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| Though by now, she can reach the top drawer |
I just finished editing our family album from last year, and have come to the usual conclusions:
1. I need to stop taking so bloody many photos
2. I need to put photos in albums along the way, not all in one go
3. What the hell happened? First photos: Small baby with combover can barely stand up on her own. Last photos: Nearly adult nursery child holds conversation with parents.
I need to practise mindfulness more.
GM looked at the album and lamented the fact that she no longer naps on his chest, but in her stroller (trained by nursery, I don’t know how they do it).
I recently noticed she likes TV more than boob: Whereas before she would turn off the TV mid-show and head for the stairs for her goodnight sip, she now screams blue murder and shouts «moooore» every evening when it’s time for bed (before turning to me and pointing «boob», so it’s not a completely lost cause).
Yesterday, she started using two-word sentences. She says «bath now», and «more that». She even started using grammatical speech, distinguishing between the definite article depending on the gender of the noun to which it is attached.
There is no baby anymore.
I’ve not changed a nappy while out since.. I can’t even remember. She washes herself with a washcloth in the bath. She helps me load the diswasher, she can lay the table (although one is often given two knives instead of a fork and a knife), she can put on her own coat the Montessori way…
Of course, she is still a baby-toddler: She loves slinging on my back, she naps in the daytime and has that lovely baby smell.
But I am glad now that I never rushed it, that I never sleep trained her, or let her cry on her own, and that I never denied her the pleasure of being carried when she wanted it.