Reaching Milestones

A lot of exciting things are happening at our house these days, and when my sister had her second baby last week, it really put into perspective for me how big my kids already are. Noah is turning three next month, and just got invited to his first birthday party for one of his daycare friends. Wow. 

We've also reached an important milestone: last Saturday was the first full day that we were out and about, running errands and attending a birthday party without a diaper on! We had been casually potty training for a while now, but kept it fun and didn't put any pressure on him. If he wanted to go, great, if not, no big deal. He'd been doing well at home when he wasn't wearing any pants, but often forgot that he wasn't wearing a diaper when we put underwear on. At daycare, they started to send him to go potty with his potty training friends a while back, but he would still wear diapers throughout the day. He'd been pretty successful, but I wasn't surprised, since they were going to the bathroom every 30 minutes. Everything was going well, Noah went along with it, not fighting it, but also not exactly pushing to get rid of his diaper. Until his best friend at daycare started coming to school with underwear on. All of the sudden, he was super into it, and wanted to wear his big boy underwear at school. I was hesitant to take this big step just three weeks before our Germany vacation, afraid that it would be too much for Noah to handle, and that it might be discouraging to potentially have set backs while on vacation. But then his teachers and a fellow mom suggested to make the best of this opportunity. We realized, this may be the moment, and we just had to go for it. If it worked out, great, if it didn't, we'd work through it. And so the next day, we sent him to school in underwear, and he hasn't had an accident since, except for right after nap time for the first few days, but he has that under control now too. The first week, his teachers would tell him to go potty every 30 minutes, but during week two, they decided to only ask and remind him to go if he needed to. I was impressed how well this all worked out. It's been three weeks now, and I'd say he's pretty much potty trained during the day. I am still nervous when we go to restaurants or the grocery store, and it hasn't been easy to remember to ask him if he needs to go so frequently, but so far so good. 

The day that we went to a restaurant without a diaper for the first time (not because we planned it, but because we forgot to bring a diaper) a couple of weeks ago, also marked another big milestone for this family. Ava sat in a restaurant high chair for the first time and ate real restaurant food (curried chicken). She'd been eating solids for not too long, mainly because she refused them for the longest time, and we decided to patiently continue to offer, but not to push. And then one day, she started to eat, and not just the basics. All of the sudden, she enjoyed all kinds of foods, carrots, zucchini, broccoli, peas, corn, apples, watermelon, grapefruit etc. So I started adding mild herbs and spices, and introduced meat here and there. At 8 months old, she is more than ready for it, and it's been fun to watch her at least try everything we put in front of her. The only thing that she hasn't been impressed with, strangely enough, are bananas, at least for now. It was a good feeling to share Thai food with my kids, and to have a glimpse of the future where we will no longer have to worry about diaper bags and baby food. 

And then today, Ava started to crawl. She's been able to sit up on her own for a few days and had been practicing her bear crawl on hands and feet, and then today, she started to actually move, and that at a pretty good pace, all depending on the item in front of her (my tablet and the kitties are the most inspiring so far). Soon enough she'll pull herself up in her crib, she's already been practicing on us and in the bathtub. 

And so it happens. Not too long ago, she was the tiniest little something, and then suddenly, she's not so tiny anymore. A new baby arrives in the family, and it becomes even more apparent how big she is now. Time flies, and I think it's lovely. I treasured every moment I had with my babies when they were tiny, but I love watching them grow and learn and explore and turn into their own little personalities. It makes me happy.