I had a moment last night, where all three of the kids were bopping around the house, and they all seemed SO BIG to me. Each one wandered by me within the space of about ten minutes, and each one seemed somehow taller, more articulate, more… developed, for lack of a better word. If you spend most of childhood becoming an adult, all three of them seemed to be so much further along that track than I think of them as being.
Jessie was in her room, happily hanging up her newest acquisition – a map of the world, with push pins denoting where she’d like to visit someday. She’s grown a few inches lately, and we went out to get her some new pants earlier in the day. But she hates shopping as much as I do, and we agreed that we’d put it off for a few more weeks. Instead she bought a map, and another bulletin board/whiteboard combo to hang on her wall. She’s got PLANS, my girl – and I love that she’d rather get a map than a new outfit.
Sam was on his second playdate of the weekend, this time with Harrison. They had completely destroyed his bedroom, building some sort of zombie barricade (and stocking up on canned goods, bottled water and pop tarts, because that’s what you’d need if the zombies were coming). He’s gotten taller too, and lost some of that little boy chub. Sam grows out and then up, and always has. He’s stretching out now, and with the new haircut he got last week – he suddenly looks so much older.
Julie – I still call her the baby, and I need to stop. Because she’s not a baby anymore. Not a toddler, almost not a pre-schooler anymore. She’s a little girl, and I think I’m having the hardest time adjusting to that. I still think of her as mine, and she’s becoming her own person more and more. She’s writing her name (everywhere) and starting to learn the names and sounds of the letters and figuring out numbers. Everything is new and exciting for her, it’s like she’s realizing how much STUFF there is out there to learn, and she’s so eager to soak it all in.
This is such a different stage for me, in so many ways. Like, right now – it’s quarter after eleven, and all three of them are busy somewhere in the house. Julie is writing on her whiteboard, after getting herself dressed in what she says is a matching outfit. I didn’t suggest she get dressed, or suggest that she do a little writing – she did it all on her own. Sam is in his bedroom, playing minecraft. He got himself breakfast (poptarts and bottled water, no doubt, but he did it himself unprompted). Jessie is holed up in her room, reading. They’re all very content, very self-sufficient and somehow so much older than I think they should be.
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