I’ve heard moments happen in 3’s, unfortunately I hear this most commonly with deaths but I am here to tell you it also happens with your children’s milestones. I found this to be true this weekend with my daughter Mary.
Milestone #1: Poopy on the potty.
At two years old this milestone shouldn’t come as a surprise to me, especially since she’s done it before, but this time it was different because she did it on her own and I wasn’t home. Not to go into too much detail about my child’s bowl movements but she’s had constipation problems in the past where she would hold in her pooh and we would have to scoop her up and put her on the potty and then she would eventually “go” in the big potty. So when my husband text me Friday night, while I am at church no less, that Mary had gone to the potty by herself, I of course was happy, yet sad. I was Happy because she did this all on her own and sad because I didn’t get to witness this milestone. One of the main reasons I decided not to go back to work and to stay home with my children was so I could be a part of their firsts, not a babysitter. Yes, I do realize that this milestone was witnessed by her father, but I’m her mommy! So when I returned home from my church function my husband retold the story of what happened but this time he added that she told him to “Go Daddy!” waving him out of the bathroom. He laughed and obliged her request and didn’t return until he heard the “yaaay” and her clapping. As I type this blog about my daughters BM (boy-o-boy is she going to hate me when she’s older!) she came and told me she had to go “poopy” so I put her on the potty, she told me to leave and she did her “job”. Yes, I am a proud mama and I am happy to have been able to be a part of her newest milestone, but I still wanted to see it first, it’s just a mommy thing.
Milestone #2: From the crib to the toddler bed
Mary lasted in her crib a whole month and half longer then Samuel did so I got to keep her a baby for approximately 45 days longer then Sam. When we converted Sam from crib to toddler bed it happened at 10pm at night when he wouldn’t stay in his crib any longer. He had figured out how to climb out in one night and refused to stay in even after the numerous attempts to keep him in. So we had waved the white flag of surrender and took off the front of his crib to make it into a toddler bed. This happened two days before his second birthday. He fell out numerous times that night and the nights following but of course he got used to not having the side rail and slept through the night without a fall about a week later. So I figured once Mary had learned how to crawl out of her crib that would be the end of her crib days but it didn’t happened that way. We told her that she had to stay in her crib and she did. Don’t get me wrong, she attempted to get out a few times, once even fell and hit her head, but from that point on she never tried to get all the way out of her crib again. So you ask why did we make the switch from crib to toddler bed. Well, it was a lazy Sunday afternoon we were all doing our own thing in the house when it dawned on me that I hadn’t heard Mary in a little while. I went upstairs to see what was going on and my husband was at the sink washing dishes when I noticed there was no sign of Mary. I asked where she was and my husband said she was in her room playing. I noticed that the door was shut and the light was off so I turned back to my husband and asked if he had put her down for a nap and he said that he had not. It also was extremely quit in her room so I went over to the door, turned the handle very slowing and peeked inside; she had crawled in to the rocking chair and fell fast asleep. I then picked her up and placed her in her crib where she had a wonderful little nap. So my husband and I discussed taking the crib apart and turning it into the toddler bed so she could have the option to crawl into bed the next time she gets sleepy. The day before this rocking chair nap she had crawled onto the couch and fell asleep too, now she can fall asleep in her own bed if she chooses to nap. I was on board with this decision and didn’t really think that it would get done on the same day we decided but when my husband came downstairs to ask where the tools were to take apart the crib I felt this emotion swell in me that I think only mommies get and it hit me like a ton of bricks that she will not be in a crib any longer. I told my husband where the tools were and when he left the room I scooped up my girl and started to cry, no scratch that, I started to ball my eyes out! I walked up to the kitchen where my husband was and clung to him with my tears and my mommy sadness. He kind of giggled and just said “Yeah, these growing up things happen”. I think he thought I was being silly and didn’t really know what to say, so I jokingly said to him with a hint of a giggle in my voice “I will have no part of helping take the crib apart!” Of course when it came time to take the crib apart I was there to help and I even showed her how to climb in and out of the bed. So I made up her “new” bed with her new blanket from grandma, her pillow and stuffed animals. I was very nervous about her falling out of bed so we took the pillows off the back of the couch and laid them on the floor by her bed. I fell asleep with the peace of mind that the hard wood floor would not be breaking her fall but pillows; she never did fall out of bed that night. She woke up the next morning so proud of herself for sleeping like a big girl that all I could do was snatch her up and hug her tight!
Milestone #3: Her first haircut
It came time to get Samuel’s haircut so I called his haircut place and made him an appointment, I also added Mary to the schedule just to get her bangs trimmed. She has been walking around the house pushing her hair out of her face for a couple weeks so I figured it was time to get those bangs cut. Upon walking in I had NO intentions of cutting her hair, except her bangs. As the stylist explained to me that her hair is in need of a full haircut and not just bangs I started to get that panicky mommy feeling or I should say that lump in my throat about cutting my baby’s hair for the first time. It’s a lot for a mommy to take in, especially when she has such precious curls, what mommy wants the curls to go away? I struggled for about 10 minutes about doing this whole haircutting thing but I finally came to terms with it and gave the girl the go ahead to cut away. I have to admit it wasn’t nearly as traumatizing as converting the crib, there were no tears from me or Mary during her first haircut. The best part of the haircut, her curls remained intact, phew!
Contrary to what I have just wrote, I have always viewed milestones as a joyous occasion, like the first time your baby crawls or walks and when they talk, such happy moments. And although these milestones that happened with Mary this weekend were too happy occasions, they were also heartbreaking in the fact that I will never get to experience these moments again since I will not be having any more children; bittersweet.
God Bless
~Andrea
