4/16/12

Downhill


There are months and weeks where my children seem the same. The same meltdowns, the same silly jokes, the same dance steps, the same quirks, the SAME OLD SAME OLD.

When they are in a bit of a routine, a plateau, I am lulled into smugness, thinking, I know them. I know everything about them.

Then there are other weeks when they seem to change suddenly and completely. Of course, their essential nature is change, as is all of ours. Yet my gaze is so close to them, so close to the tip of my nose, I often don't add up the little steps and spurts that lead to each surprising big development.

I am always, always shocked at their growth. As if they could ever stay the same, even if they wanted to.

Even if I wanted them to.

(Which I don't.)

(Except when they're super cute and snuggly. And then YES PAUSE TIME HERE FOREVER PLEASE AND THANK YOU.)

Last week, both girls went into hyperdrive. It seemed every time I turned around they were doing something new and different.

Z lost her first tooth

and rode her bike on two wheels for the first time (barely stopping except to sleep since then!)


E went from sleeping and napping like a champ to crazy quiet time shenanigans and early morning wakeups. On the plus side, she also suddenly got interested in potty training, having success with both #1 and #2 last week. 
Me: "Okay E, put your pull up on." E "OKAY!"

All of these developments had both CG and I grinning like loons (even, especially, the rogue pull-up wearing).


If those moments before, when all I can see are the same old girls I think I know completely, are plateaus, then this is certainly a downhill. Life seems so fast all of a sudden and the rushing of the wind smacks me in the face, each and every time.

I'm holding on, opening my eyes, coasting, adjusting to the new landscape even as it rushes past me.

7 comments:

grammalouie said...

pretty exciting!

KG said...

Love the photos of your beautiful family! N and J are getting their first teeth just as Z is losing her's!

twisterfish said...

This line: "Life seems so fast all of a sudden and the rushing of the wind smacks me in the face, each and every time." -- Yes. Exactly. Me too.

When reading this, and picturing Z on her bike, I suddenly had the memory of being a kid on my bike, going downhill super super fast, feet out to the side, screaming with joy the whole way. Reminds me that rushing fast downhill with the wind smacking you can give you the out of control feeling, but also the wonderful 'living' feeling. Depends on how you look at it I guess. Thanks for that visual!

twisterfish said...

P.S. And a big congrats on Z's lost tooth! Very exciting.

LOVE the photo of E with the pull-up.

Michelle said...

I still can't get over how old E is. I feel like she was just born yesterday.

My nephew lost his first tooth this weekend and I was Shocked! I wasn't prepared for him to be That big and he isn't even my child. I may have even gotten a little choked up.

clueless but hopeful mama said...

twisterfish- Ha! See, I'm totally not an adrenaline person. I don't like to go fast! So I guess the feeling of the wind rushing past me has always made me nervous.

Shannon said...

Downhill scares me too ;)
When I was a kid, riding my bike, I used to be so focused on the bolts that attached the front wheel of my bike, making sure they weren't coming undone, that riding downhill was just an exercise in fear. I couldn't even see the world going by around me, only the bolt on my wheel, terrified it would come off.

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