What I Love About This Age

What I love

About a year ago, I wrote What I Love About This Age and today I’m bringing you the second edition. It seems like every stage my kids go through is my favorite. From conversations to cuddles, they are simply the best.

The many faces of Caroline
The many faces of Caroline

I’ll start with my daughter. She just turned two and I have to say that I love this age. Here are the things I especially love.

Conversation – Caroline has become quite the conversationalist. She starts every morning by asking “Mama, how you a doing?” I absolutely love that she can ask questions and understand my answer. She can also answer questions. She’s able to convey to her dad what she did during the day (although sometimes she says some stuff that we did not do). I love listening to her talk and thinking about just a year ago when she could just say a few words.

Sense of Humor – I love her little personality. Its becoming more and more evident who she is and one of the things is a little comedian. Caroline loves to make us laugh. Here is a small example… Her dad (seriously her dad and not me) taught her to say “booyah all up in your face” and the other day she came up to me and said “Mama I’m going to take a bath with ALL my toys! Booyah all up in your face”. I really don’t want to encourage this type of behavior, but it caught me off guard and so I cracked up laughing. Now that she knows that it makes me laugh she wants to say it over and over again.

Games – I LOVE games. All games, but especially board games. I am just waiting for the time when we can have family game night. Well, that time is now! At two years, children should be able to follow two part directions. So we started working with Caroline to play the game Memory. We started with the cards all face up and just had her find the matches. Then we put them face down and have been working on her using her memory to find the matches. She’s not so great on taking turns, but games are such a great way to teach that concept.

Helper – Children this age love helping! Especially with a new baby in the house, Caroline always wants to help out. I let her do things like get diapers for me and put things away. She’s also really good at helping me make the bed in the morning. I think it’s really important that she has some chores that she can do, it makes her feel important and like part of the family. She’s even been able to get her own snack out of the pantry and bring it to me with a bowl. Now we just need to work on making sure that only happens when directed.

Outings – I LOVE being at the stage where we can go places and do things. I am really big on not disturbing naps so it’s awesome when we get down to just one long afternoon nap. We can actually go places in the morning. We took Caroline to a bunch of events that the city put on for the holidays and she just loved it!! She’s pleasant to have out and about (as long as it’s not during naptime) and she gets SO excited! I just love watching her experience new things!

This is Benjamin.

Precious newborn!
Precious newborn!

He’s been a precious part of our family for just a little while now. I have to say that the Newborn stage is not my favorite stage. But here are some things that I do love about this age.

Cuddles – Newborns are so cuddly. I am a cuddly person. I would love to sit on the couch all day and just cuddle my sweet baby. He would also love to spend all day in my arms. He’s just so warm and sweet and smells like the fountain of youth.

Sleep – Newborns sleep A LOT  and can sleep through anything. This is a great age to go and do things as your baby will sleep through outings no matter how loud or busy the venue. If I could go back with my firstborn, I would go out to eat all the time when she was this age. If you’re having your first child, go out often. In just a few short months, outings will be much more difficult and much more expensive.

Not Moving – What a great age. The age before you have to baby proof things. The age where you can turn your back and not worry about what your child is climbing on or getting into.

Newness – Newborns are so new and so pure. Everything is exciting. I love thinking about the first time I can show Benjamin what an airplane is or his first time listening to Christmas music… or any music! The world is their oyster and you get to be the one that shows them everything. What an exciting time!

What are your favorite things about the newborn stage?

What are your favorite things about having a two year old?

 

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Carrie Gould
Hi OKC! I'm Carrie! My husband, Steven, and I met in college but never dated. Many years later, we reconnected and fell in love. After a whirlwind romance and gorgeous wedding I gave up my Texan status and moved to Oklahoma (he was worth it!) He spends his days on the road travelling all over the state of Oklahoma. We are the proud parents of our adorable 2 year old, Caroline and precious baby Benjamin. There is very little sleeping going on at our house. I am a music lover and a wannabe crafter. I am very good at following directions but not so great at creating my own masterpieces. I was a math teacher for 6 years before becoming a stay-at-home mom. Before being a teacher, I worked in the actuarial field, which is what I am doing part-time now. As a family we work hard to live a simple life, create great memories, and love the Lord with all our heart. I am so excited to be sharing my family with all of you and connecting with other local moms!

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