It's always bittersweet moving to a new stage but sometimes hard to remember it at the time. Like back when he was a baby and I was having fun introducing him to new foods - and totally ready to not have to buy formula anymore - it wasn't quite at the forefront of my mind to pay attention to the last time I ever got to feed him a bottle. Moving from the toddler to preschool stage of life has a bunch of things I really want to leave behind (tantrums! diapers! tantrums about diaper changes!), but I'm using this as my reminder to savor some of the last little things before he is a full-on BOY both in size and in spirit, with all the great things and also new challenges that will bring. For posterity, some of the bittersweet changes over the last months:
Goodbye long stroller dog walks, hello riding along on the big boy bike!
Goodbye diapers, hello Thomas the Tank Engine undies.
Goodbye Duplos, hello Legos (actually, who am I kidding. We spend hours and hours with both).
Goodbye nap time, hello figuring out how to enforce "quiet time" (and hello earlier bedtime??).
Goodbye adorable size 7 rocketship shoes, hello new size 8 "fast shoes" (his first Nikes, which he is so pleased to match mom + dad in).
Goodbye crib, hello toddler bed (and excuse to pick out new sheets!)
Goodbye constant asking of "why?", hello nonsensical jokes and potty talk.
Goodbye YouTube snippets, hello full-length Finding Nemo (becoming a big boy who goes on the potty all the time has its perks, one of which is being deemed old enough to watch a whole movie).
Goodbye easy wooden peg puzzles, hello fun jigsaw puzzles.
Goodbye needing assistance with everything to get out the door, hello learning to put on a coat and boots (on the wrong feet, naturally).
And while I don't want to baby my big boy, I'm glad we've not yet said goodbye to wanting to sit on my lap when we read books, and the willingness to hand out enormous, full-body hugs. Because I'm pretty sure that before I know it he's going to be bigger than me.
