I got to Colorado Saturday morning....walked into my friend/former roomie's house....saw the baby....and had my heart totally and completely stolen.
The kid is amazing. He is so incredibly cheerful, and loves to just explore and grin at ya and make faces at ya...that it is hard to find the desire to be away from him. We drove up into the Rockies yesterday, and Preggo (Yes, I know she's not pregnant any more...but that's my name for her, and I ain't changin' it!) sat in back with BabyGrape. He just sat in his carseat and talked...and talked some more. Every once in a while, he would get wound up like he was going to cry, so I'd play peek-a-boo with him in the vanity mirror. He would totally forget he was upset and start laughing...I'm sure the people in the car in front of us thought I was nuts -- but I didn't care. Not one bit.
The thing that is so incredibly cool is that everytime Preggo and SoldierHubby have introduced me to their friends, they have made sure to tell them how I was there for Preggo when she was pregnant and he was deployed. They make no bones about the fact that they appreciate what I did for her (them)...when at the time, in my eyes, I was just doing what I saw needed to be done. It is incredible to know that my seemingly-inconsequential actions had such an incredible impact on this family.
Wow.
How humbling.
I have approximately 36 hours left here. I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to get on the plane and go back to Texas and leave the bambino behind. His parents have been trying to talk me into moving here....so far I've resisted...("I'm a Texas girl!")...but it sure would be nice to get to watch this kiddo grow up.
What I do know is that I am incredibly thankful for this friendship with this family from whom I've learned so very much. We'll see what shape that friendship takes in the future. Maybe I'll luck out and they'll move to Kansas or Oklahoma like they're talking about when he gets out of the service in a few months....and I'll have a shorter drive to get me some BabyGrape time. Here's hopin'!!
hasta...