The Last of this First

There have been many firsts around our house. First baby, first steps, first teeth, first smiles, first haricuts.

I took Howie today for his first first today. It was his first haircut. I don't like cutting my boys' hair the first time. They lose the "baby look" and, as if it were magic, become little boys in the time it takes to cut their hair.

All of about 10 minutes.

The transformation is stunning. It, for me, is also saddening. I think I was a little more sad with Howie than I was with Owen. Perhaps it's because I know I will never have another first haircut. I know I will never have another little boy (or girl) to take to get their haircut for the first time. I know that, like it or not, I will never have another little baby.

(I love the motivation he's got in his mouth to sit still - he did really well - I have no doubt he would have even without the "motivation" but, let's just call it my "insurance policy")

I lavish in every ounce fo babyhood Howie is still willing to give me these days, which isn't much. Occasionally, he'll still let me rock him to sleep - especially on Sundays during church - but that isn't very often any more. Usually, he just wants to be down and moving, getting into this, that, and the other.

He's growing right before my very eyes, or so it seems. One day he is trying to figure out how to crawl and the next he's off and running down the hall away from me because he thinks it's a game.

Oh sure, there will be all kinds of other firsts for this family in the years to come. First baptism, first teeth lost, first driver's lisence, first heartbreak, first first grade. But, nothing will compare to seeing my littlest baby go from a baby to a little boy in a matter of blinks and a few snips of the hair.