Happy...Sad

There are those times

as a mother

when you are so proud

of your child's newest achievement.

Rolling over, crawling,

walking, using a fork,

new words, learning to "pump" on the swings 

all by his/her self,

writing their letters and numbers,

learning to read,

finally understanding Algebra,

learning to drive,

etc. etc.

Some you are SO happy about,

like baby's first smile.

I don't think I've ever felt a tinge of sadness

when my baby first smiled at me--

it was just happiness.

Same with using a fork, writing their letters and numbers,

reading, and Algebra.

But there are those times

when your child moves on in their development

that are tinged with sadness for this mama's heart.

Of course I'm happy when my child

learns something new, 

but I also think of what I'm "losing" in the process.

When Baby learns to crawl,

I'm so excited because they learned something new!!

But I'm sad because now Baby's on the move--

and no longer stays where I put him or her.

One area that stands out for me personally

is when they learn new words--

or the correct way to say their words.

My littles have usually called my dad "Bam-pa" or "Bah-pa"

until they are old enough to form the word "Grandpa".

I love hearing them say it--

and then one day...

it switches to "Grandpa".

I'm happy--and I'm sad.

I have loved how Elijah has said helicopter--

I asked him to say it for me last week,

expecting him to say "helli-toppler."

But he said "helicopter" plain as day.

I was sad.

I really liked hellitoppler.

This morning, though, I smiled

when he told me about the 

"lem-lade" he drank yesterday.

*sigh*

He's still one of my littles.