It wasn’t too long ago that I wrote this post about Claudine. But in a blink of an eye, she’s completely changed in the past month. Claudine was a late walker - she only started walking about 3 weeks ago at 17 months - and she never learned how to crawl (she did that funny butt scoot thing that no longer looked cute when she got bigger and taller). She’s more clingy and shy than Mia was at that age, and because of all these things, she just seemed to stay a little baby for a while longer than Mia, who walked at 11 months. But in the last 3 weeks she started walking, her verbal skills, which have always been good, has exploded, and she stopped nursing. I always thought it would be a nightmare to wean her, but it’s like she decided to grow up all at once when she learned how to finally walk.

I LOVE this age - and she is so much fun now. With only 3 weeks of standing upright behind her, she’s trying to run and chase her older sister in that funny, stiff way that toddlers do. They think they are running, but before they really learn how to run, they hoof it by walking really fast without bending the knees, arms often straight out in front of them. The girls are finally playing together now (and yes, fighting), giggling during after-bath naked chases around the apartment, twirling together in ring-around-the-rosie and having “conversations”. But with growing independence comes defiance and lately when I ask for a kiss, Claudine will turn around, toddle away and throw a “nooooo” over her shoulder as she glances back at me with squinty eyes. It’s bittersweet, really. Such a fun, fun age, but sad knowing that they won’t ever be this age again.