Pooh Photos

Each month, we take a photograph of Baby J beside a plush Winnie the Pooh. Now that she's nearly a year old, it's fun to look back at these Pooh photos and see how our baby has grown. At the first month's photo, she's the same size as Pooh. By the ninth month, she's bursting out of the frame. You can hardly even see Pooh.

Sometimes it seems to me that time has flown by at warp speed.

I remember when Baby J was first born, all squishy and weird looking, Pooh sized - we'll call that version of her Baby A. And I know how she looks now, portly and jolly, dwarfing Pooh - Baby B. When I try to reconcile these two versions of her in my head, I think my brain automatically assumes that a very long time must have passed between Baby A and Baby B. How else could such dramatic differences be achieved? And since I remember everything so clearly, I think my brain distorts the procession of time making it seem to have flown by quickly.

If I look at all the Pooh photos, it organizes all those memories I have into chronological order and lines up all the intermediary stages between Baby A and Baby B. It shows regular intervals and a reference point for measuring change. Time decompresses and her first year of life no longer seems distorted.

It's kind of the same with these daily blog entries. Looking back, the past has a regular rhythm to it. It makes me think that when parents bemoan that their kids are growing up too fast they are really saying that they didn't do enough to keep their memories well organized.

If you ever feel that the past is getting away from you, I recommend you get a camera and a plush Pooh doll. Or start a blog. Or do both. Every second of your life, the future is draining into the past through a tiny hole in the hourglass we call the present. Do what you can to keep things in perspective.

Or don't do anything. It's your choice. But a plush Pooh doll does give you something to smile at every now and then.

Listening To: Silver by Jesu