Mountain goat

Grey asphalt under the wheels

The autobahn stretching out before me

My hands grip the wheel as try to stay on course

Mile markers, barely unintelligible as they whiz by

And all I can do is try and comprehend and acknowledge.

This is how I feel right now. Next week marks the middle of 2012. It seems like it just started. The kids are growing up right before my eyes, They’re achieving milestone after milestone and all I can do is try and grasp the moment, acknowledge it and hold on for the next.

Dedicated readers of this blog may remember me mentioning my astonishment at Stella’s uncanny climbing skills. Stella was skilled, swift and adept; fearlessly attaining summits thought unimaginable for a toddler.

My son is that and then some. A full fledged mountain goat. As a boy does, he attacks an object with reckless abandon, letting nothing get between him and his goal. We’re not one’s to hover. We want to give our kids the freedom to explore, find, feel and do. Our major concern is for their safety and they learn about he world around them. And balancing them feels like the parents are going to have a heart attack at any moment.

For instance, one beautiful afternoon in the garden. Maja and I were at opposite ends of the yard with the kids playing at the swing set. All of a sudden we hear a frantic yelling from Stella. In wonderful cinematic slow motion I look to Stella, then to where she is pointing. My shovel leaves my hand, slowly dropping to the ground as I sprint to the ladder. Emmett is at the top rung, trying to grasp the landing and fling himself to the top.

Ignoring me he heaves himself up and starts running around the platform, jumping and climbing on the ledges, giggling all the way.

Emmett discovering nest of baby spiders

Ride like the Wind

The snow has thawed and springtime has arrived. Time to make good on that promise, lets learn to ride.

I dug my rollerblades out, I’m ready to roll.

There’s only one problem. Each of the three times I’ve gotten her on her bike over the past few weeks, she’s gone a total of 20 feet and stops, disinterested.

Or so I thought.

Today as Mommy Picked up Emmett, Stella and Hannah ran to our house. Before Mommy came home the two were standing in the street with their bikes. Mommy wanted to help but she said “hands off”

And off they went. All the way to the ice cream stand at the other end of the village and back.

Almost a mile

As she proudly exclaimed to me “all by myself, without training wheels, to the ice cream stand and back.”

I quickly grabbed the camera and strapped on the rollerblades.

Then she proudly showed me again. 

ps - if you turn up the volume you can hear Stella's wonderful Denglish as she's starting to speak more and more English.