Milestones
I was thinking the other day, while bathing Adam and being thankful that he can sit sturdily on his own in the tub now (and has been able to for some time), about writing a post about all the amazing milestones I've learned about over the past half-dozen years. In contemplation, I was starting to feel nostalgic about the stand-out things that babies achieve and how I seem to notice less and less of these notable things these days, with older kids. But the more I thought about this, the more I realized it's not that there aren't as many milestones as the kids get older, it's that there are so many every day, we've started not to notice them as much. It used to take months for one of our babies to get from lying on their back and kicking their legs to being able to roll over. Now, at the ages of nearly 6, nearly 5, and nearly 3 - the kids do amazing new things every day. They say new things, dance new dances, attempt new feats, sing new songs, make new faces, and on and on.
So, first of all - some of my favorite baby and toddler milestones are (in no particular order):
1. Being able to sit solidly in the tub while being bathed. I love not having to worry that my little one is going to topple over at any moment and that I can bathe them while they are sitting up, rather than trying to get a wet, wiggly, lying down baby clean.
2. Sleeping through the night!
3. Smiling and then laughing
4. Talking, and not just first words but actually speaking little sentences. I love learning what it is that my kids think about in those goofy little minds.
5. Showing compassion/empathy/kindness to others
6. Being able to play with a sibling and enjoy it for a span of time
More recently, we've reached some amazing milestones in our house:
1. Ryann has not sucked her thumb AT ALL in the past three-plus days. We'd been trying to dissuade her with reminders and admonitions and I suddenly realized that I'd been training the dog with nothing but positive reinforcement and maybe that would work for Ryann, too. So I told her we'd keep track of the days that she never had to be reminded about taking her thumb out of her mouth by putting stickers on our family calendar. I told her that after she'd gone five days in a row with no thumbsucking, she could go to Target and choose something from the dollar section. She was very dedicated and tried her darndest but failed for 4 days in a row. Then I told her that I thought our goal was too much of a stretch goal and that if she could go two days in a row, we'd head to the dollar section. And this time she did it! It has now been nearly 4 full days and I told Ryann that if she can prove that she's completely finished with sucking her thumb, she will be able to choose a larger prize.
2. Adam appears to be about 99% daytime potty trained. He even sleeps through his naps with undies on these days and keeps them dry and clean. He continues to wear Pull Ups to bed at night and wakes with them soaked but I know that will come in time. I'm just so excited that we can get out of the house without having to bring a diaper bag and that we are so very close to the point of never having to deal with urine or poop (barring illness) outside of the toilet again!
3. Max is learning to do more and more things for himself. He can be told to go get dressed and he chooses his own clothes and gets himself completely dressed with no fuss. With supervision, he can get his own cereal bowl, cereal, and milk and make his own simple breakfast. Both he and Ryann now take their clean laundry from the living room to their bedrooms and put everything away that does not need to be hung in the closet; I do that part (thank you to a coworker who also has three children who are all slightly older than mine, for cluing me in to the fact that my kids could start doing more for themselves around the house, including helping with laundry).
Every once in a while, I still yearn to be pregnant again and feel the amazing sensation of carrying a baby and then giving birth and then nursing an infant and watching them grow and achieve all those fun, notable baby milestones. But more and more I am reveling in the delight of having three children who are getting older and more self-sufficient and I'm looking forward to the times when we can do family things without worrying about naps, and short attention spans, and fussing, and bad attitudes, and....wait a minute - maybe that's just wishful thinking...
So, first of all - some of my favorite baby and toddler milestones are (in no particular order):
1. Being able to sit solidly in the tub while being bathed. I love not having to worry that my little one is going to topple over at any moment and that I can bathe them while they are sitting up, rather than trying to get a wet, wiggly, lying down baby clean.
2. Sleeping through the night!
3. Smiling and then laughing
4. Talking, and not just first words but actually speaking little sentences. I love learning what it is that my kids think about in those goofy little minds.
5. Showing compassion/empathy/kindness to others
6. Being able to play with a sibling and enjoy it for a span of time
More recently, we've reached some amazing milestones in our house:
1. Ryann has not sucked her thumb AT ALL in the past three-plus days. We'd been trying to dissuade her with reminders and admonitions and I suddenly realized that I'd been training the dog with nothing but positive reinforcement and maybe that would work for Ryann, too. So I told her we'd keep track of the days that she never had to be reminded about taking her thumb out of her mouth by putting stickers on our family calendar. I told her that after she'd gone five days in a row with no thumbsucking, she could go to Target and choose something from the dollar section. She was very dedicated and tried her darndest but failed for 4 days in a row. Then I told her that I thought our goal was too much of a stretch goal and that if she could go two days in a row, we'd head to the dollar section. And this time she did it! It has now been nearly 4 full days and I told Ryann that if she can prove that she's completely finished with sucking her thumb, she will be able to choose a larger prize.
2. Adam appears to be about 99% daytime potty trained. He even sleeps through his naps with undies on these days and keeps them dry and clean. He continues to wear Pull Ups to bed at night and wakes with them soaked but I know that will come in time. I'm just so excited that we can get out of the house without having to bring a diaper bag and that we are so very close to the point of never having to deal with urine or poop (barring illness) outside of the toilet again!
3. Max is learning to do more and more things for himself. He can be told to go get dressed and he chooses his own clothes and gets himself completely dressed with no fuss. With supervision, he can get his own cereal bowl, cereal, and milk and make his own simple breakfast. Both he and Ryann now take their clean laundry from the living room to their bedrooms and put everything away that does not need to be hung in the closet; I do that part (thank you to a coworker who also has three children who are all slightly older than mine, for cluing me in to the fact that my kids could start doing more for themselves around the house, including helping with laundry).
Every once in a while, I still yearn to be pregnant again and feel the amazing sensation of carrying a baby and then giving birth and then nursing an infant and watching them grow and achieve all those fun, notable baby milestones. But more and more I am reveling in the delight of having three children who are getting older and more self-sufficient and I'm looking forward to the times when we can do family things without worrying about naps, and short attention spans, and fussing, and bad attitudes, and....wait a minute - maybe that's just wishful thinking...
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