Mom cliches

In the weeks after Benjamin was born I though I was going to sock the next person who got that knowing look on their face and gently informed me, "they grow up so fast." Yet now I find myself, almost daily, amazed by that very fact.

I don't know how Talia got to be 5 months old. She is all personality and fun. The sleepy newborn days are long gone (though I forgot to notice just when they melted away). Just over the past week-and-a-half she has begun to roll (front to back), eat solid food, sit up (supported by her hands, monkey-style), and--my personal favorite--blow raspberries. She is much more intent on the antics of her big brother. She cranes her neck while laying in the middle of the floor in order to watch him show off for her. And she surveys him with great interest as he is performing great and glorious feats such as eating dinner. Occassionally she rewards him for his mighty efforts with a wide, gummy grin.

Benjamin is, as they say, "all toddler." He is a thoughtful and tenacious young man. He likes to take his time and often wants to spend long periods in repetative play. It is not uncommon for me to read him the same book 2 or 3 times in one sitting! In addition to books, he loves music (we listen to 6 or 7 CD's, in their entirety, on the average day), rocks and sticks, helping Mama, bubbles, and identifying things around the house by their name (car, ice, cup, book, etc.) He is such an adoring big brother and, despite recent ventures into the world of the "terrible twos," is really a very obedient, sweet little guy. It often takes me completely by surprise that he can accomplish tasks such as placing every one of 10 different shapes in their respective holes in his Tupperware ball without assistance and repeating memorized phrases from his favorite books ("Eek, eek...shoe!," which translated becomes "He can go 'eek eek' like a squeeky shoe" from the Dr. Seuss classic "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?"). Today, with encouragement from Daddy, the language tutor, we started working on repeating sounds (p, b, k, g, d, t) which is really the beginning of reading. It seems my baby has developed into quite a "big boy" overnight!

If it sounds like I am rediculously proud of my little people that's because I am. Many people would agree that children are a miracle, but that general fact really takes on shape and substance when it comes to your own. And although they do "grow up fast," what no one told me is how much fun the whirlwind can be!