It's easy to get stuck thinking your baby will always be a baby, or whatever age they actually are, when you have one. You can tell yourself it's a lifelong commitment or that they will grow up, but...it just doesn't feel real in the moments of craziness. But every now and again, it hits you. They are growing. Growing up. You will forever be their parent, whether they are 17 months or 17 years or 71 years!
Tonight I had one of those moments. I heard a little creak upstairs, like a door about to open. I wondered why/how Sweet Pea, currently 17 months old, had learned to get out of her crib and open the door. I laughed at myself for thinking she could have done it.
But then it hit me. Soon, that will be a possibility. She will crawl out of bed as a toddler. Walk out of her room as a little girl. Occasionally actually come downstairs and grace me with her presence as a teenager. She will walk right out these doors and start a life "on her own" (but I'll always be there, whether she likes it or not ;).
These odd little flashes occur every now and again and they are so hard to explain. I'm guessing other parents go through this, too, but I would imagine a lot of non-parents might find this very odd and say brilliant things like "duh!" back to me. But it's real and powerful and overwhelming when it happens.
I love watching her grow up, even if it breaks my heart sometimes. :')
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