These days...

Everly is trying so hard to talk, and I find myself wishing she could.  But once she does, we enter into a whole new phase of life, never to return to babyhood again.  Say 'Cortlan'! She says, "Coaa-ahhh!" Say 'shoes'! She says "shhhhsss".  And quite often, from the backseat of the car or from the high chair, we hear a very clear, "uhhhhh-ohhhhh," as she accidentally (or more often, on purpose) drops something.  (Her lips pucker into the cutest little "o" shape.)  She laughs at her brother and teases him in the car as she tries to hand him something and then pulls it away at the last second.  She tries to get me to chase her after she is undressed and ready for a bath, laughing the whole time.  She loves to be tickled.  She loves to catch a ball.  She is amazingly surefooted and loves to dance.

Cortlan has become a little boy.  He has lost all aspects of being a baby or toddler.  And sometimes that surprises me.  I remember writing the post about him moving to preschool in February.  In the way that he has changed since, that seems like two lifetimes ago.  He has developed his language and enunciation skills.  He has become more confident in some ways, giving a loud, "hi" to a neighbor from afar, but not in others, as he still clings to my leg in new situations.  He smiles and giggles, makes spaceships out of swiffers, and wants to be a fireman-doctor when he grows up.  He says, "Awwww.  Mannnnnn." when I say something that disappoints him.  He asks me, "Can we just have a stay at home day today?"  He says, "You know what?  We haven't played play-doh in a long time!?"  He tells me he loves me a lot.

How can we want so badly for our kids to grow up, while simultaneously want so badly for them to be little forever?