Kids Growing Up

2026-03-17

Our kids are slowly getting older. We have a 4 year old and 1.5 year old now, and it is wild how different they are. And perhaps this is a silly blog since everyone knows this, but they change so fast, especially early in their life. I am not sure how they will change as teenager or older kids but I assume their changes will be slightly less rapid.

As kids, again rapidly, they become much harder or easier to take care of in stages. And these are all according to me, and non-scientific.

0 -> sleeping through the night (about 6 months): This is a really tough time. The baby is up every few hours to feed, they sleep a lot during the day but at least for me if I get a bunch of broken sleep it is terrible and I am a zombie. I really dont enjoy this phase and the baby doesn’t even smile or anything to give you possitive feedback.

Sleeping through the night -> Walking (about 12 months): This is a sweet spot for me, before they can walk but after they sleep through the night. I get a full nights sleep and also I dont have to baby proof the house just yet. They aren’t walking too much, you just gotta feed them. Also if you want to travel in an airplane this is a pretty good time, they can’t run away from you in the plane. The only drawback is that the kid is still in diapers, is milk feeding, and he can’t talk.

Walking -> Talking: This is where I am in with my youngest and it is a hard spot. Not as hard as 0 but not super fun. He can walk, he is very very mobile, but he can’t really talk yet. He cries a lot because he knows what he wants but also he can’t communicate what he wants.

Talking -> Reasoning: This is also kind of a tough phase, they can talk and know they can talk, but you can’t explain things to them. Like they want ice cream, and you tell them they can’t have it, and they bawl their eyes out and kick and scream.

Reasoning -> Onwards: This is where I am with my oldest. He can reason about somethings. He still has big feelings and they overwhelm him sometimes but most time he can understand why we are doing something. He can understand why he he doesn’t get ice cream.

Maybe this will help someone.

-Gary