Susie's Blog: Growing up too quickly...

Doesn’t it seem like our parents constantly disparage us for growing up and getting older? They claim it was just yesterday that we learned to say our first words, while we view milestones such as getting our driver’s licenses as lifetimes ago. However now, I empathize with parents everywhere who want their babies to stay babies because Wednesday was a very special day. Wednesday was the 2nd birthday of one of the little girls I nanny for. Miss Sophia Elizabeth was born two years and two days ago, and as far as I’m concerned she might as well be filling out her college applications already, because there’s NO way she can already be two!

I swear it was yesterday when I was waiting for that call that the last of my “littles” had made her debut. As I read the 5th cleverly-rhymed poetic birth announcement that I had received from her family for each of her older siblings, thousands of images swam through my head of what the next few summers would be like. I pictured rocking her to sleep, her learning to crawl, taking her first steps, and speaking her first words. And looking back 2 years later, I have fantastic memories of all of the above. Even with being away at school for nearly 9 months out of the year, I was able to witness her first steps, hear the babblings of her first words and spend plenty of hours coaxing her down for a nap.

I’ve heard parents say that even though they love the baby stage, they love whatever age their child is at because as the child ages, they’re constantly able to do new activities together. This has definitely been the case this summer because Sophia is now becoming old enough where all the kids can do the same activity together. For example, now we can all go swimming (and by swimming I mean desperately try to contain Sophia in my arms or a float while reminding her that she doesn’t know how to swim on her own yet), play dress up (which usually involves her dressing me up), color, build Lego towers, go to the park or for bike rides. Though the differences between this summer and last summer’s activities are huge, it still does not feel like only 2 years and 3 days ago, she wasn’t even born yet.

Ok, I know what you’re all probably thinking: “Wow this girl weird, why does she care so much about someone else’s kids?” Well, because they’re a big part of my life. Anyone who knows me well can tell you that my neighbors and my family are extremely close, and I’ve watched all their kids grow up. It feels like a big extended family on my street, and as an only child, those kids are like my brothers and sisters. Not to mention I’ve been the one family’s nanny for over 3 years, so yeah, those kids are pretty darn important to me. I totally understand that if you’re not close with any young children that’s hard to comprehend, but if you’ve done any serious babysitting you know what I’m talking about.

So in honor of my littlest little’s 2nd “bert-day” (as she calls it), here are some of my favorite pictures of the kids from years past and present. This’ll give you a little taste of what my summer life is like. Enjoy!