I have the same thoughts almost daily watching my two-year-old (birthday in December so almost 3!) behave like such a little man - it DOES make your heart swell with pride but ache at the same time! I've decided to think of him as a package of sweetness so the baby never goes away - the baby will always be inside the little boy, the teen, the man - always nestled inside the person I love so much, whatever his age.

I remember that feeling watching my first 2 get their hair cut for the first time. We are expecting our 3rd (and likely final) child. I have a feeling these milestones will be even harder watching them the final time around - knowing that I won't experience them again.
On the flip side - experiencing these joys and pangs has expanded my understanding of and connection with my Mom. I know she must want to hold me in her lap like I was little again - and having our kids to do that with helps fulfill that desire.

I can so identify with this!! My babies are 8 and 12 now and the milestones keep coming .... shaving legs, first boyfriend, sleepaway camp for a week, deodorant, writing cursive .... even things that shouldn't seem big, DO. I am watching them grow and change day by day and it is hard to let them go. But, as my pastor said a few weeks back ... the only thing sadder than them leaving you little by little is if they didn't. What if they didn't grow? Didn't learn? Didn't become able to care for themselves in the big, bad world? Sadly, I will not always be here, so they do have to jump these hurdles to grow up --- even as their mama fights back the tears.

Oh you are so brave for even attempting the cut YOURSELF!! Go Kristin! I just don't "get" cutting hair...it always looks like they are picking up the same pieces...but it always turns out good :) I guess that's why I'm not a hairdresser! I do agree though...I just hate that first real cut...takes that baby look away and then...right before your very eyes...you have a little guy. You know it's gotta happen...but man is it hard! But what a cute little guy I'm sure he is!!!

I hope you saved those 3 little curls! We took our oldest to college in August. Our first night without her, we found very personal notes to each of us (Me, Husband, Middle and Baby) under each of our pillows. How she did that without anyone seeing her is beyond me. She is the same person she was as a baby - fun and easy! It's a shame they have to grow up but grow up they do!

Oh, I really identify with this story! My little boy will be 2 in Oct and we have never cut his hair. He's blonde and didn't have much hair at all for the first year of his life. Now he has beautiful curls all over. It's not hanging in front of his eyes, so I haven't felt the need to cut it. But from time to time people do mistake him for a girl and my husband, who has very short hair, asks every once in awhile if I think it's time to give him a trim. I'm holding out a bit longer.... he looks like a little angel baby with his curls and I'm not ready for this milestone just yet!

I have one child and every milestone is so poignant. My little guy is 5 now (where has the time gone?) and I am amazed at the development of the personality, the "little boyness" that is just there, and the individualness that pops out more and more frequently. I know "individualness" is not a word, but do you know what I mean? Anyway, I read somewhere many years ago that it takes 7 years for all the cells in the human body to be renewed, so every 7 years you are a new person in a sense. All I can think is that when my guy turns 7, he will physically, definitely, be his own person. The seven year thing may or may not be true for children but the thought of it is just crushingly bittersweet.

oh my God, relax...wait until your teenager is drunk for the first time and out of control...that's when life gets tough, even though all the parenting tips in the world and best efforts along with prayer leads you to the psych unit....Everyone loves their babies, what happens when they hit teenage years...everyone chickens out...
the ride gets worse ladies.....

Tassy, the strange and somewhat idiotic situation I've gotten myself into means that I have an 18 month old and a 13-year-old at the same time. I followed Baby's first haircut with a dinner conversation tonight that began with, "Well, we all decided that we'd tell our parents" and ended with "fistfight" and "pressing charges.". I have not dealt with drunkenness yet but I suspect it is just around the corner. Sigh. Puberty and potty training in the same household: I should be committed.

Milestones are tough. I just took my baby to daycare for the first time this morning. So sad.

'Potty training and puberty in the same household .... ' Better you than me! My daughter (age 8) chose her own outfit for Rosh Hashanah - black skirt and sweater with black-and-white striped accents. She looks so grown-up all of a sudden! Not my sweet little baby in sweet little dresses any more. I think it's the end of an era.

I can't believe you'd attempt cutting Baby's hair. Definitely not something I'd do! I can barely style my own hair. Anyway, I remember the last time I nursed my Baby--I was crying, knowing it'd probably be my last time. Silly, the things that make us Moms cry!

My son is just 19 months old, but I've already experienced the pangs of him growing up. The first was stopping breastfeeding (which I did at 11 months old) - it seemed like he didn't need me as much as he used to. The most recent "milestone" is a silly one - he now puts his dirty clothes in the hamper every morning and night. And every time I watch him stuff his clothes down and make sure every ounce of fabric is in the hamper and not poking out, I smile and tear up at the same time. I don't know what it is about his new responsibility that gets me, but it gets me every time.

Leslie, will you ask your son to come to *my* house and put all the kids' clothes in the hamper? that is just amazing!

I realize this is a very late post, but wanted to address tassy's comments.
We too had a very difficult couple of years with our daughter; wondered where we had gone wrong as parents and what we could do (seemingly nothing) to turn things around. I know we were very lucky, but we did come out the other side of that hell, and now we couldn't be more proud of her. Just want you to know, Kristin, that the ride may not get worse, but if it does, it may smooth out! Know just where you're coming from, as we too had a teen and a terrible two at the same time, as our two are 11 years apart, our second born when I was close to 40. Thankfully every age and stage does have its great moments!

It's almost too much to bear, the way these milestones come so fast. I find myself having these internal emotional fits, a shaggy-haired Jerk, twitching, convulsing and exclaiming, at times jubilant at times despondent.

My girls had their first hair cut, luckily one loved it and the other hated it so I was left to revel in their night and dayness.

The day before our daughter's second birthday party, my husband thought he'd make my life easier and our kitchen bigger by taking her high chair apart and putting it in the basement. After all, he reasoned, she hasn't really used it in 6 months! And we need the space. Putting on my big-girl panties, I sadly agreed and thanked him. Later that night, as I was washing the kitchen floor on my hands and knees, my hot tears mized with the soapy water. It represented the end of babyhood at our house, and it was one of the saddest nights of my life.