In the Blink of an Eye
Why are babies only babies for such a short time? When my older son was born I was always looking forward to his next milestone. I couldn’t wait for him to sit up, start foods or start moving around. I feel like I was always pushing for a new milestone to be hit. After his 1st birthday when he was walking and talking, I realized I no longer had a “baby”. He’s always been pretty independent and wants to try everything by himself first. Which in theory is awesome but I didn’t have a baby for that long. I was lucky to have him potty trained, during the day, one month after his 2nd birthday. Up until a month ago he was ready for underwear at night time too. That step was the very last one that made him a “baby” still and now that’s gone too. We all love that he’s a big boy but it went by in the blink of an eye.
After his 2nd birthday we found out we were expecting baby #2. I couldn’t wait to have a tiny, stationary, baby again. Throughout my second pregnancy I found myself trying to savor those moments because I realized how fast time goes.
My younger son just turned 5 months and it still feels like I found out I was pregnant with him yesterday. Unfortunately, it seems like he is growing up quicker than his big brother did. He wants to be on the move constantly. All I want is a squishy baby to hold still. He started sitting up on his own and I already feel like I’m running out of time with my infant. I am trying to hold off on foods as long as possible and my husband thinks we should have him on the floor more so he can figure out how to crawl… It’s such a small fraction of time that we get to hold them on our laps. So why not push the big things off for a little while? Even on the days when my toddler is giving me hell I have to remind myself that he won’t fit in my arms much longer, I won’t be able to carry him soon.
Everyone always says “make every moment count”. I am the number one person to believe that not every moment is magical. Especially the ones where you walk into the bathroom and your child has the cat in the sink “giving him a bath” or when you are in the store and the melt downs happen. Those are the moments you wonder how a tiny human took over your life. Aside from all of those moments throughout the day I try to take a minute or two to just hold each of my “babies” and remember that tomorrow they’re going to be a little bigger and need me a little less. (Even the days when I am counting the seconds until bedtime.)
I know that my husband and I want another child so I still have more squishy days to look forward to, but every time I have to go through the closet and pack up the smaller clothes it brings tears to my eyes. Each of my children have an amazing life in front of them and I’m excited to watch them grow and see the men they turn into. But I’ll always miss the tiny babies they used to be.
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