Puppy Feet and Baby Shoes

                                   *Angel Daughter Number Three and Micah sharing the love.

I am watching him grow.  At four and a half months and nearly forty pounds, each day, our sweet puppy Micah, causes me to pause and take in the subtle changes which occur almost invisibly and without notice.  His rapid rate of growth startles me as I check his collar to make sure that it is fitting comfortably, only to find out that the adjustment that Mark made yesterday, is no longer sufficient today.
It is like when my Angels were little, tiny people and I would go to place their perfect little shoes on their feet only to find out that after several weeks of owning them, the shoes no longer fit.  And yet, I never witnessed the changes happening.  They occurred right before my eyes, while I somehow blindly watched.
Micah is the fourth dog that Mark and I have had.  The third of which we have adopted from puppyhood.  And yet, as the younger years of my life zipped by at rapid speed, I don't remember how quickly all of the changes happened.  The growth, the transformation, the awkward process of growing into one's own feet and finally...
The Wings.

As my family surrounded me, yesterday, I thought about how far we all have come in such a relatively short period of time.  I thought about pregnancies and flutter-kicks.  I thought about babies at my breast and baby's first wobbly steps.  I recalled first words, first days of school, first dances and first heartbreaks.  And I thought about little feet growing out of their shoes.

At forty-six years old, the fast-moving pace of life is something that I wish I could grab hold of in order to slow it down.  I wish that I could freeze slices of time.  Watching Micah grow right before my eyes, heralds in the feeling that although I cannot slow down the tempo of life, I can slow down my own perception of  it.  I can take the time to notice the little shifts and transformations which occur slowly, but constantly.

I can remind myself to not only watch for growing feet, but growing wings, as well.