Little Things

I realized that it had been a very long time since Jack had come into our room in the middle of the night to spend the rest of the night snuggled up against me in our bed.

And Hannah no longer calls her lovey, "puppy."  Now she can make the /l/ sound, and "lovey" comes out clearly.

Skinny Bear doesn't go wherever Jack goes.  He often stays home on the couch.

Hannah's shape is no longer that of a dollar sign.  Her baby belly is disappearing - fast.

On most days, Jack does not nap with me anymore.  He prefers to stay up and play.

These things seem to happen slowly - I almost don't notice.

And then one day they hit me 

- like tiny pin pricks on my heart - 

I catch the /l/ sound when Hannah reaches for her lovey.

I notice that Jack doesn't run to grab Skinny Bear as we're leaving the house.

It makes me sad - my babies are growing up.  Quickly.

Their current ages seem so great, and I just want to stop time.

And then, as if he knew I needed it, Jack sauntered into our room at 4:16 one morning because his room "was too dark," and he wanted to snuggle.

And I hauled him up and squeezed him tight and smiled as we went back to sleep.