my little big girl

As her second birthday approaches, I am being forced to face the fact that Claire is no longer a baby.

I like routine. I am the more cautious parent. I am generally happy to keep doing things the way I have been doing them. It is typically daddy that encourages the girls to try new things, whether it is drinking from a real cup or climbing the stairs. He was the one who pushed Abby to climb up the highest slide at the playground and taught her to ride her bike down the big hills.

He is also the one who suggested Claire sit on this very high kitchen stool rather than her nice, safe high chair. The stool she now wants to sit on for every snack because "I big Mommy". *sigh*

When Abby was this age, I was already pregnant again. I needed her to be big. Time to move her to a big girl bed? Great, we need the crib. She needed to be the big sister. To be Mommy's helper. I enjoyed her baby days, but even then my focus was always very much on the future. What she would do next. What her future held. Who she would become years down the road.

But Claire is my second and probably last baby. My sweet little baby. My focus with her has always been the here and now.

But even if you try your best to ignore it, this growing up happens all the same. Like it or not, my baby girl is really no longer a baby. My days of rocking her to sleep are numbered. The high chair and crib will go up to the attic soon. My baby nursery will become a big girl room.

This growing up business does have it's advantages. Most nights, everyone sleeps. Most days, no one throws up on me. I don't miss the loads of baby gear that littered my house. The back breaking bag of supplies I needed for a simple trip to the mall. The endless cycle of nursing and sleeping that made it tough to get out of the house at all. The crying for no reason.

I am very excited about the future. I am looking forward to the things we can do as we are less house bound. Trips to the beach this summer with my two big girls. Trips to the zoo and the city and the park.

I guess I am just surprised that it has happened so quickly. Even when it felt so painfully slow.