big little things

Linden almost met disaster on this log.  Almost.

It is no doubt cliché to point out the very obvious fact that time tends to fly by at alarming speeds these days.  This is, I would imagine, part and parcel with having young kids -- much of my time seems to be spent always catching up, rather than sitting comfortably in the present.  That, and the fact that I blink, and suddenly both kids are ever so much older than they were the day before.  I realized recently that this growth and change is truly much sneakier than it was even two or three years ago.  When a child is very young, milestones are far more obvious -- for both parent and tot.  Each development seems epic; each hurdle seems a monumental victory once it has been surpassed. At this age, however, milestones can pass by almost unnoticed.  It is not that they are really any less significant, but rather that they get swept along in the chaos of the day, and are replaced very quickly by another.  Today, then, I will list the recent changes that only presented themselves as milestones when I paused this week to think about about them.

Lost in Dahl

1. Reading.  Juniper has been a good little reader for some time now, but it was only very recently that she became interested in sitting down, all by herself, with a novel.  This was such an integral part of my own childhood that it seems like a monumental shift.  Just this past Saturday, in fact, Juniper, Clark and I all lounged on the couch for at least half an hour, each with our own novel in hand, while Linden happily amused himself downstairs with Lego.  It was glorious.  It all ended when Linden realized he was missing the party, and plopped himself in the middle of our lounge fest with his own book.  Though he tried very hard to observe the "silent reading" rule, he just couldn't help himself, and ended up loudly whispering facts about the pictures he was looking at, and repeatedly enquiring if someone could just PLEASE read him the story.  But while it lasted, the independent reading was magical.

2. Wiping.  Some may consider this a gross and unnecessary milestone to include, but it is super big news for me: at this point in time, BOTH kids are now capable of wiping their own bums.  Juniper, of course, has been doing so for - I don't know - a year and half or something, but I despaired that Linden would never be particularly interested in the transition.  With Junior Kindergarten, however, it was firmly stated that the teachers would not be helping with such matters, so the training began in earnest.  Now, don't get me wrong - depending on his mood, Linden will often call someone in to help him, but he has also repeatedly decided to go to the washroom all by himself, with no intervention from start to finish.  The upshot: my days of dealing with other people's poop is almost completely in the past. Monumental news, indeed.

3. Old, dear friends. As I have mentioned before, while this move to Ottawa was a brand new one for our family, we plopped ourselves right in the middle of some of our oldest, dearest friends.  This means I have been able to pop out for impromptu tea dates, spend luxurious evenings chatting or dining or crafting, and that we can actually be a part of each other's lives again, rather than watching from the periphery.  I wasn't sure this would ever be our reality, and the fact that it suddenly is, is absolutely amazing.

3. Thesis.  I almost didn't include this one, because I hate to jinx anything, but I am finally starting to see the light at the end of this long, dark tunnel that has been the writing of my PhD thesis. On Friday, I am taking off to Fredericton for an ENTIRE week, all by myself.  The first order of business will be to attend what will no doubt be a completely rocking wedding.  The rest of the week, however, will be spent in writing seclusion.  I will have my parent's house all to myself (they are taking off for a trip to South Africa), and my goal is to emerge with a complete draft.  I don't know if this is feasible or not, but I am optimistic enough that I have committed it to writing for the world to see.  Not that having a completed draft means I'm done, but I think it means that the hardest bit is over.  Now that is a milestone if I ever saw one.  Wish me luck!

I am particularly studious while wearing this old gem