The Little Man Writes His Name

A few nights ago, the Little Man was at the kitchen counter, scribbling away with crayons. I knew that he knew the first letter of his name and could recognize it. I knew he was learning to add in his preschool. But when he called me into the kitchen to see that he had written his name, I was skeptical.

In I walked from my office, to see what the Little Man meant when he said, “I wrote my name.” It turned out he meant exactly what he said. He had, indeed, written his name on the paper. I asked him to do it again, and he did! It is a small thing, I know, but I felt inordinately proud of him. People may say that’s the writer in me, but I think it’s the father in me.

Meanwhile, the Little Miss has been potty training for the last several week. She has been out of diaper, for the most part, for two week, and goes to school with “big girl” underwear. The last several days, when I’ve picked the kids up, the Little Miss has had no dirty clothes to bring home. She has made it the entire day at school without an accident. This is a big deal. She had been doing this at home, for the most part, but was struggling with it a little at school. In part, I think this was due to the teachers being a little overwhelmed–they are not used to potty training children in the toddler classroom. It also means that we will soon be a no diaper family, and after four-and-a-half years of regularly buying diapers, we can drop those items from our list.

Both of these milestones are also a reminder of just how quickly the kids are growing up. The Little Man is nearly 4-1/2 years old, and the Little Miss turned 2 in August. The Little Man is writing his name, and I suspect that the Little Miss, with her quick mind, will soon be doing the same. And the Little Miss is nearly done with diapers. The “baby” phase of our life is complete, and the “toddler” phase is rapidly receding into the past.