July 26

Brady spent part of the afternoon on the family room floor setting up a game. He painstakingly cut out 'tokens' from a sheet of paper and then arranged his Skylanders figures in lines on the carpet. Then he summoned me to play with him.

It was obvious from the get-go that this was a Brady Original. He explained the "rules" to me in rapid, endearingly enthusiastic five-year old speak that made my head spin. Though it made me more than a little bit tired and I had a hard time keeping up with the stream-of-consciousness chatter and ever-changing gameplay requirements, I couldn't help but marvel over both his creativity and his ability to think on his feet. He may be my baby, but he's certainly not a baby anymore.

I say it all the time, but seeing the kiddos grow and change and create and reason their way through various situations and circumstances? All huge blessings.