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Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Treasure Tuesday



First steps.

As Kayla's 3rd birthday is quicky approaching I find myself thinking back over these 3 years and how quickly they pass.

I've rejoiced, celebrated, yelled, clapped and cheered her on every milestone and it's been so fun coming along for the ride.

It seems sometimes, we, as parents, can't wait for the next milestone. The next stage of development for them to do this or that. We don't take enough time to enjoy the stage they are in now. And then when they have outgrown one stage and moved on we miss the previous stage for one reason or another.

I remember when Kayla was an infant it seemed I couldn't wait until she was more alert, or more interactive. Then I couldn't wait until she could "play." But now sometimes I miss that infant stage...they are dependent on only you and you don't have a toddler asserting their independence by not listening to you when you say come here!

I think first steps are such a fun milestone; those first wobbly, unsure, drunken steps toward being more independent, seeing the world in a whole new way.

And it's so much more to it then one day they just stand up and take off walking. Well maybe some kids do it that way, but I think for most kids there are a series of little baby steps they take to reach that milestone. Little milestones in their own right that are a precursor to the bigger milestone of walking.

First there is pulling to stand. Quickly followed by cruising the furniture.



Then they stand up on their own, without holding on to anything and just maintain their balance.





Then they start walking holding on to a push toy, to holding on to two hands, giving way to only using one hand.

Then there comes the "lunging steps." They are a few steps away from an object such as a couch, or their parent and "lunge" to it...sometimes not moving their feet, but going forward anyway. From that they lunge and then get their feet moving 1 or 2 steps.


Then 2 steps become 5 and they are walking the living room. I remember with Kayla it seemed like she thought she could only walk in the living room. She started going from couch to love seat, then the length of the living room, but would crawl elsewhere. Then one day I noticed her stopping at the end of the carpet where the living room met the dining room and she took a tentative step off the carpet to the tile floor. She continued through to the computer room and before I could blink she was walking all over the house.

But the learning still doesn't stop there.

There is learning to walk on grass, with shoes and without shoes.

Walking on sidewalks, over rocks/gravel, different surfaces, uneven surfaces. Walking uphill and downhill. Walking up and down a curb, up and down steps.

See? There is so much more to walking they have to learn.

And then one day you notice those unsure steps have transformed into confident ones, and they are running away from you with carefree abandon.

And you wonder where did your baby go (and when do we stop calling them our 'baby')?

17 comments:

Diane Viere said...

I hope you aren't disappointed to hear--you never stop calling them your baby! No matter how big those feet get or how far away the steps take them....they remain our baby in our heart! this is another of life's treasures!

Diane

Anonymous said...

Girl, you can write!! And I never tire of seeing Kalya's sweet pics & journeys thru life. This is an awesome TT.

Anonymous said...

Maybe I'm just emotional, but this post is so sweet you've got me crying.
Jess just commented that you can write, and you sure can. Your loving words about Kayla along with the pictures are just beautiful.
love you!!
-Nisa

Overwhelmed! said...

Ah, what bittersweet memories! I love the pictures.

As for when we stop calling them "baby" I haven't figured that one out myself. Probably never. We still call Snuggle Bug "baby" more than anything. Poor kid, he's going to think that's his name! :)

Kim from Hiraeth said...

OH! What a sweetie!
And you've captured the bittersweet pride a mother feels when her child learns to walk.

Jessica said...

What wonderful memories... I already find myself wondering what Joey is going to be like at Kayla's age! I can't wait for the pull to stand, then walking!!

Michelle said...

Diane - that's what I figured...always be my "baby!"

Jess - I read so many blogs (yours included! and think, "man! I wish I could write like that!" I don't think I'm much of a writer, but thanks for the compliment!

Nisa - Sorry I caught you at an emotional time and made you cry! love you too :)

OW - yep we've called Kayla "baby girl" since she was born and I joked w/Joe she's going to think that was her name so we better start saying Kayla!

Faith - thanks for visiting! I'm trying to take my own advice and slow down and enjoy "the moment!"

Kim - Thanks! It is bittersweet isn't it?

Jessica - He'll get there before you know it and you'll wonder how it happened so quickly! I'm looking forward to "watching" him grow through your blog and meeting those milestones!

Anonymous said...

Michelle, much thought goes into your blogs... I do not know how you do it, but , your writing says so much in such a beautiful, emotional way.. which it is meant to be... to evoke emotions and etc. She is growing up, isn't she? She will always be "my little Kayla" As Ken says, "she is growing up one day at a time" :) love you, Michelle... Love mom..

The Mom said...

You never stop LOLOL I'm the "baby" and my family still calls me the baby (and trust me, I just had my b-day and I haven't been a baby for a LONG time ;) All my babies are still my babies, and each milestone is to be celebrated, and yet is bittersweet, because you know what has come and gone ;) I think I cried the day Brady walked, both from happiness, AND from sadness... Thrilled for him to achieve something he'd worked so hard for, and sad because, since he's my last, the baby were truly gone forever and a new phase of my life had started :)

Motherhood is grand, and you will find that these memories are your most cherished treasures :)

Kari said...

Well written Michelle. I just loved going through the stages of walking. What an awsome Treasure! I so remember that Patriots outfit and I love it even more now than I did back then (If that's possible lol) I hear you on the missing Infant days. This boy sure has me hopping these days but I remember how so very badly I wanted him to walk. What was I thinking hahahaha

Just Nancy said...

I agree with Diane! My daughter is 16 and she's still my baby. I also agree with you. When my daughter wasn't a baby anymore I told my husband I completely missed her crawling; she must have only done it 15 seconds! When we adopted a baby 12 years later I said, "Okay, I'll pay more attention." Nope, he crawled for about 20 seconds! Now he's 4. The time just flies!

Anonymous said...

aww I totally get where you are coming from!! I was totally "I can't wait for her to be more interactive"! I told J at one point that I was BORED!!! Man if I could turn back time! LOL Then again I am so loving who Becca is right now!

Great treasure!

Anonymous said...

Michelle.. I so enjoy being a Grandma because I can just sit and watch Kayla every second of the day, all day long and not have to worry about all the million other things that must get done before the day ends. Oh, the Joys of being a Grandma!!

Unknown said...

I echo that thought....you never stop calling the 'your baby'...and there will be so many times that you stop and marval at how your baby has grown....I loved looking at all the pictures of Miss Kayla growing up over the last three years...she is truly a blessing and I'm so thankful that our life paths have crossed, as Miss Kayla is such a bright star in my life!

Anonymous said...

It is sad in away to see how much your little one has change. Mine is going to be 12 soon and starting middle school and I have been thinking the same thing.It seems like kids grow up so fast. Sometimes you miss the little baby talk.

Anonymous said...

I know how you feel. I've been thinking the same thing.kids grow up too fast. My daughter is going to be 12 in two months. She is also entering middle school. I wonder where has the time gone. It seems like only yesterday , that she was taking her first steps. Those are cute pics of Kayla.Before you know it you'll be taking pics of her first day of school.

K.T. is Mommatude said...

Never-they will always be your baby....and we had quite a bit of trouble the first few years that Kendall needed her haircut...so we settled on one person and only one who is good with kids and patient,she still wiggles a little but after nine years of haircuts she has gotten alot better,of course we have to keep hers chin length because she has this oral fixation in which she chews on her hair....I do miss my babies as babies but it is also alot of fun now that they use logic;makes for interesting conversations...LOL