Well, not at this very moment. At this moment, she's in her swing asleep. My big girl is in her bed, comporting herself in a similar manner. I realize that I could also be engaging in this very worthwhile undertaking, but I have some other things I would like to do with this time. Which is okay. And I reserve the right to whine about sleep deprivation later even though I chose not to take this nap because sleep is important, but it's not the only thing that's important, and I'm allowed to have my own needs for meaning and productivity and fun which can only be met when two small people are not demanding 100% of my attention. Each.
But I digress.
At some point in the past week, my sweet sweet baby girl has decided that when I put her on her back to play, it's a good idea to roll over onto her stomach.
What she intends to do once she gets there is beyond me. She better not have any ideas about crawling.
She's also decided she has a preferred parent (it's not daddy) and that sleeping through the night is silly.
These things are all related, right?
I don't know when my baby got to be this big. The time is going really fast. These things sound stupid, like the cliches I know they are.
I'm sad? Kinda? Except I really do prefer this ball of cuddles who knows who I am and smiles and laughs at me. (At me? I mean . . . no, let's not lie. At me.) Who enjoys when her sister hugs her. Who looks around and realizes things are happening, and has opinions on things (you know she does). And I'm worried about how fast this stage will go by (and at the same time SO EAGER for this EXACT phase to go by), but I know I will like the next one too.
My big girl? She sings songs. Kicks a ball around the back yard. Climbs into my lap and tells me she loves me. Gives me her apple slices. Performs entire scenes from Daniel Tiger. Helps other kids.
And she's still my baby too.
Time is going quickly. But my girls aren't going anywhere quickly. Well, except when BG "runs so fast!" to the other side of the library.
But again, I digress.
I think you've summed up the entire motherhood experience here. Watching one phase disappear before your eyes and both hoping for and dreading the next one. Over and over again.
ReplyDeleteFantastic post. Although wee man is only 6 weeks I can already notice a huge difference. Thunderpants is 5 and some of the phrases she comes out with.. or her dress sense. My goodness! you have summed things up perfectly.
ReplyDeleteSleeping through the night is silly....bwhahaha!!! Laughing with you.
ReplyDeleteMy son thought it was silly to take naps...but it was totally cool to slather himeself with diaper cream.
Kids.
I loved all of this, but especially the note about how BG is still your baby, too.
ReplyDeleteEarly on I thought, with the new one coming, that we'd have to convince the new one that she wasn't the baby anymore. But she was just starting to use words to identify herself, and I was just so happy that when you said "who's the baby?" she'd point to herself, that I didn't want to confuse that. Now she's talking in complete sentences, so if you say "who's the baby?" she says, "That's me!" and it is the most awesome thing ever.
So at some point I realized it was completely stupid to make a rule that there could only be one baby in the house. So we're going to call her a baby as long as she likes that. She'll get tired of it eventually. In the meantime, we'll have two babies!
Hugs! - Jane.