Okay you mommies out there, I have a challenge for you. Each new milestone that your child reaches is wonderful and exciting. I'll bet you can clearly remember the first time your child smiled, laughed, sat up unassisted, said your name, took that first step, used the potty alone, switched into a big-kid bed, went to preschool, etc. But do you remember the lasts? The last time your baby woke for a 2 a.m. feeding, nursed, drank out of a bottle, the last car ride rear facing in the infant carrier, the last nap in the pack and play, the last diaper changed...the list goes on. So this is my challenge to you: Cherish the Lasts.
I did not know when I tucked Pepper into bed last night that it would the the last night he required his "Mimi" (baby blanket) at bedtime. Since he was 6 months old, he has wanted to be wrapped like a burrito in his Mimi. In fact, he is really particular about how you wrap him. This is the most esential bedtime ritual for Pepper, and has been for a long time. Well, Pepper watched Spiderman with Daddy yesterday, and has morphed into Spiderman today. Life is now all about web-slinging, jumping around, "saving" Pixie and Zoe from their comfortable napping places, and wearing his "Pideyman" costume. When I went in to tuck him in tonight, his beloved Mimi was tossed in a corner, and the fleece Spiderman blanket I got for Matt the first Christmas we were married had been pulled out of the hall closet and was on Pepper's bed. He very firmly insisted on being wrapped in the Pideyman blanket. And so he is. And Mimi is still in a lonely, crumpled, forgotten heap on the bedroom floor. And Mommy is sitting at the computer blinking back the tears that are trying with all their might to collapse the floodgates.
So tonight I cherish this Last in Pepper's life. I love that he is growing up. But I hate it too. For the rest of the evening I will cling to the memory of his sweet, little feet poking out from under the end of the too-short Mimi. I might even have the Mimi sleep under my pillow tonight. Can a baby blanket get lonely?
Lest you think I am a pathetic pile of emotional overflow, tomorrow I will move on and celebrate this rite of passage, and be thankful that Pepper will no longer wake up in the middle of the night with cold feet. Why? Because the Pideyman blankie is a full-sized blanket!
What Last do you anticipate cherishing in the near future? What Last has recently occurred for you?
4 comments:
This almost moved me to tears thinking of his Mimi thrown into the corner and I bet Mimi is lonely. I am one sentimental mess though so....
For me, I dread when Andrew no longer sleeps in a crib or wears diapers. We just recently moved him from his highchair to a booster seat also. I am thankful that he is healthy and growing but man, it's all just happening so fast!
What a wonderful idea to cherish the lasts. By the end of your post I was teary-eyed, but the joyful kind. Your post had me remembering all the first's and was a good reminder for me to cherish the lasts too!
I remember the day Jack-Jack no longer wanted to wear his duck feet to bed,(the duck feet were from his Harvest Day Costum). He had insisted on wearing them for a couple months. Silly I know, but I missed how cute those orange duck feet looked on his own.
I do cherish the lasts...adn I write them down. the last time ASa cried when I dropped him off for sunday school...3 sundays ago.
I've learned about this the hard way! My most recent last was rocking John to sleep. A few weks ago he got a big boy bed, and we moved his rocker out to make room. We've only rocked once since then, and it makes me so sad!
Post a Comment