Growing Up, Fast!

A common question I’ve been getting from friends and family recently is, of course, ‘How are the boys taking the change?’  The answer is that they have done spectacularly well so far.  But it’s been a funny mix of growing up way too fast and regression, all at once.  

Of course, everyone has had to do a lot of adjusting over the last month or so, so I wasn’t surprised when both boys backslid a little, in small and inconsequential ways.  For example, Everett has his Hippo that he sleeps with.  He used to only sleep with it – now it comes with us everywhere.  It’s his little comforting crutch that keeps him feeling safe.  Lawrence is the same with his Sleep Sack.  It used to be only the white sleep sack at night and naps, but now, it’s either the blue or white one, nearly all the time.  We can hardly pry the thing off of his arms (he sucks on the sleeves for comfort).  And if he’s wearing one, he wants to be holding the other, which is also new.  Those of you who have seen him wearing it know that it’s just a bag with sleeves, and he likes to walk around the house in it, shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, like our own little Geisha.  What’s funny now is that we have no rugs, carpet, or even doormats, and with all tile and laminate flooring, the sand and dirt is just spread all throughout the house all the time.  So I’m going to rename Lawrence to Swiffer Boy.  Every morning after morning nap, I steal both sacks and wash them because they are FILTHY from the floor!  No matter how much I sweep and mop!  It’s that same old ‘If your floors are clean, why are your socks dirty?’ conundrum.  Suck, suck, suck, swiffer, swiffer, swiffer.  Who needs a house boy when your own son is a Roomba?

Note Hippo and Blue Sleep Sack seem permanently attached.

Lawrence has had to do an awful lot of growing up fast this last month, too.  In the span of one week, he got moved to a big-boy-bed (the crib is in the shipment) and learned how to climb up and down the stairs without supervision (our baby gates are in the E-box).  He has to sit in an adult chair for meals (the booster seat is in the E-box), eat from adult dishes (our plastic kid-ware is in the E-box), and drink from a glass (our sippy cups are in the E-box).  It’s a lot of change!  But he’s handled it all (although we do have the occasional Helen Keller moment at the dinner table when he gets down from his seat and walks around the table grabbing food in what we call ‘drive-by’ style).  All told, suddenly he does not seem so little anymore.  My baby boy is getting so big!  

Everett, too, seems to have matured mentally.  He’s got a new dimension to his sense of humor, and I’ve been really impressed at how much of all this change he has really actually grasped.  Almost all!  We went to see his new preschool today (a program run by a lady out of her house on the compound).  He was pensive about it.  I think we both miss his wonderful preschool in Charlotte, and I know he misses his two best friends and his teachers.  He starts on Saturday, and I hope it will help the transition for him to get to make some new friends.