Ike and I are spending this week preparing ourselves for Jake's upcoming birthday. Yep, our son who was just born last week (Right?? How could it be so long ago??) is turning two on Sunday. TWO.
You know what TWO means? Well, it means a lot of things, of course, but tonight I'm thinking of this: it means that we can stop counting months. FINALLY. I can see the need to count months (he's 4 months old, he's 9 months old, he's 13 months old, he's 19 months old, etc.) for these first two years, of course. I mean, any parent (or person who has ever been around children) can tell you there's very little similarity between a 13 month old and a 23 month old, even though they're both "one." Each month brings new development, new skills, new fun...
But somehow, although I'm sure a 25 month old is very different from a 35 month old, you get to stop counting at two. So now he'll be two, then two-and-a-half (sometime around Christmas I guess I can start that), and then straight on to three. I know of one mother who still hangs on to those months (her son is 29 and a hlaf months, I believe), but I for one am ready: come Sunday, Jake is TWO YEARS.
But wait. Now that I write it, maybe that's not as wonderful a feeling as I've thought. My son is graduating from months. He's moving into years...
It's a little less intimate, don't you think? A little more distant, maybe. Why bother remembering the months now, your kid's a toddler. Terrible two's maybe, but never terrible 24-months.
It's similar to the way I've distanced myself from other little things about the babyness of Jake. I no longer rush into his room every night just to make sure he's still breathing...we stopped that over a year ago. He eats big people food (meaning goldfish crackers and cheetoes and nothing else) now, so I don't have to remember which breast he nursed on last...we stopped that about a year ago too. I've been washing his clothes with Tide instead of baby detergent for at least 9 months. He eats popcorn and grapes whole.
What's going on? Am I losing my baby?? He's growing up and ever so slowly he's growing away...
Somewhere along the way I read a quote that said parents are the only people who work their way out of a job (it sounded much better than that originally, but I can't find the quote). Huh.
So. On Sunday, Jake will be 24 months old. That is, his exact birthday will be at 7:58 p.m. on Sunday, July 13th. And perhaps as he gets older, I'll occasionally stop to make sure I know his age...in months.
(Note to Mom: I am 340 months + 2 days old.)
Posted by Becky at July 7, 2003 11:34 PM