Everybody always says that kids grow up so very fast. They don't mention how it happens literally overnight, though. Or at least that's how it is with Alexis. One day she seems tiny and little and very much so my baby, and the very next day BAM! All of her clothes are too small and her vocabulary has exploded and suddenly she is nothing like that little girl I knew just yesterday.
Today was one of those BAM! sort of days. The minute she woke up, I noticed her legs were longer, her head was held higher, her voice seemed deeper. Everything about her said Kid instead of Preschooler.
As we sat in the car on the drive home, I silently listened to her chatter about her day, marveling at the leap her vocabulary had taken and the sophistication of her sentiments.
When we were gathered at the table eating dinner, my eyes grew wide with amazement as I realized just how proficient she suddenly has become at shoving her food around her plate so that it seems like she may have eaten more than she really did.
When she decided that she wanted to go for a third day in a row and bash her head against a hard surface, I was startled to realize that she has substituted most of her injury-related adorable tiny kid words for more sophisticated things like "ice pack" and "bump." Gone are the days of "icee" and "boo-boo."
Later, as she lay in bed trying to fall asleep, she asked me to cuddle with her. While the sentiment is fantastic, she recently has been using night-time cuddling as a way to put off bedtime. So, I told her I needed to go back downstairs for a few minutes before I could cuddle. When the begging kicked in, I reminded her that I like to write a story for her every night after she goes to bed (that's our current "definition" of blogging in Alexis Land). She went on to ask what the story would be about today. As usual, she offered up a few suggestions. She knows that the story I write is always about something that was different or fun or exciting about that day.
Today. Today she had a recommendation. Today she suggested that I write about how her butt has gotten bigger.
Bigger? Yes, yes she is. More mature? Not a chance.
