My favorite age

Peaceful little sleeping baby faces are one of my favorite things in the world. Small curled up fists, tiny ticklish toes. Round bellies to kiss and sweet gummy smiles. These are the things that make newborns my favorite age.

First laughs, reaching for toys to shake and rattle, the accomplishment of that first roll from belly to back, back to belly. Faces smeared with gooey cereal or orange, green, yellow purees. Watching chubby little fingers chase cheerios around and around and around. These are the things that make babies my favorite age.

Single-minded determination to get to that toy, just over there... The wonder of discovering that knees are for crawling, feet are to stand on. And anything within reach is for chewing on. These are the things that make crawling my favorite age.

The age of exploration - first wobbly steps, then run and tumble, climb and discover the world. Babbling becomes words. Everything is new and exciting and must be tried over and over again. These are the things that make toddlers my favorite age.

Independence in eating, dressing, playing. Proud to be done with diapers. Scribbling becomes letters becomes words. So much to learn in so few hours a day. Questioning why the sky is blue, why water is wet, why birds can fly and people can't. Believing anything you say with a total trust and innocence. These are the things that make preschoolers my favorite age.

Soccer fields, toothless grins, words spelled out in sprawling lines, the astonishing moment when words become more than a jumble of letters thrown together. Companionship, conversations, and creativity. These are the things that make first graders my favorite age.

I both dread and look forward to the years yet to come, the changes my kids will undergo. But I know that as they grow, each new age will become the one I cherish and love the most. My favorite age is all of them.

This post was written as a submission for the October Group Writing Project at MamaBlogga.