Baby Steps No More

Do you ever have one of those days when you just sit back and wonder about where time went? I do all the time, every day. But sometimes it REALLY smacks you in the face that time isn't standing still, regardless of how much you want it to.

Emma Claire is no longer making baby steps. She is now growing by leaps and bounds. Every day, I step back and wonder to myself, "Who is this little girl and what did she do with my chubby fingered Bug?" It is surreal that just a mere four years ago she was this helpless thing that depended on me for every meal, diaper change, and naptime.

Now, she is just a bundle of energy and frankly, a little girl. She has grown to have loves, aspirations, and dreams of her own. She no longer is interested in "babies", but loves to play with her Barbies and her horses. She is the spitting image of myself at her age: an absence of fear and is not afraid to get gussied up, yet doesn't mind getting dirt between her toes.

She has grown to have responsibilities. Today, I asked her to clean up her room, make her bed, collect the trash cans, get the mail, and take out the recycling. She did EVERYTHING!

(Emma Claire cooks)




And it only took me yelling for five minutes one timeout! Hey, she is still a work in progress, just as we all are.

Last night, she slept in her own bed all night long and ALL BY HERSELF. Oh, okay. So she should have been doing that for a long time, but as some of you may remember, she walked in on a robber in her room about a year and a half ago. Needless to say, she is a little leery of her bedroom at night, bless her little heart. She didn't want to, but she did with only a little quivering lip. But she is a brave little thing, and she's back in there again tonight! YAY for only two people in the queen size bed!

My little Em has also been swimming. LIKE.A.FISH. I took her to a local waterpark, and she went down a GIANT slide (Yes, I was right beside her). I can take her into water that is over her head and she paddles around without any problems. (I strongly recommend the Speedo swim jackets. They let kids learn to swim without forcing them to depend on the jacket to hold them up.)

(Emma Claire swims)



The other night, I took her to my softball game with me. There was another little girl, just around her age, whom she made friends with. It was so cute to watch them sit together, hand in hand, inside the dugout.

She is a little sponge. We were walking in my Mom and Dad's garden with my brother tonight when my brother asked about a particular plant that was growing. I replied, "Those are marigolds." To which Emma Claire added, "We have marigolds in our garden too, don't we, Mama?" We surely do. And on the way home, she told me as she pointed out a willow tree along the road, "Willow trees are my favorite trees." I may be partial, but she is one smart little girl.

All of these things lead up to my point for this post. Time flies on swift wings. It will pass you by, and leave in its place just a whisper of a memory. So for now, I will just have to settle for the ticklefests and somersaults that she now prefers over slobbery open mouth kisses and snuggles to the breast.