Thursday 23 August 2012

On milestones

We as parents often celebrate those big moments, those milestones that we wait for so long. That first tooth, well if you ask me the whole teething thing is no celebration. That first crawl - mobility at last to mommy's delight. To be replaced by urgent packing away of everything on eye level when baby gets the hang of standing. And talking - all 3 of mine followed that first "mama" or "papa" (yes, my Mr L said papa first - he is still daddy's boy though) with floods of words often talking together to my frustration. And so we continue - it seems those first ones, celebrated with zest often have negatives to them. Then there are the other big, only positive ones -like potty training, riding the bike without trainer wheels, brushing your own teeth and tying shoelaces. All onwards and upwards towards Independence.

But I do find that the other less big in anyone else's books are often the ones that makes me the happiest. Learning to pour your own juice without making a mess, making your own bed however shabby, being able to press play enter on the DVD remote, wiping your own bum. A big one for us was to teach them to play in their rooms after they wake up on weekends - giving us an hour or so to sleep a bit more. You know, those things that really makes my life easier.

So last night when, on asking if they want to shower, the boys enthusiastically said yes, and showered without a single tear and big talk of how big they are, I shed a tear of happiness. Both where so afraid of showering - it has taken us (especially Hunter) many many frustrating tries to get this achieved. To on their own prefer the shower is BIG! Yeah to easier camping, gymming etc. And much faster bath and bed times.
Any unusual milestones that you loved? Anything you are working on at the moment?

10 comments:

  1. I'm going to do a post about this, to which milestone we recently celebrated with our son.
    It's such a big milestone for your boys and I'm SO happy for you. Yay!

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  2. Well done boys! How awsome! I always wish I had written down a few more of Stacey's milestones - that's why this blog is so important :) I always thought I would remember, but somehow one does forget. Our milestones are all big ones now, like first job, graduating with honours next month, and then I guess we'll have a wedding, first grandchild - exciting times ahead, but not for a while I hope ;)

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  3. Awesome milestone! Mine so far, was getting Gem to make her bed and tidy her bedroom (yes, everything just gets packed into her dressing up box or shoved to the bottom of the cupboard, but it gets done nonetheless...) Next one, NOT putting dirty clothes back in the cupboard;-)

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  4. We just moved to showers too and I am thrilled! 40 minutes of my life back!! Sadly I forced the issue after a day at the beach left sand clingy to their sunscreen soaked scalps, but since then we haven't looked back.

    Now if I could only fix the bum-wiping issue! Congrats on regaining some of your life back.

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  5. My little guys has loved showering since he was a bout 6 or 7 months old so that has been easy for us. I wish potty training was that easy. He is 39 months now and still not potty trained. The kid just wont and I am at my wits end.
    Congrats on the latest milestone and the playing so you can sleep in.

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  6. I have loved and cherished each and every one. This journey goes too quickly!! Jake loves showering, but still asks for a bath every now and then. Do your boys hop in together, or one at a time? Jake can take hours in the shower if I leave him! Enjoy the water savings and the extra quick bed times!

    Sue X

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    Replies
    1. They went in one at a time but last night they did it together and it was much fun!

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  7. We haven't tried a shower yet, not a big thing I guess since we have a bath at the cottage - but it would come in handy when we go away for the odd weekend or so.

    Well, you know we just recently hit the potty training milestone. Another one is that Nicola can now reach door knobs and is quite eager to open and close them all by herself. At least now I know she shouldn't get trapped in a room by accident, so that's kind of big. We've also ditched the milk bottles, and the car seat (she has a special fitting over the regular safety belt).

    Since she refuses to actually wear shoes, tying laces will probably be one of the last ones we ever hit. ;-)

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  8. Ah...that is so cool! My best milestone of late (will blog about it next week) is Child2 being able to make his own peanut butter sandwich! It has changed my life these past two weeks.

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  9. I love milestones. My favourite was still when the kids could hold their own bottles at 6 months (NO MORE BABIES SCREAMING!!!) and then crawling was a fantastic one (MOBILITY - "come babies, let's go eat").

    On the lesser-known ones, I also made them pack toys away from 9 months - that saves us HUGE time these days. And D's training them to wash dishes (plastics for now) - it is a huge mess but I know he's hoping it pays off without supervision soon :) And of course, we're working on them dressing themselves.

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So what's on your mind?