Packing away the last remaining symbols of babyhood

Relatively big changes have happened recently. First off, darling daughter's play yard has been folded and put away for good. The play yard, which we first used as a bassinet when we brought her home from the hospital, has served us well. It has provided a place for darling daughter to play in. We've carted it halfway across the country on two different occasions so she'd have a place to sleep. And it was where she first learned how to sit up. But it was time to say goodbye to the play yard as she'd squawk every time we'd put her in it. The space the play yard once occupied is now home to a magnet board and farm magnets.

Last week, I decided to weigh darling daughter. I haven't done it in awhile. I was surprised to discover that she now weighs close to 30 pounds. My scale is not exact so we made a decision to switch her car seat to forward facing as the car seat only goes to 30 pounds when in the rear facing position. We've had her in a rear facing convertible car seat for a year now. I wanted to keep her rear facing as long as possible, hoping I could keep her rear facing to at least her second birthday. No dice. She had her first ride in the car forward facing yesterday.

I've been weeding out darling daughter's outgrown clothes. Sleepers, jeans, pants and shirts are in a pile, ready to be packed away. Onesies, which were a staple in her wardrobe, are no longer useful as she has outgrown the concept. Although I could potentially replace them with 24 months, it makes no sense as wiggles out of them, stretching the neckline.

Yesterday, we decided to go out to dinner. It has been more than six months since we've dined at a restaurant as a family. When the hostess seated us, she gave us a small colouring book and crayons for darling daughter. I was going to tell not to bother as darling daughter really has no interest in colouring, but I didn't get a chance. Good thing, though because she coloured up a storm and played with the colouring book until her kid's meal arrived. Kid's meal?!? Oh boy, we are already into kid's meals? Although she only ate half of it, she was good as gold during dinner, enjoying her new colouring book as well as the busy atmosphere of the restaurant. The only time she put up a fuss was when we were leaving as she was having so much fun.

I know Oh-My-God-I-can't-believe-my-baby-is-no-longer-a-baby! is a reoccurring theme in my blog, but really I can't believe my baby is no longer a baby. She is closing in on the age of two. She seems to be learning at least one new word a day. She is asserting her independence and will let you know what she wants and doesn't want. It is really quite amazing and mind boggling that the baby I brought home from the hospital not even 20 months ago, is standing on furniture, sticking postage stamps on herself and using a spoon to feed herself with. I know she won't be asking to borrow the car any time soon, but some days it feels like she will. They grow up so fast. Too fast. And packing away her last remaining symbols of babyhood just makes that concept a bit clearer.

Halfway to three

A random thought popped into my head yesterday: darling daughter is halfway to the age of three. She will be 18 months soon, which is mind boggling when I actually sit down and think about it. It just seems like yesterday that we brought her home from the hospital, staring at her in her bassinet, not quite sure what to do next. Then there were the first seven weeks where she didn't sleep through the night and Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert became my best friends while I tried to grasp hard onto my remaining sanity.

And after that, it is basically a blur. First time rolling over, first Christmas, first teeth, first solids, first Easter, finally sitting up, babbling, army crawl morphing into an actual proper crawl, first steps, full fledged walking have all happened in the last 18 months. She is officially out of babyhood. She has been for awhile, but this 18 month "milestone" marks the fact that she is a toddler. And a stubborn toddler she is. If she doesn't like something or feels like she is being wronged, she vocally tells us about it. She is now going through a no clothes phase. No sleeves and no pants, please. Those types of phases don't affect babies. These are actions of a toddler.

So if the last 18 months are gone in a flash, I can only assume that the next 18 months will go as quickly or even quicker. And in no time at all, I'll have a three year old on my hands, who in all likelihood be charming, sweet, demanding and mischievous. Mind boggling when I think about it.

Waddling into toddlerhood

In recent weeks and even days, I'm more aware that darling daughter is no longer a baby any more.

She seems bigger. She babbles constantly. She is saying a few words clearly, including her all-time favourite: daddy. She has given up her morning nap. She is becoming more independent. We attended a Halloween party on Saturday and she didn't want anything to do with me. She spent the entire party walking around, stealing toys from other kids and exploring the surroundings around her.

One of her favourite pastimes now is poking at her belly button. She discovered her belly button last week and since that time she has been poking at it constantly. She is absolutely fascinated by it. Sometimes she'll babble to it. In my books, that isn't baby behaviour. That is definitely toddler behaviour.

In recent days, we have been asking myself how did my baby get so big? Where did the time go? Those newborn baby days seem like they happened a lifetime ago. When I look through a Babies R Us flier now, I think she has outgrown most of the items advertised for sale. I'm not ready for darling daughter to become a toddler. But it is happening. This past summer, darling daughter and I would go on regular walks on nearby walking paths. During some of our walks, we'd encountered a 15 month old little boy. There was a striking difference developmentally between the little boy and darling daughter, who was about 12 months at the time. He just seem so much bigger, so mobile and so unbaby-like, compared to darling daughter. She is a couple of days shy of her 15 month birthday. Now she seems so much like that little boy -- bigger, mobile and unbaby-like. I can't ignore the reality anymore. We are waddling into toddlerhood kicking and screaming. And it isn't darling daughter who is doing the kicking and screaming. It is me.

I don't want to imagine what she'll be like in a month or six months from now. I'm trying to cherish every moment of her waning babyhood. It is hard, but exciting at the same time. But I'm not looking forward to the terrible twos.

Waddling into the toddler years

It was bound to happen.

Darling daughter is officially walking. Friday was a turning point in this new and exciting milestone of hers. Although she was waddling around for most of the day on Friday, she really started to grasp the concept of walking. And all it took was a friend's living room and two dogs to jump start her walking abilities.

After getting the tire fixed on Friday afternoon, we hit the highway and drove out of town for a wedding of two close family friends. We spent most of the evening hanging out at the groom's parent's house. Since it was a beehive of activity outside, darling daughter and I sat inside the house, trying to out from under other people's feet. It was a perfect opportunity for darling daughter to practice her walking. Instead of using a remote control to entice her, a device we usually use to get her interested in walking, a little dog was all she needed to get walking.

She would toddle to dog, back to me, back to the dog, out to the back room, back to the dog, to the pickle and olive jars sitting on a box on the floor (she must have been fascinated by the lids) and back to the dog. When the groom's and bride's dog, a beagle, was let into the house, darling daughter had a heyday, walking between the two dogs. Having enough of a toddling, shrieking baby, the poor beagle slunk upstairs for some peace and quiet.

I don't consider a toddler as she seems so young. Borrowing a word used by my parenting guru, K, darling daughter is a waddler. Regardless of word I use, my baby is leaving babyhood and waddling into toddlerhood. Time will only tell if I am ready for the toddler years.