Bye Bye Babies

My babies are growing up TOO fast! It's a darn good thing we have another one on the way  because I'm going through some serious baby withdrawals right now. But there is something so special about watching your babies grow up into little people.

So today marks the end of week two with Riley attending Kindergarten. Her independence & confidence amazes me. Probably because I have always felt I was lacking in these two areas. So this truly is proof that your children are a product of BOTH parents. Clearly Riley is exactly her father. Not necessarily in looks, but most definitely in her personality. And I love it! Her spirit and strong will are going to take her places. 

Riley spends a good 5 minutes each night before she goes to bed picking out her outfit for school, with comments to me like, "Mommy, I can't wear that because everyone has seen that already!". What 5-year-old do you know that thinks about this? Only in Riley's World. So last night was no different as we prepared for picture day at school. She picked out her most extravagant dress without teetering too much into the "church dress" category. It had to have ruffles (of course) and multi-colors were a must. Oh and she absolutely HAD to wear her pink glitter Mary Jane shoes with the silver bows that Daddy bought her & a flower in her hair. 

The drop off at school this morning was a show to be remembered. I have to line up with all the other eager parents in two lines for the big drop off.  You have to wait until all cars have stopped and then traffic guard motions to bring on the kids. Most kids cut over using the quickest route to the sidewalk and make their way to the gym as quickly as possible. Not my Riley. Not today. 

As she was unbuckling her seat belt, I mentioned to her she should take her umbrella because it looks like it could rain. Her enthusiasm shrieked out of her as she fumbled for her pink flower umbrella on the floor (she's apparently been waiting for the right time to show it off). She gets out of the car and straightens her perfectly selected "Picture Day" dress and opens up the umbrella (no rain in sight) and sashays her way down the middle aisle between the car lines to make sure EVERYONE noticed her!

I wish I had taken a picture but sadly I was too busy laughing to even think of it at the moment. Daddy did snap some pictures of her when she got home showing off her dress, Taylor Swift-like curly hair and her new poem book (see below). 

And then there is my other baby . . . the one I'm clinging too for as long as I can. We were faced with two important milestones this week with Zander. We "lost" all his pacifiers and just simply couldn't find them (wink, wink). I'm proud to say he has been sleeping without a paci for a few days now. And this is a kid who would suck on one and have like 5 others to hold on to and rotate in his little hands as he soothed himself to sleep. So this was BIG! 

The other thing we partially said "Bye-Bye" to this week is diapers. We started potty training on Sunday and have been in "No More Diaper Boot Camp" all week. We locked ourselves in the house all week let him run around commando style. Let's just say there were a lot of oopsies and puddles around the house - and I'm saving you the really yucky details. But we have been two days now without an accident during the day and I'm totally patting myself on the back right now. He gets it! He really gets it!!

Here are a couple of pics from the week of my big boy. Zander really loves his new big boy underwear.  I promise to start using the real camera for my next post because these iPhone pics don't justify the cuteness in this boy!

My babies are growing up TOO fast!!