your head rather than your upper lip.  It was phenomenal.  Even hipsters would have been jealous of your head-stache.

But now, my sweet boy.  You are almost 4 years old.  And you’re so lovely to talk to… you tell me every detail of your day.  You humor me when I get my camera out, and you pose for me in silly ways.  But it is moments like below that I cherish the most.  I can almost see the baby in you struggling with the passing of time.  Wanting to stay, but knowing that you’re ready to grow up just another tiny bit… one day at a time, yet somehow, in the blink of an eye.