Growing up.....

[mommax3]

My (oldest) "baby" will be 8 on Sunday -- it is hard to believe that 8 years have passed! He recently got glasses and is looking very grown up lately. He is big enough to take one 200 mg ibuprofen!

Also, my youngest (who is 19 months) is HUGE! I wanted to get him a cute little spring outfit for his 18 month picture (hey, I know I am a month late -- I am just glad its ONLY by a month! ) and since he is wearing 3Ts, all of the cute little one-piece seersucker stuff is too small. Sniff, sniff. We are pretty sure that he is our last one and I wasn't ready to move out of the snap-crotch clothes category yet.

It really does go fast -- we all should enjoy every second.

Sally

[Meenah]

Sally,
Enjoy the years. My baby will be 18 in May!!!!!!!!
Luanne

[SueC]

Sally,
I have a gigantic 19 month old also! Her sister was this delicate little thing that was never on the growth chart and here her little sister is wearing 3T also--actually she and her 3 year old sister wear the same size now. I'm impressed that you are still doing regular pictures, our 19 month old has been photographed professionally only two times--I'm such a neglectful mother!
Happy birthday to your 8 year old--these years do go by way too fast!

[houseelf]

Sally,

My heart breaks for you. We just put the crib up and it really hit me hard. We hope that we will use it again, but you never know what cards will be dealt to us. When people try to console me and say, "you can have others" it doesn't diminish the fact that THIS baby is growing up.

I have really let the house go recently in order to spend as much time as possible with him. And when I say that I've let the house go, I mean that there fraternity house boys would balk at the disarray of our home! Some workmen came in the other day to clean our vents and I *almost* let myself feel mortified by the mess, but then I bolstered up my courage and thought, "why do I care what these strangers think?"

But I digress. I, too, am a big fan of buying little boys' clothing that looks like it was meant for little boys, and not some man's suit or sweater cut to smaller proportions. I stake out Once upon a child and occasionally find some great stuff there. I also did some goggle searches on "fine children's clothing" so that we would have a few seersucker, sun suits, eton suits, whatever to dress him in for photos and special occasions. Fine clothes for little boys is soooo much harder to find than little girls' clothing. Hey, I figure the days of him letting me put this stuff on him is coming to an end, so I'd better live it up now. Anyway, check out the following sites:

http://www.Kellyskids.com
http://www.snipsnsnails.com
http://www.emilykates.com
http://www.oneofakindkid.com
http://www.twinsmagazine.com---go to the mall section

There is also a catalogue called Wooden Soldier. I believe I found their phone number using one of the search engines. We have only bought one outfit through this company because their garments cost an a small fortune, but let me tell you, the little guy looked adorable in that wedding! I don't care if we have to eat bologne for the rest of the year....those pictures are worth it.

Enjoy your guys with everything that you are.

Kelly

[Phoebe]

I had to reply to this post, because I have been feeling the same way lately. I can't believe my baby has grown up so much. We had her pictures taken recently and she looks like a little girl instead of a toddler. Her language development has spurred in the last few months. For a long time, she says daddy? daddy? and wondering where he is. Today she actually said, Where's daddy? and went to the door. Since he is on-call, we phoned him immediately and she said, Hi Daddy instead of running from the phone. We both almost cried. I felt so bad that she wanted to see him and he couldn't be here.

I love to listen to her sing to herself. "Ashes, ashes... fall down", Rock a bye baby and Baa baa Black sheep.

Don't you wish we could keep part of them young forever?

Happy Birthday to you son, Sally.

Jennifer

We just took down the rail on one side of Ryleigh's crib and converted it to the daybed. BooHoo . She's my last baby. My oldest is 15 and he's into skateboarding and that God-awful Gothic look. I'm so afraid I'm gonna blink and my youngest will be asking my to get her tongue pierced or some other horrible thing .

[Rapunzel]

I feel the same way. My youngest is getting SO big! She's wearing size 2T (at 14 months) and she's feeding herself, saying words, etc. The hard part for me is she is just so wiggly and BUSY now that she doesn't want to cuddle and be held as much as she used to. She's also driving her older siblings crazy trying to "play" with them (ie getting into their prized possessions, "messing up" their carefully placed toys, stepping on the books we are reading). At the same time I am looking forward to the prospect of eventually not having any diapers to change (I've been changing diapers continuously for almost seven years now!!!).

My oldest is now six and a half and he is so big! He is very tall for his age (over 4 feet - in contrast I'm only 5'5") and he doesn't fit very well into my lap anymore. Most of the time he doesn't want to be cuddled and held anymore, but on occasion I can catch him in a cuddly mood and I just relish it. I really, really miss him being a baby and being able to spend hours just rocking him. My twin daughters are, luckily, still cuddly and small enough to fit into my lap - but not for long. I've now got a herd of tall, gangly kids who are becoming too big to be Mommy's babies. On the other hand they are able to do wonderful things like dress themselves, sort their own laundry, clean up their toys, etc. sigh - babies growing up is such an emotional mixed bag.

I agree that they just grow up to fast. I am starting a whole new adventure with my oldest (11) who will be going into the middle school next year. We went to an orientation meeting to pick his elective and it brought back so many memories. I remember my junior high days like they were yesterday and here he is getting ready to start that. It was just a fun yet difficult time in my life that I find I am already stressing for him. Not like I am a worrier or anything!!!

My youngest is 3 and he isn't a little baby anymore. It really does make me sad and I guess that is why the question of whether I should have another one keeps coming up. I just can't believe my baby days are over. BUT .... Jennifer I have you beat on the diaper saga. I have been changing diapers STRAIGHT for 11 years! UGH!!! I spread my kids just "perfectly" to get one out of diapers, usually, and then have another one to start. I can't for the life of me get Dallin to even want to try. He calls himself "Diaper Boy" and thinks he is so cool in his Barney diapers. So... I am seriously looking forward to the day of no diapers and then my kids can stop growing and stay right where they are. No teenagers and no diapers. Sounds like a dream!!! I guess we just have to enjoy each moment and make the most of it!

Robin

[Rapunzel]

Diaper boy!!! That is so cute (and I'm sure a bit frustrating). 11 years of diaper changing? 8O You win!