Stages

The day after Sam turned 2 we took away his nighttime bottle. Looking back, I'm not sure why because the minute you gave him that bottle - the minute - he would fall asleep. It was easy to ween Jake off his bottle, but he replaced it with a nightly glass of chocolate milk. And that lasted until he was 4.

But with Abby, we didn't bother to take her nightly bottle away. It was obviously very soothing to her. If she was tired or irritable, she would ask for it by name. But a couple of months back we were down to one bottle and one nipple. And that last nipple cracked wide open in the dishwasher. When I threw it away, we replaced her bottle with a sippy cup. The thing I will miss the most about her nightly bottle is the way she would curve into your lap and twist her arm up so she could palm your face while she drank.

All this to say that with that bottle, all remnants of babyhood are gone from our house. Baby clothes and toys have been donated. No more bottles, baby food, diapers, wipes. I mistakenly turned down the baby aisle at the grocery store the other day while looking for juice boxes, and by the time I reached the end, I realize I didn't need a single from that aisle.

The baby stage is so fleeting. All the baby showers and books and advice and worry and late nights and it is over so quickly. And then you're on to different battles that sometimes make you pine for the days when they were tiny. Days when they still sat in your lap and stroked your face.