All Grown Up!

The milestones are always bittersweet. Of course we are so excited that our little girls have learned something new, grown, etc. But with each milestone I am struck by the feeling that the little baby girl I've loved is gone. Megan will never again be that silly little toddler who giggles as she pokes her head around the couch. Melanie will never again be our smiley bag of immobile baby goo. We've loved every moment and it is hard to see them pass. I just wish we could freeze time for a while. Here are some of their latest triumphs.

Meg loves to "read" books. Of course, she isn't actually reading, but she has memorized at least two dozen books. She will pick them up and read to us or to Mel. It is indescribable how cute it is to hear her little voice as she says the words (correctly) and turns the pages. She is truly amazing. The other day I woke up with them and was playing for a bit. I had to go make breakfast and I told Meg, "Meg, read some books to Melanie while I make breakfast. Okay?" I realized she isn't a toddler anymore. Once you can say that to them, they aren't toddlers.

Meg has finally started letting us do her hair. She used to always pull out any clips or hair ties. She still incessantly plays with her hair, but she likes the pony tails. She recently has gotten into ponies, mainly because Grandma and Kate and Lily gave her some. Since we are putting pony tails in her hair, she accepts it.

Baby Bell is cruising along the furniture like a champ. She wants to walk so bad! And guess what. She took a step today! Actually, she took a couple. Not in a row; she took one, fell, would get up and take another after some coaxing. Our girl will be walking like it's nothing in no time.

Liz got me a sudoku game for Valentines. Both of us play it now. Liz plays it so much that I wonder whether she got it for me or for her. It's like the Simpsons when for Marge's birthday Homer buys a bowling ball with "Homer" engraved on it. Since we both are playing it, Meg has gotten interested. She stole it from me the other day and played for a while.

Mel turned one last Friday. On Monday, her first tooth broke through. On Wednesday, her second tooth broke through. Zoom in on the image to see. They are both on the bottom. Two teeth in the same week? Yeah, you're right, there have been a lot of sleepless nights for the last month or so. This is the best picture we could get. We've tried a bunch and after a ton of tears we finally got one. Sorry about the food in her mouth, on her chin, face, fingers, etc. It was dinner time.

Growing up is so cute, but I want my babies back.