Does he dream of me like I dream of him?

Eyelashes flutter against his cheek
He breathes deep
A moan
A Groan
A Toss
And a Turn
I sit quietly
And watch
Today I'm an observer
In these moments
I stare at his lips
His eyes
And his cheeks
In this moment,
I know that I'm giving up my sleep
But I can't help it
Because he's perfectly imperfect
In every way
He's stubborn
Mischievous -
A toddling tornado,
In the calm before the storm
I get to really examine him
And understand how much he has grown.
As his eyelids move,
I wonder
Does he dream of me like I dream of him?
When we're apart does he miss me like I miss him?
During the day my mind often wanders
to the dimple on his cheek
his three new teeth
The way he moans when it's time to sleep
And how he gives the puppy a treat,
To his smile as he plays in a puddle of mud
And the hesitant look he gets when he's encouraged with a shove.
In those moments I even miss the mini-tantrums.

They say that the night's are long, but the years are short
And such is the life of parenthood.

Every now and then we need to press pause
and understand that that important thing
is not as urgent as we think,
that those household chores can hang tight for a little longer,
that errands can wait
And that phone-call can be put off, for goodness sake.

Because soaking these little beings up while they sleep
is an important part of the journey.
Trying to imprint this memory into your brain
is more important than you may think,
because they seem to grow up as soon as we blink.