Growing up so fast

He’s already three months old. It’s so hard to believe. Aadil Amar Patel was born at 4:18 a.m. on December 6, 2018. He turned three months old on March 6!

I never knew how sentimental I would be over something so seemingly simple – baby clothes. A handful of people told me before Aadil was born: don’t buy too many baby clothes of any one size, because he’ll grow out of them quickly. Knowing this, Amar and I didn’t buy many clothes at all.

Of course, we did buy an outfit to bring our little guy home from the hospital in. It was on all the lists of items to pack in your hospital bag, and we wanted to be prepared. The tiny white and blue onesie is covered in animal print. That’s the outfit he wore in the hospital for his newborn photo session. His very first photo shoot!

After a few weeks, he grew out of that outfit. It sat in a bag on the floor of his nursery. Each day while I nursed or rocked Aadil in his rocking chair, I looked at the bag containing the outfit. I eventually added a few more of his onesies that no longer fit. You see, Aadil is a tall little guy and I quickly realized his feet were pushing at the seams of his little onesies. A baby needs room to grow! One day, I decided to fold the onesies he no longer needed and put the bag away in his closet. However, I will not be getting rid of them. Not so soon after he was just wearing them, while rocking in my arms, on the changing table and in our home. It seemed like just moments ago we were bringing him home from the hospital in his tiny blue and white onesie.

A couple days ago

, I spent some more time going through his clothes. Organizing is one of my hobbies after all. At three months, he’s gained more weight and has outgrown even more of his onesies. That means it’s time to put away some more clothes he doesn’t fit into anymore.

It’s hard not to get sentimental about the changes. My little man is growing up so fast. I notice it in the way he feels heavier while I bounce with him in my exercise ball. I notice when he now fits into a three month onesie that not long ago seemed way to big. I notice in the way his black hat no longer fits him. I notice in the way his features have sharpened and his face is developing into the young man he will become.

I can’t stop time; none of us can. But, I can mark each passing week.  Some days, it seems impossible to find a few minutes to lay him on his activity mat and take a photograph. But, I make sure to take a picture or two every day. I’m also keeping a baby book I’ll show him someday, just like my mother did for me.

These ways of capturing memories won’t stop Aadil from outgrowing his next set of clothes, or stop him from growing up before my eyes. But it’s one way to help me preserve the memories and freeze them in my mind so years from now, I can look back. He may not fit into his newborn clothes anymore, but that’s okay. I didn’t buy too many of them to begin with.