The Best Kind of Headache

Right now, as I look at this computer screen, I have a small, throbbing pain in the very middle of my forehead. It sort of feels like a bruise that's beginning to settle in. That's a pretty boney location on one's body, so any repetitive impact could leave one with a little headache of sorts.

Yes, my forehead has taken repetitive impact today from an almost-seven-month-old bundle of fun. You see, Tyler and I are cuddly folks when we're in the mood for affection. We often stir up little games with one another and they always wind up with hugs and tickles and lots of kisses.

We usually opt for the Eskimo kisses game. Do you know what Eskimo kisses are? Those are the kind of kisses you give someone by rubbing noses with them. I know, it sounds like a gesture that a dog would do, but it's really sweet. So, it starts out that I'm holding Tyler and I get really close to his face. While I rub noses with him, I whisper very softly, "Get you, get you, get you!" He just gets so giggly every time! We do that for a few minutes until the giggling dies down, and then we hug, kiss, and move on to another game.

Well, today, I initiated a new game. It is very similar to the Eskimo kisses one except that it involves touching foreheads while saying "boop" in a very silly voice. The game began with soft little touches, but when Tyler decided that he liked the game and wanted to keep playing, the touches became a little more like head-butts. We both laughed and laughed, and it was so sweet to see him lean his little head towards mine over and over as if to say, "Do it again, Mommy!" It gives me chills just to think about it now.

All the "experts" will tell you that you shouldn't play with your child at bedtime. You're "supposed" to wind them down, not wind them up. Well, I hate to tell you "experts," but when my sweet baby boy starts the head-butting game at bedtime, I oblige. Because, really, who cares? These are the moments that make being a mother so much fun. And, when I laid him in his crib, he promptly closed his eyes and fell asleep anyway.

Today has been one of those days where moment after moment I have thanked God for the gift of Tyler. I have never been more proud of anything in my life. I wish I could make time stand still and keep him at this age forever. I look forward to seeing what he will become as he grows into a young man, but I cherish this time when he's mobile, but not too mobile, and expressive, but always cheerfully expressive. As Julie says, he hasn't gotten an opinion yet!

On the way home from church tonight, Tyler was getting a little antsy because it was time for him to eat dinner. Lo and behold, we had to wait for a train while we were on a fast mission for home. I grabbed my bag and pulled out my little travel-size pack of antibacterial wipes. I reached behind me and said, "Here you go, Ty." I watched in my rear view mirror as a little hand reached up and took the yellow package from me. It was simple and profound all at the same time.

My mind went back to when he couldn't do anything but eat and sleep, and, now, less than a year later, he is becoming an interactive little being who can take things from me, put his pacifier in his mouth if he so chooses, push a truck back and forth, bang things together, splash all the water out of the bathtub, get carrots and peas and applesauce and whatever else up his nose every night at dinner, reach up for me to hold him, rearrange his crib in a matter of minutes, and a million other little things that give me a glimpse of his personality and the type of person he is becoming.

What a blessing to watch.

I am thankful for my throbbing forehead because it means that God has blessed me with a perfect gift, one that I could have never dreamed up on my own. When I told Danny tonight that I was having a day of great thanksgiving and that I would love to have a way to stop time exactly where we are right now, he said, "That's why you have more children."

Honestly, I don't see how I could ever love another child as much as I love my sweet, head-butting Tyler.

Thank you, precious Lord, for this headache. It's the very best one I've ever had. I pray that you'll bless me with another one tomorrow!