The first few days of Gabe’s life were some of the slowest, sweetest days of my life.
I remember thinking, “Oh! It’s past 2:16 am! He’s three days old!”
Every morning, I declared, “X days old is my favorite age.” I was smitten. And already mourning a time when I wouldn’t measure Gabe’s life in days, but in weeks or months. I couldn’t fathom it, but I knew it would come.
After a few weeks, I realized I was thinking of Gabe’s age in terms of weeks, not months. When Mike’s parents visited us right after Gabe was born, his mom wrote “Gabe is 1 week!” on our white board calendar. The next week, we erased the ‘1’ and wrote ‘2.’ And thus, a dorky weekly tradition was born. That we kept up for nearly a year until some well-meaning person accidentally erased the entire calendar one day. I am a little embarrassed at how crushed I was.
I realize this sounds incredibly bizarre and a little crazy if you haven’t had kids yet. And maybe it is. Maybe I was just incredibly nostalgic before there was even anything to be nostalgic about.
Monday night at a party, a guy asked Mike and I how old Gabe was. We responded in unison, “15 months.”
He gave us a baffled look. Then paused and said, “Oh, I thought you said fifteen and I was so confused. So he’s…one year and three months?” The funny thing is, I remember having the same reaction when Gabe was three months old and a customer at Starbucks told me her son was 15 months old. It was confusing. Why didn’t she just say one? I thought.
Apparently another measuring-Gabe’s-age milestone is upon us. I suppose it’s time to stop counting his life in months and move to years. (At least for the times we’re not talking to fellow parents of toddlers.)
It’s not that I’m sad, it’s just that…he’s really getting older. And growing up. That’s sort of crazy.
Mom. Get real. I’m still a baby.
I think you can use months up until age two… after all, that’s how children’s clothing does it! I think there’s a big difference between 12 months and 15 months, or 18, or 24.
Right, clothes do it, but I don’t think the average person usually gets it! :)
I’ve heard it’s not really common to switch to years until around 2 years. That’s because, supposedly (I have no experience here), there is still such a huge difference in progress and development between 12 months, 15 months, 18 months, 24 months, etc. If you just said “He’s a year old” that wouldn’t mean much. And honestly it’s easier to say 15 months than “1 year and 3 months” and having the other person do math in their head!
Maybe it’s a guy thing. Saying 15 months makes perfect sense to me. Saying 55 months… Well, then we might need to talk.
I think for parents, it’s common, but for the rest of the world it seems a little odd!
(I’m just going to say, “he’s one…” “he’s one-and-a-half…” “he’s almost two” and so on. :))
I get sad! I got really sad when I realized that this is the very last month I’ll ever be able to say her age in just months–the year will her main identifier next month, and I’m not ready!
It’s so very exciting watching her change and explode in growth, but my arms still ache for that newborn sometimes.
I think I was sad around when Gabe was Hannah’s age, but the fun so, so SOOOO outweighs the sad at this point that I’ll take him getting older! :) It really feels more like a little family than ever. :)
YES! Everything you wrote. YES! Though, society sort of trains us parents to speak in months from 0-24 months. Doctor appointments are 3, 6, 12, 15, 18 month appointments. Clothing and shoe sizes are based in months. Our daycare talks about kids starting the toddler room from 15-20 months. It’s so not our fault that we speak in this silly parent code!!!
We are so on the same page! This is like weeks and pregnancy. People would like, “Wait…so how many MONTHS are you?” Ha.
You can still do it all over again with baby #2 someday? And he is always going to be your baby! :)
Yep. He’s sooo much fun, that I don’t mind counting in years. ;)
Ah, he is SO cute! It’s so true though, I always wondered why parents used months instead of years. I once got a ‘she’s 25 months’ or something like that and I was like wait… Wha? Haha. He’s such an adorable little man though, it’s just nuts!
Exactly! :)
I have no kids but I think it is perfectly acceptable to say 15 months and use months until they turn 2. What I object to (and our local paper does this) is for the “bonny baby” competition, people put pics of their children in and say 36 months. Now correct me if I am wrong but that means they are 3 and no longer eligible for a “bonny BABY” comp!! Rant over! Have a great Christmas xx
I remember the first time I heard someone say their kid was 36 months and I was like, um, time to start calling him three. I don’t have kids, but think 15 months is totally a thing!
I remember thinking the same about pregnant ladies measuring their time in weeks. I was like, “hello, just tell me in months”. But when I was pregnant I had to stop and do the math if people asked me in months.
But agreed, 15 months is totally a thing :)
PS: Gabe keeps getting cuter!
Oh I’m so sad about Meredith getting older! I mean, I LOVE every stage that she’s at, but I have that overactive nostalgia thing. I really hope that, like you, the new fun things that come with her growing up will keep me from wallowing over her lost baby-ness! I guess this is why people have more kids. :)
Evie turns one month today, and I simply can’t believe it!! I go back and forth between looking forward to the next milestone, and being sad that she is “growing up” so fast. It’s just crazy. And I am totally telling her age in weeks at this point. I did it at a party last night and people definitely looked at me sideways. :) Thanks for sharing!