This weeks mushyness...

I was watching Tommy play a little bit ago and he was taking this little ping pong size ball that goes with one of his toys, putting it up on the coffee table and watching roll around and off the table with such precious concentration. This week he has figured out how to pull himself up to standing at this table, he used to just pull himself up to a kneeling position. Well every since he's been able to kneel there he has loved putting his mouth on the table. He even bites it sometimes, and has some teeth scratch marks along the edge of the wood. 

The sweet part about this is that this isn't just any coffee table, Kyle made this coffee table with his two hands. He spent hours cutting, piecing, sanding, and shaping this masterpiece of a table. Kyle is a perfectionist so this table does not look like it was made by an amateure woodshop student.  It looks like a nice table you would pay lots of money for in a furniture store. Kyle took two semesters of woodshop during his last year of college and he really enjoyed it. I remember when he brought his first project home for the end of the first semester, it was a beautiful end table, he had it covered in a sheet or towel and he had to explain to me how to take care of it, and how to pick it up if I was to move it, etc.  He had spent a lot of time and energy into making this table.  Well then came the next semester and I had always wanted a coffee table b/c for some reason we never had one growing up (which I think I figured out why, they take up a lot of room in the middle of the room).  So Kyle made me a nice, big coffee table.  He was careful when he brought it home, we did not put our feet on it (for a while).  Needless to say these were two valuable pieces of furniture to Kyle b/c he knew how hard he had worked to do them and was pleased with his finished product.

Well when Tommy first started trying to chew on the table, I'd always stop him and say, "No, no Daddy worked hard to make this table. Don't chew on it." Once I saw the teeth marks were already there I just kind of gave up on it (they aren't very obvious either). And the table it just Tommy's height, so I know why he'd love to play with it. Now he loves to throw his toys up there, and he throws them hard. He bangs with his drumsticks on the table. Thankfully Kyle chose a beautiful grain and type of wood that is very durable.

But I told Kyle the other day that he might as well just accept it, this coffee table is going to end up being our kids table and we might even end up getting little chairs to go with it b/c it really is the perfect height and size for a kid's table. He just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Probably so."

Oh how I love that our priorities have changed. Those little teeth scratches will someday bring joy to my heart!  He's going to grow up and get big and I'll quickly forget about these precious days that we have together, but I will cherish those little reminders around our home and on our furniture that he left behind. Tommy knows he has to leave his mark. And with his new brother or sister coming I'm sure there will be many more teeth marks, and probably even worse things, to mark that they've been here.