We had our twins Danny & Abigail almost exactly 2 1/2 years ago. I like to think we are pretty good at celebrating milestones (Solid food! No more BFing! Walking! Preschool!) at appropriate times and enjoying the day to day moments with our kids. However, every once in a while something reminds me of how far we’ve come–all four of us—since those baby days.
We spent the afternoon at a first birthday party for two twin boys (Happy birthday O & C!). We played outside a while–a must with the heard of toddlers who were celebrating the babies’ birthday, had some cake, some snacks, some playing and then headed home to a quick bath/bed. And then an almost immediate poop-fest once they were in their cribs, supposedly sleeping, but that’s another story. It made me remember back to their first birthday party, which seems both like yesterday and like so long ago. They weren’t walking or talking yet and while they enjoyed the festivities, they were overwhelmed and overstimulated by all the fun—and ours was as low-key as any party. Some cake, some friends (mostly adult), some family…not much else. I spent an hour that night rocking an overstimulated little boy in a dark nursery, just so he could calm down enough to be able to fall asleep. They were still BFing—we had just introduced milk and drinking out of sippies was still so-so. They were babies….
But today. The kids played. Got pulled around in a wagon by the birthday boys’ Daddy (yeah, yeah, not sure how he ended up entertaining my two as well), eating cake with a fork at the kids’ table, eating more snacks as needed, singing happy birthday and playing nicely (for the most part) with the other toddlers. They sang happy birthday LOUDLY all the way home and ran around the house like maniacs. They had had a great time—and a lot of sugar. But, they had a nice bath, a nice story (Bread and Jam for Frances—AGAIN) and now, at 7:30pm, are silent upstairs in the nursery. It is a whole different world from that first birthday 18 months ago. And I often forget that, until something like a first birthday reminds me.
What reminds you that your kiddos aren’t babies anymore? Are you sad about it? Happy? Relieved?