Happy Second First Birthday

When the babies were in the NICU, I learned the whole real age vs. adjusted age thing. One nurse told me that until about two years old, they will have two birthdays: their actual birthday, and their due date birthday. A couple months is quite a chunk of time when they are rapidly progressing infants, whereas when they’re older, that time hardly makes a difference.  It’s never bothered me much, and they are in a normal range, even with their early arrival, but it’s still always in the back of my mind that they aren’t doing what typical 14 1/2 month olds do. So that‘s why I like to celebrate their due date, since it justifies any delays they might have. And that date is TODAY! As I’m sure a lot of mothers can relate, this date was tattooed in my mind the entire pregnancy.  I knew they would be early, but I still knew that it would be a very important date. So even though they are already a year old, I want to highlight some of their collective and individual achievements/quirks for the record. I would’ve done this on their real birthday, but I was a bit busy, and now I have something to write about to celebrate this important day. Here are some of my current favorite things about each munchkin.

Alex

*He is definitely the comedian of the group, always doing something to intentionally make us laugh. He’s always been such a fat, happy baby.

*He can crawl like a madman, but I still find him army scooting on occasion, I guess he learned to love it while it was taking him a while to learn how to crawl.

*He talks quite a bit. I could list list his many words, but you get the idea.

*I love when we bring him into the bathroom for bath time. He kicks and squeals with such delight that I nearly drop him. And that’s before he’s even in the water.

*For such a big boy, he has quite a high squeal. Higher than his sister’s!

*During an occasional bad night, I’ll rock him, or lay with him on the couch. A couple times he’s fallen asleep, and I just lay there with him listening to him breath until the other wake up for the day. I never thought I’d do that, with how strict I am with sleep training, but I am so glad I broke the rules a few time to have those quiet moments with my boy.

Bennett

*He is my sensitive boy. He cries like it’s the end of the world when toys are stolen from him. But he cheers up quickly if you find the right thing to distract him

*I often hear him laughing during naptime. Even if he’s the only one awake, he still laughs to himself.

*He likes to snuggle. If I’m sitting on the floor, he’ll come sit in my lap. He also loves his little square blanket he sleeps with. I tried to avoid bringing it out of his crib, but he just loves carrying it (usually by his teeth) around the house. How could I say no?

*He’s a loud crawler, in that he loves smacking his hands on the ground as he moves about. And when he stops and sits up, he loves tapping his feet loudly on the floor. We love when he spins around in circles on his little bum over and over. All he needs is symbols and he looks like one of those show monkeys.

*He learned to give me “kisses” a while ago, and I can’t get enough of those  precious lips. It’s more of a lean, than an actual kiss, but I’ll take it!

Ruby

*Oh man, this girl is a little crazy child. She is everywhere. She needs constant entertainment, and in turn, constantly entertains us. That scoot of hers will never get old.

*She always wants my netbook, cell phone, or remote if she sees me using them. For some reason, she is usually the only one who is interested.

*She loves to read books. Well at least she thinks she is reading them as she speaks mostly gibberish while she looks at each page (video to come.) I love when she points out the “Da” (dog).

*She doesn’t let the boys push her around. She gets what she wants. But she is also pretty easy going. If they want a toy she is playing with, she simply moves along and finds finds something else.

*She WALKS! (More on this later.)

*When she lays her head on my shoulder as I walk her to the nursery, I always have a hard time laying her down. She just molds to me. The best feeling in the entire world.

 

As a whole, they are a very happy, very funny, very enthusiastic bunch. They are constantly making everyone around them chuckle. They play well together, but often get in tiffs over a certain objects (which are usually dumb things like a laundry basket, or a bulb syringe). They laugh at each other multiple times a day, and it often goes for minutes at a time until someone gets distracted a crawls to play with something else. They love their bottle straws, and still think sippy cups are more of a toy thank a drinking device. I am starting to see their necks as their baby bodies become more like toddlers. Even if they do get cuter by the day, watching them grow makes my heart ache a little. They love many different foods, and I love trying new things out on them. I’m not ashamed to say that they love the tv. Our Chicka Chicka Boom Boom dvd (a birthday present from cousins Juju and Gabe) is their latest favorite. No matter their mood, I just pop that in, and they are happy kids, dancing to the music. But don’t worry, the love books too. Unfortunately, they also love to destroy them, but they are always up for reading a story on our laps. They make a complete mess of the house in 10 seconds flat, and find new danger hazards ever day. They really keep me on my toes. Just the other day, the boys figured out that if Ruby held the swinging door to the kitchen (a place I haven’t baby-proofed yet) open long enough, they could squeeze in before it had a chance to close again. They are in cahoots!  Why is it that kids always want what they aren’t supposed to have? They love shopping with me, as long as I’m prepared witch snacks and toys. Some of my favorite moments alone with them are on our outings together.

I could got on forever, but I’ll just say that I absolutely love this stage. It’s hard and exhausting, I’ll admit, but watching them discover new things everyday is amazing and thrilling to me. There are so many little minds turning in this house, it’s hard to keep up with all their new skills. I can’t stop kissing their soft, chubby cheeks. Not one day goes by that I am not so thankful to have them here with me. As scary as it was to have tiny preemies, I almost  feel like I cheated the system, because I got to have little babies a little longer because of it. So this is to celebrate my two and a half months of bonus time I was able to spend with them. Happy due date, my loves!