growing up – the newest mcdermott

With the girls now 5 and almost 4, we are starting to see a huge change in what we have so lovingly referred to in the past as the Nut House. There’s less that Lillian can’t do. They’re both taking dance lessons, gymnastics lessons, and can follow basic instructions. They are even starting to play together. HALLELUJAH!

That’s not to say that one of my children — ahem, the older one — is not incredibly bossy and that the other of my children — ahem, the stubborn one — doesn’t completely ignore her sister when she is being bossy. Their play is not without fighting, but they play together! We’ve been waiting 4 years for this.

We can go places as a family now without much thought. The girls went ice skating for the first time recently. I mean, it was a disaster, but they were finally old enough and strong enough on their feet (which hardly touched the ice) to try it. We went to a corn maze with bounce houses and they mostly were able to go in and have fun without a parent needing to tag along. It’s amazing!

Once I realized we had hit the sweet spot, I realized that this time is fleeting. Quickly, we will all be too busy and the kids will have their own interests and their own friends and we won’t have all of this family time to spend together. While I want to enjoy it fully now, I also want to slow down and enjoy the last seconds of baby time. While they still want extra hugs and snuggles, we need to be here for that. The time just goes way too quickly.

Has your family hit the sweet spot? What ages were your kids when you got there? How did you make it last?

Let me know in the comments!

The Lillian on the left is what I gave to the daycare teachers 15 months ago. She was brand new and we hardly even knew her yet. Lilly’s teachers were essentially the same crew that Gabby had and I knew I could trust them with her, but it’s just heartbreaking to spend time away from a baby so new. She wasn’t sitting supported yet, she was still exclusively breastfed (but started bottle-feeding just prior to starting daycare). I don’t even think she received her second round of shots yet.

The Lillian on the right is what I have now. She is starting to use two word sentences, is the queen of “MINE,” she dances, and she demands specific songs from me at bedtime. Even though I took the time with Lilly to see her during my work day for close to the first 9 months I still feel like I missed so much. She has matured so much faster than Gabby did. She crawled sooner, talked sooner, tried table food sooner… We’ve been trying to hold her off from potty training for weeks because she is transitioning to the toddler classroom and I don’t want her to have too many changes happening at once.

With Lilly being our last baby, every milestone is a reminder that it’s the last first steps or the last first cheerios. It’s simultaneously so sad and so freeing to think that we are soon going to be parents of pre-schoolers – not babies. It’s the end of an era and the start of a new one.