I mean it. It has to stop. All of a sudden, I've got these two little girls who are on the brink of being, well, little girls, instead of babies. They are 21 months today. Three months away from being two, for God's sake. And as much fun as it is to see them learning and growing so beautifully, a part of me is suddenly aching for them to stay this way just a little bit longer.
I didn't feel this way during the first year and a half of the girls' lives. I enjoyed them as infants, and tried to savor every phase of their development, but I was also eager for them to become more communicative, more expressive, more independent. I wasn't someone who fell madly, instantly in love with her babies. In fact, during the first couple of months I feared something was wrong with me. The girls felt like strangers to me. Cute strangers, but strangers nonetheless. They couldn't even make eye contact. (What kind of way is that to build a relationship?)
The "falling in love" has happened gradually over time, and has accelerated sharply over the past year, as they've become so much more person-like. And in the past month or so, it feels like they've made huge leaps: they're more more curious and observant and engaged with the world. They can stay focused on a toy or a task for more than a couple of minutes at a time. They cuddle intentionally.
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