Time is a speeding bullet

The other day Connor found a hose attachment that looks like a much smaller version of a fire hose.  I have no clue where it came from, we find a lot of random things around here.  (It is an old house.)  He proceeded to stand in the backyard pointing his "firehose" to the sky and laughing hysterically.  It was the absolutely best laugh.  The sound of my little guys complete joy just made my heart skip a beat.  Those are the moments that you want to never forget.  Connor's at that age where everyday they say and do funny things.  Even the silly faces he makes convey so much.  But I don't know how to capture that in a way that I will never lose.  I know there will come a time when my children are far away and my memory is less than sharp, and I will struggle to remember those wonderful moments, instead of all the things that make old ladies cranky.  A picture just doesn't capture it perfectly enough.  Connor somehow manages to stop doing the adorable thing I never want to forget, and revert to his standby Paulitz smile (its not our best feature.)  It's like a rectangular smile. It's pretty awkward. And I'm not a good enough writer to capture it with words.  Sure I can write down the funny things he says, if I haven't forgotten them by the time I get a chance.  But I lack that skill that allows writers to capture an image so perfectly, you can see it in your head.

My favorite is his quirky facial expressions.  He does all of these silly things with his eyes that say much more than he ever does.  His mouth too.  I think that all of that time when he couldn't communicate with us led him to make up his own way.  Plus nothing gets a good laugh like Con's "that's weird or that's funny"  He'll make this great expression by lifting his eyebrows way up, bugging out his eyes, and moving his eyes around all crazy.  All this without a word.  He follows this with a completely straight faced, "that funny."

Con is all boy.  Every game he plays involves fighting, Star Wars, army guys, and of course super heroes.  He's pretty sure he has actual super powers, including flying and that Iron Man power hand thing.  Surprisingly, we haven't been to the ER in a while.  His latest incarnation is "bubble man."  He stomps around the bathtub, covered in soap singing, "I am bubble man" in his sternest voice. Every few steps he stops to do his Iron Man fire power hand thing. This is usually followed by Dave and I chiming in with a rousing rendition of Black Sabbath's "Iron Man", substituting the words "bubble man", of course.

But Connor is still a sweet mama's boy.  My boys love to snuggle up with me, Greg is big on drive-by hugs, he needs his mommy fix.  Con never goes to sleep without giving me a good-night kiss.  Every night when I kiss the boys goodnight, I know the day is fast coming that I'll be lucky to get a Paulitz butterfly hug.  Before I know it, they'll be leaving for missions and I'll finally have time for that mental breakdown.  Isn't it funny that all the times in our lives when we want time to hurry up, it waits.  And when we want it to stop, it runs so fast we can't catch it.  Kinda like my kids.