circa 2008.

I was browsing through all my picture folders on my laptop the other day, for some unknown reason. I stumbled upon lots of old photos--a few "oohs" and "awws", lots of smiles, infinite memories, but one picture stopped me in my tracks. It melted my heart. It made me a little nostalgic. It was a picture of Mason from the first day of November. His hair fell slightly over his eyebrows and his smile, oh that precious little smile. More of a smirk and a small replica of the real thing. It's his totally over the camera, but still willing to please you smile and he still does it. In fact he probably did it three times today. I hope he still will this November and many more.

This picture is the last picture I see any remnants of a baby in Mason; he still had cherub cheeks and a baby face. I didn't remember him being turning in to a little boy, there was never one moment where I thought, that was it, he is grown out of a toddler. When I saw this picture, I scoured through the folders, by December his face had thinned and he acquired a familiar, yet totally different look. I knew then, this was his last picture as my little baby Mason. Before the hundreds of pictures of little kid Mason. As I stared at the picture I smiled and gazed in to his eyes through the computer screen. I tried to remember what his voice sounded like that day or the way his cheeks felt, because they looked so soft and so delicate.I eventually clicked the X and his last baby picture faded off the screen. At first I was sad, but then I remembered it was time to go pick him up from preschool and I couldn't wait to get out of the house to get him. To feel his cheeks and listen to his voice but especially to see his smile. His big kid cheeks and his big kid voice. And his same, phony, smile that I cannot get enough of.