Monday, August 04, 2008

Why must they grow? I might as well brag.

This time last year I had a baby in an infant car seat, a sweet three year old that did not whine, a five year old that still occasionally played with Thomas the Train, and a loving husband.

Instead of focusing on how painful it is to see them growing up so fast. I will just brag about all of their great milestones. It will put my mind at ease. Repeat after me, "Stop growing. Stop growing. Stop growing."

Fifi
She might not say a lot at 18 months old but the girl sure does observe and register everything. She loves to pull out my hair straightener and slide it over her hair, admires my fancy lotions and massages her legs, worships my costume jewelry and has broken many strands. This past weekend, she approached me at the pool, "EEEEWWWWW... Mama. Ewww." I looked into her eyes and tried to register what she meant. "Ewwww... Mama." She said again and patted her bottom. My baby girl, just told me she pooped in her swim diaper. Whenever I change her diaper I lovingly squeal "Ew." Holy Guacamole, someone call MENSA. I am not ready to have a baby out of diapers.

Lola
She thrives best when busy. Recently, I asked her what I should sign her up for in the fall. "Ballet, gymnastics, tennis, ice skating, and horse school." She told me while jumping in place. At home she whines, she screams, she cries from the lack of activity. Mind you, we have a gazillion things to keep her busy at home. I asked her if she whined, screamed, and cried at school and in horse camp, she smiled and honestly replied, "No, I am just crazy at home." Dear God, sweet Lola, give me a break. Therefore, I usually give in to most of her activity requests. More so, and more importantly, she is REALLY good at most things she tries because she is fearless. Check out this absolutely boring video of her after a week of horse camp. The posture. The horse show smile. The perfect grip of the rein. She looks so old, polished, and mature. And yes, she is wearing a T-shirt that says, "My mom is blogging this." Her choice. I lost my choices months ago.





Jay
Jay is a homebody. Even as an infant he napped best when at home. Even as a six year old he has had a difficult time with separation and prefers to entertain his friends at home. Therefore, when I registered him for full day out door's camp months ago, I only paid for one week. I knew that the investment was small and it would not kill me financially to pull him out. The kid has never enjoyed anything more in his entire life than this outdoor adventure camp. Bygones be bygones, I wish I had enough confidence in him and had signed him up for weeks worth of camp. Instead, he has spent the summer patiently waiting around for the baby to wake up from naps and for Lola's tantrums to subside. I feel as if his summer was wasted at home while I tended to the dramatic girls. He loved camp, he loved finding snakes in the forest, he loved hiking through the creeks, loved the archery, loved the canoeing, loved being with all boys, loved the conversation between the "awesome" camp counselors and him. The counselors said, "Jay talks so much. He talks all the time." He never talks to me. Waaaaa!!!! He might not be a homebody after all. I need to have more confidence in him and learn how to let go.


The Husband
The husband is a combination of all three kiddos. He might not say a lot. He thrives when busy. He is a homebody. Recently he had a huge milestone himself which deserves equal attention and kudos. After nearly 8 years of lovingly nagging him to place his shoes in the shoe closet, he has for 8 days in a row placed his shoes in the shoe closet even without my nagging. Bravo, my love. Bravo. "How long have we been married?" I asked him this past Sunday. "It is 2008, my love. We married in 2000 on purpose to always remember how long we have been married. It will be 8 years this week." I smiled and reminded him that I didn't even remember what I had for lunch yesterday let alone how long we we have been married even though we picked an "easy" year. Happy anniversary this week, my love. Bravo and kudos to you. And. I can't wait to see where we will be many happy years from now.

Why must they all grow up so fast? Slow down. Keep your diaper on, baby Fifi. Stay at home and relax, crazy Lola. I am ready to let you go, my sweet Jay. Kudos to you, my love. Love you all, more that witty words can say.

63classy comments:

Rachel said...

Love that video.
Monkey will do that now with his diaper, too. I'm excited about it and heartbroken, too.

Beautifully and wonderfully written, as always love. Thanks for sharing those cuties with us. Congrats on the 8 year mark. And kudos to hubs for the shoe milestone ;-)

Jennifer said...

very sweet... and nice to see I'm not the only one thinking that my children are growing up in a blur. I can't believe how fast it truly goes. :)

congrats on the 8 yrs of your marriage, and here is to another 8 or 80! :)

I love the Fifi told you about her soiled diaper. too cute. they definitely absorb EVERYTHING! my little girls are such mimics of me, and everyone else around. :) I love to watch them and listen to them play when they think it is just them... they are so smart and funny!

I'm so glad that Lola has such dreams and energy to do all those things on her list... and i'm sure she would be able to do them all! :) Just how much running around does mom want to do?? lol

And i'm happy to hear that Jay loved camp. I was debating on sending Trevor, but it was all or nothing... all summer or not all... I didn't want him to go all summer... i would miss him too much .i'm still trying to adjust to the fact that he will be gone from me 5 days a week all day long come Sept. :( I'm really bummed and not sure how I will handle it at first. My baby is growin' up too.

amazing isn't it.

love the shoe in the closet trick... when you have some time, please write a "how to" book for us with marriages in the early stages. ;)

xoxoxox

krissy said...

That was sweet. I miss my girl being a baby sometimes too. But, we must let go.

I have to ask my husband our anniversary date and year every single anniversary. We just celebrated ours as well.

Happy Anniversary!!!!

Blessings From Above said...

Brag away...you have much to be proud of!

Happy Anniversary! :)

Mr Lady said...

*sniff*

Beautiful. And happy anniversary.

Karen MEG said...

I love how different each of your children are and how your posts just shine with all the love you have for each of their individual qualities. Thank goodness for your blog that you can capture all of this as something beyond just a snapshot in your own mind of precious milestones.

And happy, happy 8th anniversary (this week... I LOVE that!). My husband is actually better at remembering our actual date than I am these days...

Rhea said...

Happy Anniversary!! Eight years is awesome.

I love that action photo of Jay. Lola is adorable riding the horse, and way to go, Fifi! They are growing so fast.

Where did you get that awesome blogging t-shirt for Lola? I love it! My kids need those.

I'm so glad Jay loved the adventure camp. It sounded awesome.

BusyDad said...

You've got yourself a nice set of people to be stuck with :) Happy Anniversary!

Miss said...

Sweetie! What a great post. You always seem to find JUST the right words to say when you describe all 4 of your little loves. Happy Anniversary. Any guy would be LUCKY to have you as their wife. You are amazing. Must be why I love you so dang much!

Zoeyjane said...

If it's any consellation, Isobel showed getting out of diaper signs at about 16 months. And she's still in 'em. So maybe Fifi's just telling you she wanted a change, not to grow up!

Lola on the horse is tooo cute.

And yes, the best thing that Isobel (my little leo) has taught me is that even though I know her, she can do so much more than I ever thought she could or would want to. Jay's getting ready to take off, and I think you'll have lots of new things to be proud of him for. Outside of the house.

Krystyn @ Really, Are You Serious? said...

What a good idea to savor all of the good stuff, even hubs!! That was very sweet.

Indy said...

I loved this post. All so true and honest.

Anonymous said...

Wait till she starts touching it. I have found a couple of times Hannah cannot stand to be in a wet or poopy diapers so she will take it off if she can or stick her hand down her diaper and wipe poop everywhere. Ewwwwww is right!

I love this post!

Irene said...

I always am amazed at how different all my kids are.

And I do have to laugh at your comment about your wedding date. I was married in 1999, but my husband wanted to wait until 2000 so it would be easier to determine how long we were married. Yeah, he lost on that one...

Laura said...

Very nice - what a wonderful family.

Loved the video. I am looking for an activity like that for my son - what age does that type of class start?

Thank you for sharing and giving us a wonderful glance into each of the special people in your life.

Robyn said...

Absolutely -- it all goes too fast.

Happy Anniversary!

Lisa said...

That was a beautiful post, dear. Ooozing with love, I tell you! They do grow up all too fast. My Lu is pooing in the potty daily now - and her lazy Mom wishes we could just do the diaper thing a little longer....sigh....

PS - Lola may be riding in the Olympics some day - dang girl!

Anonymous said...

that is so sweet. there will be many many more summers for camps for Jay, just think of the extra time you got with him this summer before K'garten.

Crystal D said...

Oh Happy Anniversary OHmommy and OHdad! You two are raising such a wonderful family and you should be so proud.
I love the updates on the kids. I wondered how camp went. And I had a feeling that Fifi was hitting that transition between baby and toddler that seems to happen over night.
It is so exciting to see all the differences in kids. I love watching Madeline and Amelia react differently to the same situation. As much as Amelia LOVES to copycat her sister, she just can't hide how extremely different they are.

Belle (from Life of a...) said...

Brag away...they will grow up in a flash..believe you me. Isn't it facinating to see how different each child's personality and likes and dislikes can be? I'm constantly amazed.

Courtney said...

I love that you even bragged on hubby. Too many mommy's forget they need that too, so kudos to you ohmommy!

Quarantine Hobby said...

What a sweet post! Your kids sound wonderful. I'm glad Jay had a good time at camp!

Nice to hear a bit about the Husband, too.

Happy Anniversary! I hope year 8 is as good as the past ones, or better :)

Anonymous said...

I couldn't have said it to my two little ones any better! I constantly chant "don't grow, don't grow"

enthalpymama said...

Very sweet.

Kat said...

Yes. It all goes too quickly. Way to quickly.

Happy Anniversary! :)

Val said...

Great post! That was beautiful. Happy anniversary.

Mama Smurf said...

Happy anniversary!

Maureen said...

Ha! A "My mom is blogging this" T shirt??? Hilarious!

You know, all the while, YOU are growing too... ever wonder when you were younger if you could be such a wonderful wife, mother and "jack of all trades"? Because you are.

Jill said...

You have a lot of wonderful things going on in your life. You should feel so blessed!

Happy Anniversary! We hit the magic 8 years earlier this year too... :)

haniaski said...

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY !!!
:-)

Kate Coveny Hood said...

Beautiful family tribute.

I ended up having a lot of babies in a short period of time, so I now have a three year old and almost two year old twins (okay so John and Kate plus Eight might not think that's a lot - but it keeps me busy). I have to constantly remind myself to really pay attention since they change so quickly. While I look forward to a day when everyone is in big kid pants - I do think I'll miss my babies.

And my husband is a terrible slob - so much so that I actually wrote a post with incriminating pictures. One of which was an empty hanging shoe holder with a pile of shoes underneath. So I can relate...(and we were married in 2000 as well - so I always remember the number of years!)

Unknown said...

Yes they definitely grow up way too fast!

Happy Anniversary to you and your hubby!

Marmarbug said...

That is a cute video. And WAH on Fifi already talking about the diaper! I know that is killing you. And yay for Jay stepping out of his comfort zone.
And good job to the hubby. Can he help MY hubby learn to put things away? that is all I ask of him and the hardest thing for him to do!!! ACK!

carrie said...

I love that they are all so different from each other. It makes it so much fun!

And Happy Anniversary to you guys, coming soon! ;)

Tara R. said...

They do grow so quickly. My baby will start driving a car this week, and my first born will enter her last year as a teenager. It all happens in the blink of an eye.

Congrats on the pending anniversary!

tracey.becker1@gmail.com said...

I can't see teh video. Hmmm.

BUT I love the motion picture of your son. Very cool.

Cecily R said...

Mommy time flies way too fast.

I adore that your "bragging" is so well written and fun to read.

Isaac starts 5th grade and Gracie starts 1st in less than a month. And Evie won't stop growing either. I'm not ready!!

Ellyn said...

Happy Anniversary!! We got married in 2000 too for the the same reason.
My kids are growing up way too fast too. I love to watch them grown and learn and explore their world one minute then the next I want to gather them in my arms and cuddle with them. They usually indulge me either way. It isn't so bad being cuddle by your mom.

Rachel said...

Beautiful post, as always. That picture of Jay running is gorgeous -- stunning colors.

Congrats on the anniversary!

Jaina said...

Great post, that video was adorable, and I absolutely LOVE that picture! And congrats on getting your husband to put his shoes away. And happy anniversary! Congratulations on eight years. :)

April said...

When someone at works asks us about anything that took place earlier than today, we say "I've slept since then."
You've got an amazing family - all a product of YOUR doing!

Dziadek said...

Wszystkiego najlepszego.
A my niedglugo bedziemy miec 50rocznice

Desiree said...

Wow, congrats on 8 years!

Also, you must tell me where the "my mommy is blogging this" shirt came from -- oh my word!

My little one isn't born yet (January!) and I think that shirt will suit him or her very well ^_^

Beth said...

A couple of things!

One, where did Jay go to camp?

Two, did you have that t-shirt made up or where did you get it!

Helen Wright said...

We married in 2000 too...exactly for that reason!

david mcmahon said...

Put a big smile on my face - as always!

Ashley said...

Wow, they are growing up SO fast! I love it and hate it all at once...*sigh*

xoxo
Ashley (www.bosssanders.com)

Half Gaelic, Half Garlic! said...

No two children are alike....it is amazing sometimes the differences we see in our own children....all unique and special in their own way!!

It is a bittersweet to see them growing up....happy that they are reaching milestones, but a little sad that they aren't so little anymore!!

One word of advice....hide your stilletos....looks like Fifi is going to be your girly girl...she will be raiding your closet in no time!!

Loved the video and the shirt...Lola is a natural!

Glad to hear Jay loved camp!

Lisa

María said...

Sooo sweet P. :)
Happy anni!

Mom said...

I have blogging for about a year now and I am amazed at how much your kids have grown, love the video she looks so proper

Tena said...

what a great entry!
Ü
Happy Anniversary!

Don Mills Diva said...

Very sweet - you are a lucky woman.

Chris said...

Through a mother's eyes... I loved that post. We see things so differently. And hooray for your husband! Old dogs do learn new tricks (and I mean that in the best possible way).

Anti-Supermom said...

So well written, like every mother words with you putting it down, pen to paper (umm...keys to screen)

Happy Anniversary.

Laski said...

What great perspective! I needed that. I'm having a rather challenging time letting go of J. He's walking . . . walking. Granted it is a step, stumble, step, flop sort of walk, a walk it is.

Each new milestone brings tears, laughs, and just a little itty bitty tug to my heart. But seeing that smile on his face . . . I can't help but to cheer.

GREAT post . . . Happy Anniversary!

Amy said...

I think your Lola is way too like my Emma. Which means, if I were you, I might be a little afraid...

Jules said...

happy eighth! I tell ya, time goes by so fast when you're having fun, doesn't it?

Putting the FUN in DysFUNctional said...

Happy Anniversary!
If you figure out how to keep them from growing up, let me know.

Miss Lisa said...

They do grow too fast.

Congrats on the anniversary!

3 Peanuts said...

What a sweet little tribute to each of your lovies!

Victoria said...

Aww, happy anniversarry. Thad and I have been married almost 7 years. How time flies :) Your kiddos sound very sweet and isn't growing up the worst? :p

Akelamalu said...

They grow up way too fast. Mine are 37 and 33 - where did all those years go?

Congratulations on Post of the Day at Authorblog. :)

just jamie said...

Somebody needs another baby.

Yeah, me too.

 

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