A Bittersweet Project

The remains of babyhood-days are getting to be very few around our house. Gracie is growing up faster than I ever thought possible. While part of me wants to hold on to those baby days, the other part is rejoicing in her independence.

Up until a few weeks ago, we still relied on our exersaucer for those times when we needed to know Gracie was safe, like when I had to take a quick shower or when we were putting things in the attic. I even used it occasionally when I was working in the kitchen and Gracie wanted to be with me. She enjoyed playing in her exersaucer and would even ask to be put in it at times. But, Eric and I both knew she was just getting too old for it. Not to mention, we were a little tired of it taking up so much space in the kitchen or hallway outside the bathroom door.

We stopped putting her in it, and she stopped asking to be put in. We were definitely ready to move it up to the attic. However, we just never got around to it. Maybe it was partially me trying to hold on to what the exersaucer stood for. It has been part of our family for the past 4 years. That makes it a little difficult to just pack up.
Along with Gracie's exersaucer independence, we've also been experimenting with mealtime independence. This definitely was not planned on my part. One morning, Gracie got a plate out of the kids' drawer and I put her pancakes on it and handed it to her. She went over to the couch and joined her brother and sisters. It took me about 5 minutes to realize I was washing dishes without her talking to me from the highchair.

I was actually pretty excited about this. Our kitchen is not big to begin with, and that highchair takes up a lot of room. It has to be rolled out of the way to get into the pantry or refrigerator. So, I decided to experiment with Gracie's obvious desire to be like the big kids.
She has now officially graduated to the big kid table.

Today, Eric and I cleaned up both the highchair and exersaucer and folded them up. Then Eric took them up to the attic.

Gracie was a little torn herself. She was ecstatic over being called a big girl, but still made sure she said good-bye to both things.I'm glad to have all of this new-found space in my kitchen.

This project definitely included more than just the cleaning and dissasembling. I had to tackle my desire to hold on to these fleeting baby days. It's still a little sad for me, but I am so excited to see what the next few months hold for this big girl of mine. (And, she is still sleeping in her crib, so I'll enjoy that for a little longer.)

Find more Gratituesday over at Heavenly Homemakers to read what others are thankful for and to share your own thanks.

Head over to 5 Minutes For Mom for more Tackle-It Tuesday and The Lazy Organizer for more Talk About Tuesday.