Milestones & Memories

What a week it has been. I realize it is only Tuesday when I am posting this; I am talking about what an interesting ride the last 7 days have been.

The Boy has found his flow. Yes, that flow. He will stand on a stool, lean over the toilet holding onto the uplifted seat and lean in to mark that bowl with all his might. He is becoming a pro! He'll be three May 1st, and I have certainly been feeling the "be a perfect parent" pull toward pushing him a little too hard. I learned that lesson the hard way with The Girl, so we have been more lax with The Boy, convinced that when his time comes, he'll master it on his own. Well, turns out that theory worked. Yay toilet training! Now if we can figure out a way to get him to stop stripping all his clothes off and running around making "psssss" noises while he aims at his disgusted sister...
In other news, The Boy has also learned to put his shoes on himself, put on his pull-up himself, and scare mommy half to death by jumping down THREE stairs onto the landing, precariously tottering toward falling head-over-feet down the remaining 8 or 9 steps. Way to go BOY!

The Girl is certainly not without milestones this week. We had a fun time shopping on Saturday at one of her favorite, albeit rarely visited stores. She received a generous gift card for her birthday and in the three weeks since, that card has not only burned a hole in her pocket the size of Texas, but has incinerated every article of clothing that has dared cross it's path. She made some wise decisions after struggling a bit to shop all on her own, and having a friend and me step in to help her "create". She ended up not only spending that card, but almost all her cash on a gotta-have-it spring skirt that makes her look sweetly young and gracefully grown-up all at the same time.
The Girl is certainly coming into her own.
There is also an instance that I am sure I am not allowed to talk about here, we had a close encounter of the puberty kind this week...more of a discovery really. A permanent one, as the Girl learned very quickly, so I won't. Because I am really hankering for that Mom of the Year Award.
Tonight we had middle school orientation. I am convinced someone has swapped my little girl with a pre-pubescent tween. Middle School? MIDDLE SCHOOL??? We listened to the school staff tell all about the coming curriculum expectations in very exciting long, boring detail. I even allowed her to sit with her friends, instead of forcing her to sit with me...it was hit or miss there for a few minutes, until I realized that her six friends were sitting parentless and I was among the "old people". After the lengthy class, club and athletic program discussion, we got a mini-tour of the school. As we walked down the locker lined halls, memories long suppressed came flooding back. Then, as I shared with her that she was lucky because when I was in middle school we had to share lockers, I realized in that moment just how little she cared about my story and had already moved on in creating hers.

Happy Creating, baby. I am both scared and ecstatic to see what happens next. As is she...