Last week I put away all of Garrett's bottles. As soon as I accepted the fact that toddlers just don't drink as much as babies, I realized that he was transitioning to a cup just fine. He drank his milk out of his sippy cups at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and he did so like a champion. But even so, I held onto the bedtime bottle for longer than I probably needed to. I enjoyed too much the evening cuddling on the couch that came as part of the bedtime bottle package, and I knew that as soon as the bottle was gone, the snuggling would go, too.
I think -- no, I know -- that it was harder to wean myself from the bedtime bottle than it was for Garrett. He didn't care one way or the other how he got his milk, so long as he got it, and he actually seems to prefer the independence drinking from a cup affords him. No more sitting in Mama's lap for his final sips. Instead he now enjoys wandering around the apartment, taking his milk in leisurely chugs as he explores this and that.
It's the end of an era, and it's been bittersweet for me. We really no longer have a baby living under our roof: we traded him in for a toddler.
9 comments:
Oh my goodness, Lindsay, I can't even imagine. I almost cried when Miles outgrew his newborn onesies last month! Hang in there sista!
Oh Lindsay, I know exactly what you mean. Our baby is one TODAY and I'm operating in near meltdown mode. It goes by so fast. TOO fast if you ask me.
good job. I am realizing that I am much more cautious about things than Henry is worried about them sometimes...
by the way, I thought you might like this (I wish you were here so we could go together)
http://byunews.byu.edu/archive08-Nov-truss.aspx
ah! I am going through similar emotions and we're just transitioning to the 8 oz. bottle soon...you want to send yours to me? :) and I cry every time I put a new piece of clothing in a box. Why do they have to grow up?
Those transitions are always more difficult for the mother than the child, I think. They grow up and that is not always an easy thing to accept. I know where you're at.
don't blink is all I have to say. my oldest will be eight in a few months. as in, the age they are baptized. As in, live what you've just lived one more time and you'll be driving... 8! I'm still not sure how it happened. It goes by so stinkin fast.
Isn't it nuts? I mean it's not surprising that they grow older, but I always kind of felt like babies were babies for a while and toddlers like...in a longer while...like when they're in nursery! Wait, Zara will be in nursery in less than 2 months. I KNOW! I feel like Zara turned into a toddler the moment she started walking. She changed a lot right then. I only got baby time for a little while. I suppose that's nature's way of trying to get us to have more, huh? But it's ok b/c each new stage opens up more fun things.
I have really enjoyed the independence that comes with toddlerhood. It is so nice to be able to sit down and eat together and play together and clean up together. I feel like I have to still maintain a pretty good eye on my kid-o to keep the destruction to a pick-up-able level, but I don't feel like I have to do it all myself. LIttle Sal is so helpful. And we still cuddle. It's just not as often as when he was smaller, but he still enjoys a good snuggle now and again! I love this age!
Trading for a toddler is such a mixed bag....but you wouldn't have it any other way. Most days... :)
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