A Summer of Flowers

When the weather started getting sunny this past spring, I immediately popped the boys in the double stroller and set out on a walk. We needed to get out of the house - I enjoyed it for the exercise, but something much more special came from it, too.

As we would walk through the neighborhoods, I did my best to point things out to Asher and Aiden to keep them entertained: "Oh! Did you see that squirrel?" "Those birds are talking to each other!" "Look at that beautiful flower - what color is it?" While Aiden just enjoyed looking around and taking things in (being only about 15 months), this became a routine for Asher and me.

Soon, Asher was pointing things out on his own: "Yook, Mommy, that bird is going home for yunch!" "Yook, Mommy! It's a byooful flower!" And I would respond by saying something like, "I know! Mommy loves flowers!"

And so began my summer of flowers. Anytime we were outside, if Asher spotted a flower (or dandelion) he would pick it and bring it over to me saying, "Here, Mommy! I have a byooful flower for you!" It didn't occur to me until partway through the summer to start saving them; when I had a book I was reading on hand, I would press the flower between the pages. He was just as excited to give them to me as I was to receive them from my sweet little boy. I think partly this is due to the fact that I know each year, each day, each minute he's getting older and changing, and I'm doing everything possible to preserve these memories.

I'm not sure how I'll continue to preserve them, or if it will even be possible, but I know that probably until the day I die I'll remember the summer that Asher was 2 as my summer of flowers. I know I'll probably never again have a summer like that, and I'm sure it'll embarrass Asher once he's older, but it's a little golden nugget that I'll treasure forever.

I realize one of those is a leaf, but he was so excited to give it to me
that I had to save it!