From Babies to Big School, A Year of Firsts

There will never be a time in our lives we learn as much as in the first year.  With a new baby in the house, 2013 is going to be a year of firsts.  Everything from breathing, to latching, rolling over, eating, sitting, crawling, walking, babbling,  laughing… I could go on and on and on, even the simplest of things are all part of a baby’s and  human development.  This year is going to be full of firsts and full of fun.  I actually forgot how wonderful it is to have a baby in the house… well, that’s not exactly true…. First time around, baby was extremely fussy (colic) making it difficult to enjoy all the goodness of a baby. This time, baby is very happy and this Mom is loving every minute, even in the middle of the night when she’s wide awake.

How amazing is it to watch your little ones learn and share in their joys?  It’s pretty spectacular as a parent and there are a lot of proud moments.  I remember the first time Princess Energy walked, we praised her in excitement, then she started to run and hasn’t stopped since (looking back, a few more months crawling might have been nice).  It’s hard to believe she is already heading into Primary in September.  With school, she will be learning on so many different levels:

Educational: Reading, writing, French, math, these are all things we have been “teaching” her at home, but seeing as she is so busy it’s hard to get her to sit with us.  When she’s in school, she will have very little options other than to pay attention and learn.

Social: While she plays with a lot of children now, playing at school is much different.  There is very little supervision during playtimes, and she will be pick the kids she plays with at lunch time, not me.  It will be one of first times this happens in her life as she stayed at home with my mother and I since she was born.

Personal:  Independence and responsibility are going to play a huge part once she attends “big school”, but I already see a lot of this with the birth of her little sister.

As a big sister, her role in our family has changed (even more than I could have thought).  She does an amazing job at helping with the new baby, picking out clothes, helping with tub time and changing diapers and clothing.  But, she wants to go one step further and has taken on the role of Mommy herself (which makes me a grandmother – yikes).  Yes, she is very serious about being a Mommy, her turtle from Finding Nemo is her baby.  She wears diapers and onesies and needs to be changed about 10 times a day and even nurses her tiny baby.  They say kids learn from example, so I guess it means we change the baby a lot too and she’s learning.  For a 4 Year old, she takes excellent care of “Turtely” and even nurses her baby turtle.  She’s showing great signs or responsibility and independence.

This year is going to be an exciting and busy one in our home.  There will be lots of first, lots of changes and lots of memories.  Let the good times begin… or should I say continue.

What are you expecting for the year to come?

DISCLOSURE:  I AM A FISHER-PRICE MOM AND I RECEIVE SPECIAL PERKS AS PART OF MY AFFILIATION WITH THIS GROUP. THE OPINIONS ON THIS BLOG ARE MY OWN.