Too big...

Suddenly, the kidlet seems so mature that it shocks me. She's an opinionated girl who's been given room to make her own own choices in mundane matters (pink or blue shirt, chicken or sandwich, go for a walk or a bike ride?, etc.) and she now takes those liberties so much further than I anticipated she might, at this age. It occurs to me as I write this ...& on a daily basis - just how quickly she's grown up. It almost seems that during one of our games of hide & seek, she sent me away to count - and when I finally found her, she's grown up another few months!

It's clear that she prefers to play with older children rather than those closer in age to her. I see her mimicking their games and behaviors on a daily basis with amazement. This morning while we swung a jump rope round and round, she did the 'ole "Cinderella dressed in Yellow" rhyme and proceeded to count to 40, all by herself. 40? I thought we were still hung up at 20! Today, while she was coloring with a six year old on our back deck, I noticed that she was coloring a picture in a very concentrated manner -- and staying IN the lines. What happened to the wreckless toddler that scribbled all over the page in a rainbow of messy colors only a day or so ago? She was also playing with the refrigerator Alphabet game, and sang along with the sounds of the letters, confidently knowing them before the game fed them to her. Then, she went outside and played - by herself- for nearly 30 minutes and didn't feel the need to request my presence at all. That was our first (noted) dose of truly self-sufficient play.

Today, she's also made a clear transition to calling me Mom. Not Mama, as I've named myself. Not Mommy as she renamed me a few months back. But, Mom. For some reason, that strikes me with a wee bit of sadness. I'm not ready to be just .."Mom".. yet!!

So, I'll savor the last few moments of thinking of her as a baby - like searching for a "Hippomatus" at the zoo this past weekend... The way she feels shy around new people, and likes to ride on my hip until she's comfortable. Her resistance to moving to that big girl bed, which will probably remain until I dismantle the baby crib and remove it from her room all together. I'm realizing that I need to savor those last few baby-like qualities about her for just a few moments more..... Suddenly -- We're just growing up too fast!!

***Although, I am still quite ecstatic about landing the "#2" in the big-girl potty this past Sunday!!! I'll say Hooray to that (even though we've narrowly missed with subsequent tries...).