Where is My Baby's 'Pause' Button???

Avery will be two in about 4 weeks.   We are planning a pirate party because that is his favorite thing to repeat:  "Avery, what does a pirate say?"  "ARRR!"  I have mixed feelings about my youngest turning two, though.  As long as we waited for him and as much as we struggled for him, sometimes it just doesn't seem fair that he is subject to the same time continuum and age processing as the rest of us.  Some days I just want to enjoy him the way he is right now just a little bit longer.  I wish I could pause him right now.  If only there were a button on his back, right there in the middle, where I can reach it, but he can't.  I'm just not ready for the leaps he is making.

I took the boys for haircuts today.  Avery has always sat in my lap to have his hair cut.  Today, he watched Noah climb out of the chair when he was finished; Avery crawled down from my lap in the chair we were waiting in and proudly climbed into the chair Noah had just vacated.  I wanted to tell him to get down, I wanted to cry, I wanted to tell him Mommy isn't ready for him to be such a big boy yet!  But he's ready to be a big boy, whether Mommy likes it or not.

I had really hoped Avery would give me a chance to slow down a bit.  I know every parent thinks their child is the smartest one in the world, but when you start receiving outside confirmation in the form of his playgroup teacher telling you it's time to move up to the two year old group when he's only 18 mos old, it's a little difficult to ignore.  Noah has always given me a run for my money ("Well Mom, you probably don't know the answer, so we should Google it.") and I was really hoping Avery wouldn't.  No such luck.  Avery's daycare also wanted to move him up the 2's class early, telling me he was definitely ready for it.  But what if I'm not????


Avery put his shoes on by himself today (even got them on the correct feet!) and helped bathe the dog the other day.  He knows his alphabet and counts to 20.  I love having smart, successful children and I want nothing more than the best for both of them!  It's not that I want my baby to stop growing, I just want him to slow down a little bit.  I want the snuggles and cuddles to count for a little bit longer, I want to enjoy the baby scent instead of the stinky boy smell, I want to remember these moments while I still have them and sometimes it just feels as though they are going in fast forward.  


Thank goodness he still insists on his after-nap snuggles and his after-bath rub downs (even though Daddy found out the hard way that insisting only Mommy does the rub downs gets him, well, giving Avery a rub down anyway!).  For now, I will cling to those moments!

Oh gosh, and Noah just said, "Just wait until he has his first crush!"  Where did I put those tissues?!