The Moment of the Shift

As this blog is my witness, the moment of the shift happened. March 12, 2014. It didn't take me by surprise because there were signs of it brewing lately.  The moment I speak of is a noticeable shift in family dynamic.  If the twins have been holding on to all my fingers for their first 2 years of life, Elise more loosely than Paul's hulk-like tight grip, the shift is both of them truly letting go of a couple of mommy's fingers.  They aren't relying on me as much and are interacting with each other and their older sister even more.  The twins are 2 years and 3 months and Lily is 4.5.  The moment happened while I was sitting on a bench watching all 3 of my kids playing nicely together on the play structure for a solid 15 minutes.  I got choked up watching them but they were happy tears mixed with pride.  We've come a long way kids.  You have no problems racing up the stairs to play in the playroom on your own more chunks of the day and you communicate so much more clearly with what you'd like.  The fact that I was able to complete 3 crafty projects while all 3 kids were in my near vicinity is huge.  I spray painted a cozy coupe and turned it into a bat mobile, I changed Lily's blue siding on her Ikea loft bed with a black/white contact paper to better match her pink walls (thanks for the practice contact paper Natalie), and assembled a night stand.  This is HUGE for me.

I love this age with my kids.  I have so many more instances of wanting time to stop compared to their first 2 years of life. It's the first time I'm experiencing an ache yearning for this age of my kids to not change. I guess I'm much more into my cute talkative kids running around then I am holding babies in my arm.  I don't miss the newborn phase with any of my kids as much as I miss things I did with them a week ago.  We'll see if that changes when I grow older.  I think Paul is at his apex of cuteness right now talking so much and having outgrown many of his high maintenance tendencies like being a clingy whiny crying mess after waking up from naps.  We're not quite there Buddy but we'll get there.  Elise is my defiant and more quiet and independent one.  It's often Paul and Lily being loud and playing together and Elise reading a book or playing with Playmobil or wanting me to cuddle with her.   It's also usually Paul who helps clean up the most and then Lily who will clean up more only if there is a competitive edge to it and Elise off in the corner completely tuning us out.

Here are pics from our week.


Twins loving the bike trailer

 Lily was in her first preschool play - The Lonely Octopus.  She was a mermaid and delivered her one line loud and proud.

 Family bike ride home from preschool

 Besides imagining reading books to my kids on our new window seat, I imagined my 3 kids eating at the kitchen island in our new bar stools.  I think this shot will be the picture I continue to take through the years to mark how they grow.

Yard work and Nate finished putting up the first part of the play structure.

 Hi Elise - usually the one sitting with her food the longest.

 Can often find Lily drawing.

 And Paul on the move with his cars, big or small.

Elise and Paul singing Elise's favorite song - Twinkle Twinkle - at the park.