up with mr. moo

It's early Saturday morning... Gage slept all night (*yay*) but woke early. i thought maybe i could pull the ol' nursing trick & get him to go back to dreamland for a little longer, but when he started blowing raspberries on me, i knew it was all over...
Mollen said to me the other day, 'i think Gage likes you best out of everyone in this family. Because you're the momma, and because you HAD him... and because you have boobie juice."
In the darkness, i dared to make eye contact... i could barely make out his features... but he was staring at me... waiting for me to look down & he squealed & rolled over like i had put forth some outrageous challenge.
He's turning into such a monkey.
i have learned that these are precious moments.
i have learned that babyhoods are fleeting things & that soon, there will be a sweet toddler, a lisping preschooler, a sweaty preteen in my arms.
He reaches to my neck... Since before he was born, i've always worn a pendant & he fingers it as he babbles at me...
We slip out of bed - Gage shouting 'dadadadada!!' looking over my shoulder... Neil pretending to still be sleeping. i wrestle him to the ground & somehow manage to get a fresh diaper on him - passing him whatever i can get my hands on to distract him so he doesn't try to escape. i pick him up...
a solid little boy in my arms.
He whispers in my ear as we tiptoe down the dark hallway & stairs - past his sleeping brother & sister - to the kitchen to brew some coffee.
After awhile, big sisters wake & come to steal their baby brother from me.
Coffee's ready...
New day's beginning.