Barton's Blog: July 2012

"Oh, you are growing up too fast!" "I remember when you were *this* tall" "I held you the week you came home from the hospital, seems like it was yesterday." I remember when I was young(er!) never understanding the whole sentimental part of growing up. I guess I never really looked at it from their perspective, from their point of view all of us were growing up to quickly, while from ours it was not quickly enough.

Now I feel like roles have reversed. The babies I held as tiny, newborns when I was growing up myself are playing high school ball, counting down the exact number of days until their license to freedom(or maybe just driving), are now babysitting, and even standing inches above me. They aren't babies or toddlers. They aren't going to screech "Miss Sasha" and run over and attach their selves to my leg(because like I said most of them now tower over me). It's interesting, this feeling of having watched these kids grow up, or seeing them years later.

I see quite a few my generation of kids, who once thought we'd NEVER EVER make it to 16 or graduation wouldn't get here soon enough, who are looking around with me thinking "When did time start flying? Does this mean we are we getting old?". You can find this on college campus' every fall, while everyone is rolling their eyes at the new, fresh faced freshmen, it's hard to think "Was that us a few years ago?"(C'mon, even if you don't want to admit it we were them once=P). Or when one of my friends or I bring a new baby home. It's so hard to picture that your loving, talk to you until your ear falls off, crazy, imaginative, into everything, wild, independent, curious toddler was indeed that small just a few short years ago. Or when when you look at your baby and think "This is/might be the last time I have a teething baby, or hear my child's first word". Also, with every new picture or visit from our nephews and niece, because they get so much bigger(and cuter too!:) every time we see them.

Behind this showing of my sentimental side is the social media effect, a random bump into familiar faces, and the fact that my babies will be three soon! One day they will be immersed into high school sports and/or hobbies, counting down to the next big thing, perhaps babysitting and I will still remember them being cuddled up together in bed this morning. Or Brinley giggling like crazy as her sisters chanted "You did it, Briney 'Dell!" as she learned her latest "trick".

It's not that I want the girls to stay little forever. I don't. I love watching them learn and grow, and seeing their personalities bloom. It's just looking back it really is hard to remember they were that little and helpless, that my chunky monkey nine month used to be a a skinny little 6 lb 14 oz baby. I don't even want to envision how it will feel when they are teenagers. Ha ha.

One of our most exciting development since last time is the end of Raid and Pait vs. me power struggle, aka potty training. One of my friends told me the best thing she did when potty training her daughter was backing off and dropping it completely, letting her pick when she was ready. I maybe making it a little bit more dramatic than it was, but I think the planets aligned to get us into that conversation, the sky parted and God shone down upon us. Obviously, by a little bit I mean a lot. It worked though.

Raid and Pait's newest interest is playing "Raiden Jo/Paiten Jewel New Circus". This involves alot of jumping off of things or bouncing from the couch to the swiss ball to the chair, complete with a show of exotic beanie baby and plastic animals. They've asked for a tractor birthday party and so it shall be done. Josie and Jewels continue being fascinated by all things farm related. They take turns making up stories, one sentence at a time, about their farm and barn. According to them they have 14 cows who eat wheat and live in their blue barn. Raiden enjoys tubing with Bobby. Paiten loves watching them, but isn't sold on the idea. They are terrified of anything that looks like a beetle or "cricket bug". Once a week, while we are in Weatherford, we go either to the park for a picnic and to play, or to the "book shop". The book shop is aka as The Et Cetera Shop, but they always pick out a ton of under $1 books to bring home. Their favorite outside activity is a tie between their water pool and turning dirt into mud. Ta-Dah! Their daddy is a superhero in their eyes. I know this because they tell me so, often. They talk about how hard Bobby works from the moment they wake up until he gets home. We bought them a bunk bed a couple weekends ago. They think it is the coolest thing ever, and take turns sleeping on the top bunk alone or in the bottom bed together. I'm sure they also love the new found floor space in their room. My favorite thing about this stage is listening to their conversations.

Brinley is growing like crazy. We almost completely by-passed the 6 month clothing, mostly to do with length. She is now wearing the girl's 12 month skinny jeans with just the bottom hem rolled up, a feat the girls didn't reach until 15-16 months. Meanwhile, her sisters are caught between the awkward stage of their 2T jeans boarder lining high water status and their 3T's needing rolled up 3-4". She has 4 teeth broke through, with signs of 5 and 6 coming within the next week or two. She mimics waving and clapping, but I can't say whether this is purposely. She is a very content baby, but has a fiery side that shows every now and then. She is happy, but she makes people work for her smiles. She is crawling now, which means I can see a whole new level of her personality. Brinley does not want to be left out. She follows the girls throughout the living room. Once she catches up to them she sits, watches, and giggles, drinking it in. If the girls head out of the living room she crawls to the entryway, gets on her knees and sits up to see over the floor and watches for them until they return. She also screeches out to them trying to gain their attention. She loves to feed herself. Brinley also has picked up alot quicker on her sippy cup(than her sisters did), which makes sense since she has been holding her bottle for quite awhile. There are two things I know without a doubt from our trips into public: 1) It's very apparent I feed Brinley, extremely well. 2) Brinley is lil' Bobby, and he would never be able to claim otherwise. Ha ha.

One day all these moments will seem "like just yesterday", even though they're not. I may have to to remind the girls of when buying second hand books was the bee's knees, or that they once dreamed of driving a tractor and joining the circus. Maybe I'll tell Brinley how we imagined her to grow taller than her sisters or we tried to decide which Barton sibling she most resembled. That's okay. I look forward to recanting all of these little special memories to them...One day, not too soon though. I also look forward to making more of these memories and watching them grow.

I hope y'all have a great end to your summer! See you again in the fall, perhaps?! Maybe sooner. Who knows. Not this gal.