Squishable

 

My sweet smelling, curly headed, bouncing beauty, squishable little girl – how have you been with us for 2 1/2 years already?  How is it that the little girl I cuddled and caressed and nursed for those hour long sessions can now feed herself and dress herself (perhaps backwards and inside out, but you can do it “all by myself!”)? 

Over these past couple months we’ve been working on potty training with you.  You weren’t so sure about it at first, and your Mommy was growing weary of the battle it seemed to be to get you to even try the potty without melting down in to a puddle of tears.

And then we made a potty chart…

Stickers and yogurt raisins must be pretty valuable to you because all of the sudden sitting on the potty was all you wanted to do! 

Yesterday morning you woke up completely dry for the very first time.  You wore underwear all day long and didn’t have one accident.

You are so proud of yourself and so proud of how big you’ve become. Your Mommy, Daddy, and brothers are very proud of you too.  So proud.

But yesterday as I was watching you wash your hands after one use it hit me…

After you are potty trained I will never change another diaper for one of my own babies again.  I may change some nieces and nephews diapers, diapers of my friends babes or the like, but not my own flesh and blood.  Not until I am a Grandmother will I change another diaper for one of “my own.”  It was just such a stark realization that it truly took my breath away.  My life has been diapers, desitin and doo-doo for the past four years and I’ve been okay with that.  I love being a Mommy to my little ones.

And all of the sudden I’m going to parent/teacher conferences for my preschool sons and you’re climbing up on the big potty all by yourself without any help. 

I know it’s all part of where parenting leads.  We love you, nurture you, pour life in to you and over you, and then we watch as your little wings spread.  We watch as you tackle just one more small thing every day that makes you just a little more independent, until one day we look back and wonder how you have changed so much in such a short amount of time.

I am so immensely proud and deeply in love with you precious daughter.  I look at your curls bouncing as you hop around the house, pretending to be a frog a kitty cat or a combination of the two, and I am amazed by this gift I have been given in you.  Your sweet little voice talking a million miles an hour is music to my ears as your vocabulary is exploding and you have so much to express and get off your chest.

I just want to savor, savor, savor these moments with you and your brothers. These days where we are together, where there is no major agenda or place we have to be.  Where you still want to crawl up on my lap and read books.  Where you let me pick out your clothes and put on whatever I ask.  Where you still sleep in a crib and I can still picture that little babe all swaddled sleeping peacefully.  I know all too soon these days too will be a memory.  I want to sear it in my heart, sear it in my mind, and never forget the gift I’ve been given of life with you today.