Hurtling towards the future

    At least once a day, I look at Stevo and say sadly, “He’s too big.”  Stevo will sigh resignedly and say “I know. What are we going to do about it?” Of course we are asking these questions more to reflect on our own sadness that his childhood is passing, knowing that watching Wessy grow happily is infinitely preferable to any actual alternative.  It feels selfish to even resent him growing, but the fact remains that all those bastards who said that “it goes too fast” were right.

    One of the most wonderful and most terrible things about Wessy turning three is that his transformation from baby to child is rapidly concluding.  His activities as well as general developmental terminology label him firmly as a “preschooler” as opposed to a “toddler.”  He doesn’t, in fact, toddle anymore.  He runs, albeit with a straight-legged quick step that I hope never changes (but it will).

    A lot of child development teaching focuses on how children Wessy’s age have “big feelings” and he is no exception.  When we went berry picking on father’s day, he accidentally dropped a basket of blackberries.  He swiftly burst into inconsolable tears.  “I DON’T WANT THE BLACKBERRIES TO FALL.” He wasn’t upset because he was hurt, or even because we couldn’t immediately pick the blackberries back up, but only because he so strongly did not want them to fall.  In his miniature world, things I would dismiss without thinking about are full of meaning and gravity. 

     This morning, he stumbled getting out of bed and fell on his leg.  He cried quite forcefully for a short time, then announced “I DON’T WANT TO FALL.” He insisted on a re-do, climbing back into his bed and then successfully easing himself out of the bed onto the floor.  That done, he was able to move on with his day. 

    I find that Wessy is the most babylike when he sleeps.  Now that he’s potty-trained during the day, it’s the last time that he still wears a diaper.  He’s a fan of sleeping without pants on (though that has been curtailed lately due to some diaper-removal incidents).  Seeing him in a diaper with his little thighs out, blankets thrown off, his face soft, lips pursed, he still looks like his newborn self.  During the day, his sentience and speed make him seem so much bigger and older. 

   Lamentably, Wessy has not had as many struggles with enunciation as some toddlers (ahem, preschoolers).  His malaprops are somewhat limited but include “HELICOCKERO” (as opposed to helicoptero) and “CORAZONES” (rather than croissants).  Otherwise, his speech is shockingly intelligible.  He does sometimes get over-excited and his brain will outpace his mouth and he will repeat the same few words a few times until his brain catches up and he can finish the thought.  

     So far, we have about two weeks at his new preschool under our belts.  From our end, it's amazing--Jeje drops him off in the morning, he eats breakfast there, stays all day and gets lunch, a nap and a snack there too before she picks him up in the evening.  He has dance class and they often do cooking projects.  Unbeknownst to us, the teachers there even got him a little Transformers-themed playdough set for his birthday.  This morning he insisted on carrying the picture of the transformers that came in the box with him on the bus.  

  From Wessy's perspective, the transition to school has been a little less fantastic.  Overall, he seems very happy and very much himself, so we are not too worried, but he does say in the morning that he doesn't want to go to school.  If you ask him why, he will helpfully volunteer, "because I already went," or "because I want to stay home."  Jeje says that sometimes he will cry at drop-off, too, though his teachers tell us that this is short-lived and he does well once he is distracted.  

   I'm guessing some of the transition pains are due to the language change (Spanish to Mandarin) and also to the fact that now he goes to school five days a week instead of three.  Oh, and because we moved, my schedule changed and we told him he's getting a new sibling.  So really I can't blame him if he's feeling a little overcome with all the changes lately.  Every day is getting a little easier, though.