The Kids Keep Growing Up

Yeah, I get it, kids grow up.  It's what they're supposed to do.  Lately, it seems like I turn around they've changed hugely without any warning at all.

I've mentioned before that Liam has eating issues.  Since the institution of his menu, things haven't really changed too much.  He eats the things on the menu and not much else.  He loves snack foods and sweets but those are doled out in a limited fashion.

Imagine my surprise when he tried not one but THREE new foods in one night.

I don't know what made me do it, but I had cooked a nice meal for the rest of us and before fixing Liam any food I told him that he had to have one bite of everything I'd made.  I made breaded/baked chicken and served it over orzo with pesto over the top and broccoli on the side.  Liam was given three small bites to try - one of each thing.  What shocked me was that he sat down and tried everything without any nasty words, no tantrums, no crying, no gagging - NONE of the things that we've seen happen in the past.  He didn't like a single thing he put in his mouth but he ate it anyway.

Then, I made him a peanut butter sandwich.

Then, a week or so ago, he came off the bus from school and the first words out of his mouth were "Mom!  I tried red apples at school today and they were SO GOOD!  I love them!"

I could only reply, "What?"

This kid was adamantly anti-fresh apples.  He'll eat apple sauce but don't ask him to eat a hunk of raw apple.  It just won't happen.  Somehow his teacher at school got him to try both red and green apples (he didn't like the green.)  Later that same week the kids made applesauce at school and came home with the recipe.  Liam said "It was so good, Mom!  We have to make it!"  He has never in his life been willing to eat my homemade applesauce.  He was only willing to eat Mott's.

We still have the occasional battle over food with him but he's starting to realize that every new food is not his enemy.  He's growing up.

Jamie just keeps getting bigger.  I pulled out fall/winter clothes for him since the weather has finally mostly turned.  I thought I might still get some use out of last year's 2T's but it's not working out.  The pants are long enough but not big enough in the waist and his shirts are just barely covering the diaper peeking out of the top of his pants.  So, I moved him up to 3T's figuring that a little big was better than a little small.

Except they're not really big.  They fit him.  I have to roll up the pants a bit but otherwise, they're pretty perfect.

Liam was tiny at this age.  He was always at least a year behind in sizes - especially with pants - and this was the age when I started getting multiple years use out of clothing for him.  So, it's more than a little odd to see Jamie wearing clothes at the age of 2.5 that Liam was wearing at the age of four.  Actually, not odd, freaky.  Where did this giant kid come from?!  How is it possible that he's big enough for this?!

Add to this the fact that Jamie is really racing with his language these days.  His therapist told me that if he'd been where he is now back when he was first evaluated, he wouldn't have qualified for services.  He's picking up new words so fast that I can't keep up with it anymore.  I say something, he says it back - no prompting, no processing, no working hard.  He just does it.  He still has A LOT of work to do on enunciation and articulation but the words are coming out now.  He never shuts up unless he's asleep and I suddenly have a truck detector in the back seat.  Everywhere I go, he yells "TRUCK!  TRUCK!" every time he sees one.

These two things taken together have really knocked it into my head in stunning fashion that Jamie isn't  a baby anymore.  When he was so speech-delayed that he wasn't really talking it was easy to forget that he was two.  In fact, I had to remind myself regularly that he was plenty old enough to behave himself properly, have rudimentary manners, and start learning the concept of sharing.  With his language so "baby-like" it was too easy for me to forget that he wasn't a baby.  The advent of real language has brought it home how old he's getting - with the force of a sledgehammer.  He's growing up, too.  I can't wait to see how Jamie's personality shows itself when it comes to language.

I find myself realizing that I'm exiting the incredibly hard early years and things are beginning to ease up for me in a way I longed for when Jamie was a baby.  I'm looking forward to new adventures.