"I fwim!"

My first glimpses of Kendra Dee were when she was swimming around in my amniotic fluid at 20 weeks gestation. Tonight, as I watched her flail her arms and legs as she laid on her belly in the tub and exclaimed with glee "I fwim!" I thought about the miracle of the first 2 years of life. Babies go from completely dependent on us for their every need to feeding themselves, jumping, running, and talking up a storm in just 24 months. And it all goes by so fast! The question for me is how to capture these fleeting moments without amassing keepsakes that Kendra will someday have to either trash or store.

While cleaning out the closet in Kendra and Kiera's room, I came upon a manila envelope containing various mementos from Kenda's birth. Tucked in the corner were a ceramic dinosaur planter and a musical clown flower holder - both gifts delivered to me while I was in the hospital. For a week or so these items sat on the top of my cedar chest. Tonight I tackled the pile - confident that with my downsizing prowess I'd blow through that stack and keep very little. It turns out that sorting through keepsakes is not my strong point. What I found were several cards written by Shayla and Kiera with endearing messages such as "Dear Mom, I was so happy to share my room with the baby Love Kiera" and "I welcome the baby with something full of love. We all take a big warm hug and give it to her for a welcome gift. Nothing could be better than giving love to you and her. Love, Shayla". These are keepers, at least for now. What I did part with were a newborn Pamper (it is unclear to me why I kept it), 2 duplicate hospital name bands, a piece of paper with some times written on it (apparently I was tracking my contractions but they were only 10 minutes apart) and a few other gift cards - all trashed and recycled. The flower holders are also going away - to the default : Goodwill.
As I stowed the remaining items back in the envelope, I peered into my cedar chest. There appears to be more downsizing opportunity there. I'm afraid though that I'll have to go slow and be thoughtful as I continue to contemplate the importance of the things that we save along our child's journey. Tonight at least I have paired down a bit and enjoyed reliving those precious moments of July, 2008. After all, isn't that what keepsakes are for?