Special Day

It's late and I'm outside, sitting in my camping chair on the back porch, listening to music on my laptop via Spotify (quite possibly the coolest internet based invention in the past 5 years - it's like Pandora on steroids).  Earlier tonight, I saw 3 or 4 fire trucks speed by our house, lights on and sirens screaming.  I can smell something burning or, perhaps, something that has burned.

It's unseasonably warm for mid-March - high temperature today was in the low 80's.  Crazy, but I'm sitting outside in shorts and a short sleeve shirt.  Jude, John Patrick and Joey are sleeping upstairs.  I just realized - I'm surrounded by "J's."  Strange.

Monday morning, Jude and I accompanied J.P. to Children's House for his "Special Day."  At Children's House, each child celebrates a "Special Day," as opposed to a birthday.  That way the children who have birthdays in the summer don't miss out on the fun.  It sort of marked the start of J.P.'s birthday month, since he turns 4 on March 28.

When we arrived and parked in the parking lot, J.P. instructed us to "wait patiently" in the lobby, while he walked down the hall to classroom B to get things ready.  Jude and I sat on a bench there with our tray of orange slices and 2 loaves of banana bread - only healthy snacks are allowed.  And, yes, we waited patiently, talking and laughing quietly.  A friend of ours stopped by after walking her daughter into classroom B and told us, conspiratorially, that J.P. was beside himself with excitement.

After a few minutes, J.P. walked out of classroom B and up to the lobby, grinning from ear to ear.  "Come in!" he said.  We followed him down the hall and into classroom B.  He led us to 2 small chairs in the front of the classroom, facing 3 rows of children seated on the floor directly in front of us.  J.P. stood between us as Jude and I looked into 25 or 30 little faces staring expectantly up at us.  He introduced us to his classmates - "this is my mommy, Jude White and this is my daddy, Phil Newman."

I thought my heart was going to explode with pride - literally explode - as he called on his classmates (all with raised hands) to answer their questions about the "timeline" Jude had prepared (1 photograph each of J.P. as a newborn, and 1, 2 and 3 year old).  He was a little nervous, but he came through like a champ.

Next, Jude and I each told a story about J.P. and things we liked to do together.  I talked about how he and like to go to "Forks" on 12th Avenue to play drums and, of course, Bongo Java.  Surprisingly (or maybe not), almost all of the children had heard of Bongo Java.  It was really, really cool, sitting there with J.P. and Jude and talking to all of his classmates.

Jude and I left and stopped by Bongo Java, so she could get a quick bite for breakfast and we could de-brief about the morning.  As we sat at a table, activity bustling all around us, we marveled at our amazing, wonderful son.  We agreed it was so hard to believe he was almost 4 years old.  In a lot of ways, having Joey brings back so many fond memories of when J.P. was that small.  And, yet, at the same time, it's a constant reminder of how much he has grown and how far away he is from that little baby I could hold comfortably in my arms.

Time passes.