My two-year-old has taken to telling me this at least once a day. I call him Baby sometimes. A nickname, you know? He doesn’t know, though. He just hears “Baby” and is offended because he’s decided he’s pretty big.
And he is.
Sigh.
I think if I could have more babies, I would just be excited for him, but instead I’m grieving the end of an era.
Well, that, and planning to go to an orientation for emergency foster care providers to see if perhaps I can channel my mama-energy into rocking someone else’s baby a few weeks out of each year, since my own “baby” is far less interested as the weeks go by.
This weekend is monumental, or at least it is supposed to be: Potty Training Boot Camp.
This is where I and the trainee escape to Granddad’s and Granmama’s house and do nothing but learn to use the toilet. No laundry. No interruptions. Just endless glasses of ice water {he loves ice water and hates juice} and a potty chair.
And possibly chocolate-covered raisins as a reward. {I’m still deciding. He’s pretty excited about it, and I wonder if giving rewards in this situation would be a corrupting influence.}
When we return home, he will {hopefully, if all goes as it has gone in the past} be trained, and we’ll reward him with a special surprise: his crib will have disappeared, and the bottom bunk in the Big Boys’ Bed will be made up just for him.
And then it will be true.
He won’t be a baby anymore.
My gut tells me, though, that he will still let me rock him and sing to him before his nap. Some things aren’t so easily outgrown.
6 Comments
PotRA: Funny! I often say, “You’re *my* babies” when my children give me a hard time about that! 🙂
Kristen: I know. I was looking at pictures of your girls on FB the other day and I didn’t even recognize them they’ve gotten so big. I wish we lived closer! I hate missing their growing years…
Sara: Thank you for your sweet empathy. I *do* appreciate it. I try not to wallow, but sometimes it gets to me…I just wasn’t ready, I suppose.
Mystie: I agree! There are babies that need love. That is why Si and I started toying with the idea of emergency care. I was talking about rocking babies in the church nursery because my arms feel empty now that O. is older, and then we found out there is a desperate need here for this sort of care and we thought–goodness! We have extra seats in the Suburban and an empty crib. Maybe we should do this. So we will go to orientation and then make a final decision. We don’t feel like adopting and I don’t know why, but we definitely can visualize ourselves doing this.
Rebecca: It *was* a success. For you, though, you’ll need your mother’s help. No way you’re roping me into training those twins! 🙂 Seriously, though, for ease of training two, I’d wait until they are older before starting. Becky even suggested after 3 to me when I discussed O. with her! I know there are benefits to doing it early, but your sanity must be considered as long as you can afford the diapers, my dear. 🙂
So, how did it go? Are you ready to expand this into a business? I have your first two customers…
I hope the training endeavor is fruitful. I just survived the ordeal myself a few months ago.
I do hope you find an outlet for your excess baby-love. There *are* lots of babies who need some.
I don’t know how to say this right, but I’m sorry for your pain – that you can’t have more babies. I know you’re not whining or dwelling on it and you’re looking for ways to continue to nurture children, and I know that God can and will bring good out of it, but it still must hurt. and I hope it’s OK if a stranger across the country tries to empathize – I hope I’m not being too forward or familiar and I hope I’m not adding to your sorrow by being so explicit.
How exciting! And also hard to believe he is already old enough.
My 2 year old has started saying the same thing. I call her “baby” a lot, and she just isn’t impressed. But I still say it, because they are all still my babies!