mental notes

It seems like Everett has been taking mental notes lately. I didn't even realize he was paying attention. At least not to the extent that he seems to now be remembering and applying things. Case in point- Providence (my church) has a large focus on community outreach. To that end, one outreach focuses specifically on skateboarders through the building of a skate park on the church grounds. The park is always open and so after church Everett has watched those skateboarders riding, doing tricks, etc. Skip to Barnes and Nobles a few weeks later. We were playing at the train table. Everett zeroed in on an empty train car, put it on the ground and started trying to jump on it. I kept correcting him because he was trying to jump and step on the toy and then it dawned on me- he was trying to skateboard! He spent a good 20 minutes "skateboarding." Since then we've found him trying to skateboard on everything from his little xylophone to his wagon.

Last week, Everett and I hung out with my dear friend Sara and her hubby Keith. Everett calls them Rara and Titi (read Keithie haha) We went to a homecoming bonfire and then hit up Target for a pumpkin spice latte and a little retail therapy. Fast forward to Saturday when I returned that retail therapy to Target.  As soon as we pulled up Everett started shouting Rara! Rara! Thank goodness we were only returning something because he said her name over and over again until we left :) It was adorable and crazy to me that he would remember and associate Target (and a completely different store for that matter) with Sara.

It got me to thinking- if he's able to pick up on things like that, what else is he paying attention to?  Not that I wasn't already, but it really made me think about my actions even more knowing that Everett is taking mental notes. That's a lot of pressure if you think about it! So here's praying for patience, wisdom, and that God's grace would fill in the gaps in this crazy adventure called parenthood.