Milestones

I know, it’s been awhile! Thanks so much for following this blog. I’m humbled that you make our lives a part of your life. My plan is to post every week from now on.

Well, I had plenty of material to choose from in writing this first post of 2019. Among the top contenders were our Christmas family photo bloopers and our all-time household record for taking down our Christmas tree, which, yes, is live, though by the fourth week of January that term must be used very loosely.

And then there’s the cold. For us, the polar vortex has blown its way past. It is warming back up, and hopefully we won’t have to deal with -35 windchill for the rest of the winter. Which will be over shortly, right?? I’m reminded that “as long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, will never cease.” So I can be confident in telling my daughters that, yes, they will be able to play “catch me” with the garden hose again.

But what I most want to share are the changes in these girls, the milestones and new developments.

Such as my startled realization that my sweet sixteen month old is a baby no longer!

She now refuses to eat unless given a fork.

We now carry on full-fledged conversations.

“Do you want water or milk?”

“Milk!”

“How do you ask?”

“Pease.”

“Okay, here you go!”

“Tanks.”

She’s not always so polite in requesting what she wants. After a meltdown for her sister’s new Tangle Pets unicorn hairbrush, I gave in and let her hold it (I know, I know, bad parenting) and she hugged the unicorn, looked at me and with a huge smile, said, “‘Corn! Happy!”

She even had her first haircut.

Yes, goodbye, babyhood. It says so right on the certificate that our barber gave her: “Gabrielle has bravely met all of the requirements of receiving her first haircut and has graduated from babyhood.”

And we’ve had another milestone. A milestone birthday. My oldest turned 5!

This morning we were in a rush to get to her 5 year check-up with the pediatrician, and I started pulling on her socks.

“Mom!” she exclaimed. “I can do this myself. I’m five years old, remember?!!”

There is a time for everything, including a time for little ones to grow bigger…and moms to progress from the overwhelmed pregnancy/newborn/baby stage to, well, hopefully a stage in life where I’ll be less overwhelmed and more rested, right? Though, admittedly, older.

A couple weeks ago, I decided I needed to spruce up. I felt that I hadn’t paid much attention to my hair or my clothing the last few, well, years. So I gave myself bangs. I had about 10 minutes while the youngest napped and my other two were occupied with Play Dough, so I grabbed a pair of scissors and thought to myself, “Hey, I can do this myself. It’s not rocket science!” Snip. Snip. Voilà!

My five year old tromped up the stairs and barreled into the bathroom.

“Mom, you look different.” She peered closer. “Oooh, Iove your hair! It makes you look so old.” Startled, I peered down at her. I then remembered that in her mind, she had just paid me the highest complement.

“Thank you, sweetheart. I’m glad you like it.”

A concerned look then crossed her face. She reached up, motioning for me to bend down. I did so, and she pushed the bangs back with her little hand. “There!” she said, with relief in her voice. “There’s my mommy!”

I leaned down further so that we were eye level. “No matter what changes, sweetheart, you’ll always be my daughter.” I scooped her up in a hug. “And I’ll always be your mommy.”