Growing Too Fast

Violette is stepping farther and farther away from baby-dom every second. From adding words to her repertoire to expending her pretend play skills. I am in awe, still, of the quickness of growth and am reminded daily to enjoy each moment and stage of our children's lives. To preserve their youth and treasure their innocence.

I have seen many instances of patience and concentration coming through. Violette enjoys building with blocks and doing her best to go higher and higher. She also loves to play with Noelle's doll house. Her level of engagement is surprising to me. Not only will she tenderly handle the little characters, but have interaction between baby and mother. She also will put the babies to bed or take them for a ride down the slide. Taking of the hairbrush and the look of complete involvement as she strains to reach the back of her head with her still short little arms. Not actions of a baby, but a little girl.

I am reminded that she is still a baby when she climbs in my lap and lays horizontally on me. Fitting perfectly as I wrap my arms around her. This is short lived as she pops up and demands a"ook, ook" (book) to be read. All the children have always enjoyed being read to, but Violette's love seems to be deeper. Animal books are by far her favorite as she delights in spewing out the sounds before the page is turned and the next animal revealed.

Many times I am just tired of reading towards the end of the day and she throws the book in protest and gets very upset when I decline her request. Instances of a temper are becoming more and more frequent. She hurls her little body on the ground, kicking and screaming when things don't go her way. We've even had tantrums over clothing already. Her opinions are strong and she is learning how to voice them.

At her age grasping the concept of another baby joining our family is beyond her realm of reason. We do talk about it all the time and she will say, "baby" and point to my belly and kiss it. I have been through this before with Max and know what to expect when adding a newborn to the mix with a young toddler. They seem to just accept the new addition without question and learn to adjust fairly easily.

I still hold firm that newborns are the easiest for me. Their sweet innocence only demands short bursts of attention and can be easily soothed with nursing and being but in a sling/carrier, leaving me a lot of time with the other ones. That's not to be confused with me saying newborns are oh, so easy, because the frequent night feedings always leave me, and mother's in general, drained of a good portion of energy. Making the days after the c-section more difficult to recover as I add more children to the mix. The adage of, "take it easy and sleep when the baby sleeps" doesn't exactly work with three other small children around. Having family close by would be nice, but Tom and I have survived three times before without little or no help and we'll do it again. I want to say, with ease, but I know it will be tough at times. Tears will flow from all five of us (while Tom is at work) at once. I may lock myself in the bedroom for two minutes of solitude to collect myself but we will survive and most likely flourish with growth as a family of six. I digress as I pour my thoughts and concerns about having baby boy.

Back to my sweet Violette Adelle. We do refer to her as the sweetest of the bunch. She flirtatiously smirks at people with a slight tilt of her head and bat of her extensive eyelashes, that has passer always smiling. When telling her "no" she gives us that little smile then usually runs up to the disciplinarian and hugs them. All is forgotten and we scoop her up.

Baby soft skin still adorns her body. Supple cheeks still present for the kissing. A pudgy little belly, perfect for the rumbling of a hearty zerbert. Baby curls growing more present on her little head. The list continues of things still "baby" on our little one. Plump little feet that loved to have the little nails painted. The butt-in-the-air way of sleeping, while curled around her precious blankets, pacifier soundly stuck in her mouth.

She may not be the baby for much longer, but she will always be the baby girl of the family!