A Bye-Bye Baby Moment

It's birthday season at my house. Suddenly my baby is 3 years old and my oldest will be 7 tomorrow! I have friends who mourn this passage of time. They miss having a baby in the house. At this particular moment, I can't say I agree.


It was a celebration moment when we hauled off the changing table and high chair. While there was a time when I looked forward to the girls' naps, it's nice to be in a phase where nap times don't wrinkle the schedule and the girls are more independent and playing on their own.

There are remnants of babyhood that remain, however. Anne Marie still pads into our room at 5 a.m. most mornings and crawls into bed to snuggle. I swore that when she turned 3 I'd put an end to it, but the truth is that I love it.

And the sippy cup. It's simply a matter of routine, at this point. The girls wake up early and consume a sippy cup full of Ovaltine (that's better than chocolate milk, right?) while I get ready for the day. Sippy cups reduce spillage on couches or beds, depending on where they choose to watch their morning cartoon. I feel like we're running 18 sippy cups and lids through the dishwasher every day, but it's worth not having to clean up spilled milk.

I'm enjoying the growing up process in many ways. Last week, I had to get up before 5 a.m. to catch an early flight. I would be gone for 3 days and 2 nights.  As I did my hair and make-up, Edie perched on the edge of my bath tub and chatted about this and that. I loved that she woke up earlier than usual (even for her!) just to spend some time with me.



As we talked, I was sipping on one of my old standby's: Irish Breakfast from California Tea and Coffee Brewery. Diane, the owner, hand blends this tea, and the love that is infused as a result is palpable. She and I had just had a conversation about how close she and her late mother were, and I thought of them as I watched my own daughter talk animatedly about school and softball and her fast-approaching birthday.

As I flew home, I was very much looking forward to seeing my husband and girls. And the only thought I had was, "If you need us over the weekend, we'll be sipping tea (or Ovaltine), snuggling and planning birthdays." Nothing could be more perfect.

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