Thursday, May 3, 2012

Growing Up

Just his week I'm feeling the baby years are really behind us and DD is growing up fast. We had easy flights to and from London (compare with this) during which she looked out of the window and told me, "Mummy, there are clouds on the floor." And, as we took off, "my ears are broken."

Also she has moved into her own bedroom without any fuss (take note all those doom-mongers who warned me against letting her sleep in my bed with, "you''ll never get her out you know." You know who you are.)

DD helps herself to a yogurt from the fridge, a teaspoon from the drawer and sits at her little table, opening the yogurt herself, licking the inside of the lid first. When she's finished she throws away the pot and throws the spoon in the sink.

She replenishes the toilet paper in the bathroom, taking out of the cupboard under the sink four rolls at a time and stacking them neatly on the shelf next to the toilet.


I can let her run around in the park with her friends while I sit and chat to the mothers (one eye out obviously) and I don't fly into a panic if I lose sight of her for a minute. It's fantastic to be able to trust that she won't run out into the road or leave the park without me, I've been waiting three years for that, eyeing the mothers on the park benches enviously. 

A couple of nights ago she told me, from her bed, that she had spilt water on her pyjama trousers. I called back that it would dry and she should go to sleep. Checking on her later the damp PJ bottoms were on the floor by her bed. I assumed she'd just taken them off and gone to bed bare-bottomed. In the morning I saw that she'd actually taken another pair of PJ bottoms from the drawer and put them on. Added to this, instead of calling for me in the morning or running to find me as soon as she woke up, I found her busy choosing clothes to wear.

Then yesterday at the park I saw her take her shoes and socks off, put the socks inside the shoes and place them all in the bag on the back of the buggy, before climbing into the sand-pit. Only the day before she had come running to me to help her take off her shoes.

Obviously there have been new things learnt and new skills conquered almost every week of her life. I think it's the sudden independence that has given me the heads-up. Though the slight feeling of starting to become superfluous to (some of) her needs excites me rather than fills me with pangs of nostalgia for nappies and breast feeding.

Goodbye baby-girl. Hello shopping buddy.

One exhausted-looking 3yo who has spent a week staying up till 10pm with her teenage cousins, which may be how she learnt to be a teenager all of a sudden.

23 comments:

  1. Love it.
    Ami has taken to sleeping in my bed while Gil's away and I don't mind. (I like it, in fact.) But Gil's going to have a fit when he comes home. It's his own fault, if you ask me. He told Ami "you have to be the man of the house while I'm away." So Ami walks around saying "I'm the Daddy of the house. (That means I have to sleep in Mommy's bed.)
    The last couple of nights I've been trying to bribe him to sleep in his own bed but he thinks about it and decides he'd rather sleep in my bed than have the bribe.
    I guess when Gil comes home he'll just have to say "the Daddy of the house is back. Time for me to sleep in Mommy's bed."

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    1. Good luck. My experience is that if you are firm they're pretty good at adapting to changing situations. Thanks for commenting.

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  2. I know it's somewhat wistful when they cross from the helpless baby to the independent child, but it's a testament to you as a mother that she's learned such well-adjusted and productive behaviour. Kol Hakavod!

    (Plus, you're right about the shopping buddy thing. I love shopping with my daughter, it's always fun. :-) )

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    1. Thanks Trollmamma. I will admit to it being a little wistful, especially when I see (or get to hold) an0ther newborn.

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  3. Don't worry, she is still going to need you for a lot longer, even when she gets to the point that she thinks she doesn't. By the way, her accomplishments are quite impressive, even to someone who isn't her mother.

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    1. Yes I see that she's not quite sure what to do with the frozen fish ;~). Thanks Gillian - I'm impressed of course but I assumed it's because I"m her mother (and it's all new to me).

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  4. She sounds like a very capable and sensible little girl. Well done.

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    1. Thanks Jax - I'm amazed by her independence actually.

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  5. Wow, your girl really IS growing up! Wonderful independence there, well done you. She does more for herself than my boy aged 12 does!!

    xx Jazzy

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    1. It's a programming fault, she thinks she's the one in charge.

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  6. Their increasing independence is a thrill and a liberation until around the age of nine when you realise that it's all happening to fast and you want to freeze time. Your daughter, by the way, sounds more grown up than my husband who puts the spoon in the bin and the yoghurt pot in the sink and who has no idea where spare loo rolls are!

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    1. Have you tried rewarding him with jelly beans or, conversley, withholding stories at bedtime? It works for us.

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  7. Lovely that your enjoying your little mini-teenager, and that last photo is just gorgeous :)

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    1. Thanks Blue Sky. We haven't actually do ne that shopping thing yet but I can see the future... It looks abit like your day our with Angel that you wrote about a while back. I hope so anyway. xxx

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  8. Gorgeous photos of a gorgeous girl :) They really do grow up so quickly don't they.

    You have given me hope with the smooth move of your daughter from your bed to her own. Our 9month old sleeps with us. We're all happy with the arrangement (for now) but when I talk to people about it I seem to get a lot of raised eyebrows and people delighting in telling me we're making a rod for our own backs - doom merchants!! I shall now quote your positive experience :)

    J

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    1. Thanks Ju - I hope you don't mind but I've inserted your phrase doom-mongers intot he text as that's exactly what I had wanted to say but couldn't remember the words.

      My experience with DD is that she's very well able to adapt to new situations as long as we talk about it first (at great length over a few days) and she knows what to expect. I wouldn't worry about it. It was much easier for me to have her with me for the first 3 years and not have to get up in the night when she cried.

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    2. Oh I see you wrote doom merchants not mongers. Both are correct and apt. :)

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  9. Oh this bought tears to my eyes!! Such a lovely post!! Love how you ended it!! I cant wait to just have a proper conversation with Oli :)

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    1. When DD was tiny and I'd see mothers with toddlers having conversations I also couldn't wait to get to know hwer personality and have real conversations. It comes so soom.

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  10. She is just beautiful... Love the series of pictures. You are right, they do grow up too fast! xx

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    1. Thank you. Thank goodness we have the photos - I've forgotten so much already.

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  11. Such a beautifully written post from a loving and proud Mum.
    You rock my friend
    x

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