Big Baby, Big Girl

I measured the kids last week. Matthew is 50th% in weight, about 93rd% in height. Ellie is 45th% in weight, and 3rd% in height. That's right, 3rd%. My little shorty. I think by 2 years, Matthew will overtake Ellie, which will not go over well with big sister. Oh well. Better a big boy and little girl than vice versa.

So Ellie is now three years old. This was a great development for me, as we now can use the reasoning, "But you're already three!" when negotiating with her. Now that's she's three, she always goes to bed by herself. HUGE step. Those who know us know that putting Ellie to sleep has always been an issue. It started with nursing her to sleep as an infant, rocking her to sleep as a big baby, lying down with her to sleep as a toddler, then lying down outside her open door until recently. Not fun. Time consuming. High maintenance. But HALLELUJAH, because now all she requests is two books, praying, and it's, "See you in the morning, Ellie!" If only we'd used the ploy of, "You're already two!"

New parents, don't fall into our trap. Poor Matthew's been going to sleep by himself since he was 4 months old. Not like he knows any different and resents it, but I still have some guilt about it (me and my guilt issues). But he won't even fall asleep with me next to him. He HAS to be alone, which makes for difficult situations on trips. That's when we hide out in the bathroom of the hotel. Also not fun, but better than what we did with Ellie.

Matthew will be a year old in a few weeks. Where did the time go?!!? He's so gigantic, he doesn't even seem like a baby anymore. Sometimes I get weepy when Ellie starts doing big girl things, and I always tell her I wish she'd be a baby forever. She always says, "Don't cry, Mommy. Be proud. You still have Matthew." But I DON'T, because he's already outgrowing baby-dom. He's not an official toddler yet, since he is determined NEVER to walk, but he's still so big. Sigh. I'm not wistful enough to consider getting pregnant again, but I do love having babies!

Sad. They're so big. Sad.

Here's a video of Ellie's class doing praise. I thought it was hilarious. Mostly Ryan.