That was then

Travel Town train, February 2007: A cold and overcast day. Luke had just turned three; I was six months pregnant. Luke was into tools, guitars, and the vending machine. I was focused on spending quality time with Luke and possibly heading out to buy some more maternity clothes. I had no way of knowing that this was my last weekend out in the world before heading to the hospital. In fact, this picture never made it onto the blog - Dave had to upload it while I was in the hospital so he could print out some pictures for me. I remember that this was one of the most difficult pictures for me to look at because it reminded me of my last days of free-wheeling fun with Luke. I just had no idea what was ahead.

Travel Town train, October 2010: A cold and overcast day. Zach is almost three and a half; Luke is in first grade; I'm older and possibly wiser and definitely more tired. Zach is into trains, cats, and hot water heaters; he's wearing his cat costume. I'm enjoying some quality time with my littlest guy on my day off from work . Is there some big change lurking on the horizon? Who can ever know? But we had a great time, and this time I was able to put the picture on the blog.

At our Tuesday night class, Zach likes to walk around the exterior of the school building and point out all of the "alarms" (mostly intercoms and/or speakers). Today we passed a small metal box mounted on the outside wall.
Me: "Zach, do you think that is another alarm?"
Zach: (exasperated sigh) "No, mom, that's a tankless water heater."