Growing Up

My kids are growing up. Yeah, I know...duh! But it seems like they are growing up extremely fast as of late.

When I signed Gabriel up for T-Ball, I thought to myself, "Gee. He's 5. This is the first sporting program in what potentially will be a very long line of sports for him." When I registered him for Kindergarten, I realized that he really, truly is a bonafide Big Boy now. When he amazed me this week by recognizing over 50 of his sight words, I was thrilled. I was even more thrilled when he picked up a "Dick and Jane" book and read the first five pages! He read half of "Hop On Pop" yesterday, and I just sat and stared at him. He's growing up! And I'm getting more and more excited! I'm not the slightest bit saddened, and this doesn't feel at all bittersweet.

Elliott's growing up, too, but she seems to be having a few "pains". Or maybe it's me that has pain...as in Elliott is a pain in my butt. She grows through phases where she is incredibly sweet and cooperative...and then she turns into a raging three year-old beast. She whines, cries, screams, throws tantrums (for hours!), hit, kicks, bites...you get the idea. After sitting down (with a glass of wine) and thinking about it, I realized that all of her "beastly phases" coincide directly with a growth spurt. So...hopefully she'll grow up. Soon. All of this being said, for some reason I do miss my wee little Elliott. It feels very bittersweet that she's such a turd...I mean Big Girl.

Janna's almost 2. And I have no idea how that happened. She's still my "baby", only she's not really a baby anymore. She's about 50% potty-trained, uses complete sentences, is starting to pedal a tricycle...she's just growing up. Which is also very exciting. And not sad...which surprises me.