My (not-so-little) Guy
Almost daily I find myself happy, but also a little sad, that my little boy is getting older. On one hand, he's starting to be a lot more fun. We can take him more places and do more things with him. But on the other hand, he's not a baby anymore. He'll never be this age again. I don't think we truly appreciated these little milestones when Ainsley was little. With your first-born you are just so anxious for them to start doing new things. You are always looking at what's ahead, and why aren't they there yet? With your subsequent kids, you know what's coming. You know they all get there on their own timeline - there's no sense in rushing them, and you should enjoy it while you can. I've always felt that way with Parker. He's met all milestones later than Ainsley, but I really didn't care. I've been so happy to keep him a baby as long as possible, because I know we'll never go through these stages again.
Like I've heard from other moms, Parker is so much more affectionate than Ainsley was at this age. He is happy to snuggle with me and have me carry him around while I cook dinner. He's content to sit in my lap and read books, or sit next to daddy while they watch football. He LOVES books - especially any book that has a tractor, truck, bulldozer, car, motorcycle... He is ALL BOY. I think I could drop him off at Tractor Supply Co., come back 6 hours later, and still find him walking around pointing 'tractor!' at everything in the store. If we're at a book store and he sees a book with a truck or tractor on the cover, he has a complete meltdown until he can get his hands on it. Then he will happily sit down on the sidewalk and 'read' the book cover-to-cover. I'm happy he at least has developed an early love of books! Sometimes at home I'll lose track of him and find him upstairs in his room, on the floor, surrounded by piles of books.
In addition to his love of all-things-tractor, he is just obsessed with anything that has wheels. He will carry around a toy car all day. Maybe it's his security blanket, maybe it's his substitute for a pacifier, maybe he's just a little OCD like his mom... but take any situation or scenario that he's in, hand him a toy car, and he's a happy camper.
Parker spends most of his days trying as hard as he can to keep up with Ainsley. He inserts himself into everything that she is doing. She, of course, goes back and forth between being completely annoyed by him, and then happy that she has someone to follow her around. Generally they entertain each other pretty well, and she is usually a helpful big sister.
He is talking like crazy - new words almost every day. And he tries to repeat almost everything Ainsley says, at a louder volume, so he can be heard. They have started battling for my attention in the car on the way home. "Mama!", says one. "MAMA!", says the other. "MAMAAA!" I can only imagine how our conversations will be in another 6 months. I don't think we'll ever have another quiet moment in our house for the next 18 years.
Finally, now that he is 20 months old, we signed him up for his very own class. Ainsley, being the first and only for so long, got to take all kinds of classes. Art, dance, gymnastics, swimming, soccer... Our poor little guy hasn't been able to do anything by himself. So we finally got him into a Romp 'n Roll class on Saturday mornings, the same time as Ainsley's soccer games. Both kids get undivided attention from one parent. Seems to be working well, and Parker has really enjoyed the time alone when he doesn't have to compete with his big sis for attention.
I love the fact that he is learning and absorbing so much every day. But for now I just want to keep him a baby forever. Anyone have a magic pill for that?
Like I've heard from other moms, Parker is so much more affectionate than Ainsley was at this age. He is happy to snuggle with me and have me carry him around while I cook dinner. He's content to sit in my lap and read books, or sit next to daddy while they watch football. He LOVES books - especially any book that has a tractor, truck, bulldozer, car, motorcycle... He is ALL BOY. I think I could drop him off at Tractor Supply Co., come back 6 hours later, and still find him walking around pointing 'tractor!' at everything in the store. If we're at a book store and he sees a book with a truck or tractor on the cover, he has a complete meltdown until he can get his hands on it. Then he will happily sit down on the sidewalk and 'read' the book cover-to-cover. I'm happy he at least has developed an early love of books! Sometimes at home I'll lose track of him and find him upstairs in his room, on the floor, surrounded by piles of books.
In addition to his love of all-things-tractor, he is just obsessed with anything that has wheels. He will carry around a toy car all day. Maybe it's his security blanket, maybe it's his substitute for a pacifier, maybe he's just a little OCD like his mom... but take any situation or scenario that he's in, hand him a toy car, and he's a happy camper.
Parker spends most of his days trying as hard as he can to keep up with Ainsley. He inserts himself into everything that she is doing. She, of course, goes back and forth between being completely annoyed by him, and then happy that she has someone to follow her around. Generally they entertain each other pretty well, and she is usually a helpful big sister.
He is talking like crazy - new words almost every day. And he tries to repeat almost everything Ainsley says, at a louder volume, so he can be heard. They have started battling for my attention in the car on the way home. "Mama!", says one. "MAMA!", says the other. "MAMAAA!" I can only imagine how our conversations will be in another 6 months. I don't think we'll ever have another quiet moment in our house for the next 18 years.
Finally, now that he is 20 months old, we signed him up for his very own class. Ainsley, being the first and only for so long, got to take all kinds of classes. Art, dance, gymnastics, swimming, soccer... Our poor little guy hasn't been able to do anything by himself. So we finally got him into a Romp 'n Roll class on Saturday mornings, the same time as Ainsley's soccer games. Both kids get undivided attention from one parent. Seems to be working well, and Parker has really enjoyed the time alone when he doesn't have to compete with his big sis for attention.
I love the fact that he is learning and absorbing so much every day. But for now I just want to keep him a baby forever. Anyone have a magic pill for that?
Comments
Post a Comment