I Love Being A Mother!

Growing up, one thing I always knew that I wanted to be was a mother. I'd change from other things from wanting to be a muscle woman to a teacher, but my desire to be a mother was constant. Being a mom is better and harder than I imagined. It's really difficult to keep a straight face. I think that's been one of the biggest surprises, how often I want to laugh when I should be firm and disciplined. Gabby gets onto me about laughing at some of the things she does. I thought I'd share a few memorable experiences as a mother that I hadn't yet to blog.

Gabby laughed for the first time December 16, 2004. I was working full time and Pam was watching Gabby. I dropped Gabby off at 7am and would pick up no later than 6pm. On this day, I was taking a CPR class and didn't pick her up until after 9. I walked into get Gabby. I was telling her that her cousin Thomas had been born and she just started laughing. I don't know if she was laughing because she was so happy to see me or if she knew something about Thomas we didn't. It was the best sound ever!

Potty training Gabby took about a year. I started at 2 and finished at 3. We were traveling a great deal and moved during that year and there was always something to get in the way of being consistent. I finally got serious about it when Gabby was 3. I talked with Gabby aboutpeepee and poopoo going in the potty. She seemed receptive. Things seemed to be going well. For 2 days in a row, Gabby was pooping in the toilet all on her own. She liked her privacy and always shut the door. She'd call me to the bathroom and only show me the end result, that ofpoopoo being in the potty. She'd always strip down out of her clothes and had made a mess, but progress was being made. I'd clap, sing a song, hug and congratulate her. I couldn't believe how well it was going.

Then I walked into the bathroom during the act. Gabby had her pull-up in hand and was shaking the poop out of the pull-up into the toilet. I asked, "Gabby, what are you doing?" Gabby answered, "Poopoo goes in the toilet." It suddenly all made sense. Potty-training was not going as well as I'd thought. Gabby understood the spirit of it, but still needed help with the doing. I didn't know whether to be discouraged or proud of her creativity. I chose the latter.

When Gabby was 2 1/2. Nick and I were saying prayers with her before bed. Gabby had (still does) a tendency to get silly during her prayers. She'll try to say them in goofy voices. She wasn't cooperative and we'd asked her several times to say her prayer the right way. Finally, Nick gave her a swat on the bottom, telling her to act right and say her prayer reverently. Gabby's bottom lip began to quiver. I could see the little wheels in her head turning and was curious to know what she was thinking. She stood up on her bed, pointed her finger at Nick and said with great dignity and certainty, "No, Daddy! You don't hit! Hitting is not nice. You don't hit! You need to tell me you're sorry." She stared him the eye completely sure that she was right and an apology would be forthcoming.

I grabbed a pillow and buried my face into it and burst with laughter. Nick was struggling to maintain a straight face as well as he tried to explain the difference between spanking and hitting to a 2 year old repeating the mantra that you don't hit because it's not nice.

For Christmas 2005, I had made several different treats for my friends and neighbors and used M&M's for one of them. M&M's are Gabby's favorite. I had left the bag on the counter thinking they would be safe. We had a small breakfast table with chairs in the kitchen. I walked into the kitchen to see my 15 month old had pushed a chair to the counter for the first time and was shoving M&M's into her mouth. She turned around and looked at me and registered that her gorging on candy would soon be at an end. She turned back to the counter and with renewed frenzy, utilized both hands to cram as many M&M's into her mouth as possible. I could only laugh at her ingenuity and determination!

Being a mom is unlike any other experience. There is so much that I love about it. I love being Gabby's mother. She is such a special, unique person and I feel so fortunate to get to experience her from the very beginning.

One of my favorite pictures of Gabby. Spring 2005.