More Big Kid Stuff...Making Life a Little Easier!

I’ve still got a few weeks before my babies turn four, but I think I’m ready to coin their Year of Three as "The Great Transition." 

We’ve bid farewell to baby gates and highchairs.  We’ve said hello to regular silverware and the girls putting on their own socks.  While their show of wills can be stronger and more challenging, in many ways, life is getting a little bit easier.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve noted yet two more big-kid transitions.  As I type them they seem small, but they’ve made a big dent in our daily routine.

Our girls never used sippy cups.  I tried and tried, but they just never took to them.  Instead, they transitioned straight from bottles to straw cups.  Eventually we moved from the limited flow straws to regular cups with lids and straws, and that was our life for a year and a half or so. 

This past spring, I started giving the girls water – just a tiny bit – in a regular cup with their afternoon snack.  They weren’t very proficient for a while…but at least the clean-up was easy.  Over the past six months, the girls have gotten much better with cups, but I rarely used them for anything but water, serving them milk at meals in cups with lids.

When the girls were sick last week, they weren’t drinking milk.  B preferred Pedialyte, while A was married to her water.  They were only drinking an ounce or two at a time, very slowly at that, and I started giving them everything in cups.  I didn’t really have a longer-term goal in mind, but rinsing out 27 cups a day was a lot easier than washing that many cups and lids and straws.

The girls did so well…and I just haven’t looked back!  My dishwasher joined me in a hearty SAYONARA to straws.  How sweet it is!!!

And…as if that weren’t momentous enough…the girls have started voluntarily holding their sleeves when they put on their jackets!

When they were infants, I remember learning to push their tiny little arms into the sleeves of their jackets.  I could work up quite the sweat doing that…such that I rarely wore a jacket myself when they were smaller.

Last fall, I introduced the girls to the concept of holding their shirtsleeves, but it wasn’t one they embraced.  I would wrap their little fingers around their sleeve, but it was a tossup as to whether they’d hang on to achieve the desired effect.  It was a hassle…such that it was often easier to wrestle their bunched-up sleeve down from their elbow once their jackets were on.

Something seems to have clicked this season, though.  At the mere mention of jackets, the girls grab their shirtsleeves and they’re ready to go.  Again, it’s a small thing, but it makes getting dressed a bit easier.  I might get to start wearing jackets again myself soon!

There are many things to love about this Year of Great Transition.  But don’t worry…I’m still calling my babies, BABIES, for a long, long time to come.