The babies are getting big!

I can't bring myself to say 'growing up'. That sounds like something you say about your teenager who has just left for the prom. Both of my kids are barreling towards their birthday's at an alarming rate. My diva child will be 3 and my little man puppy will be 1.

Karen's post on the subject sums up my feelings well. My man puppy has been walking for a few weeks now. He has 6 bruises on his head and face to prove it. He is doing really well for a walking baby! He even managed to climb up onto our couch and jump around. The look of glee was priceless.

He is also entertaining us with his bits of talking and humor. He has been signing 'all done' for about a week now. Today after I tortured him with some saline spray up his stuffy nose he was frantically flapping 'all done' and said something that sounded an awful lot like all done. Yesterday I was using a puppet to play with him. I stood up with him on my hip and he pointed at the ceiling hooks (where we hang the puppet theatre from). He was laughing and bouncing as he pointed...he wanted me to do the real deal and put on a puppet show!

This morning he asked for 'wa-wa'...water in a sippy cup. Watching language acquisition is the most thrilling thing for me. I love the tiny window into his baby brain...to know, with certainty, what he would like from me.

Another post that got me all mushy about my kids was from doodaddy. It made me remember my daughter's baby hood and 'oneness'. The year diva child was one was very special for me. We had just moved to our first purchased home. In fact, we closed on diva child's birthday. It was a great summer of diva child toddling around, talking, but still being very much a baby. We could do so many more things now that she was bigger and we understood her better. I was soon pregnant with man puppy. I really savored the time that I had at home with just me and diva child. I had no idea what I was in for with a second child, but I knew the time I had with my daughter was special.

To see the little girl my diva child is growing into ....it is staggering to me. The only remnant of her babyhood are the diapers. Her face is delicate but determined. The pudgy cheeks have melted into cheekbones and big eyes. Her legs and arms are so long! She is so little and big at the same time. Her three word sentences are much, much longer and articulate. The baby who never left my lap, breasts, or sling, now is orchestrating tea parties, disciplining her dolly's (with a striking resemblance to how I have redirected her earlier in the day), and playing with her little brother with much laughter and squealing.

The two of them adore each other. They have a connection that is entirely outside of their relationship with me and big daddy. Seeing that develop from my pregnancy to today is poignant.