How things change

I have been reflecting a little on how quickly my boys have grown and changed.  So here are some pictures to show you just some of the changes.

Here is Asher in bed a few weeks old:

Here is Asher, when I came in to get him after his nap this morning:

Here is Benjamin at 3 weeks old just before getting swaddled for sleep.  He is wearing a newborn-size onesie and it's baggy on him:

Here is Benjamin today in his size 6-9 month clothes:

They are so interactive now.  We're just beginning to see the start of separation and stranger anxiety.  On the one hand, this makes me feel like I am an important part of the boys' lives.  On the other hand, it makes it a little more difficult to hand the babies off to helping hands from other people.  They are now doing things like reaching up for me with their arms when they want to be picked up.  Asher is crawling, and today when it was time for him to eat, I lay down and he crawled right up to me and threw himself at my chest with his mouth open.  I said to Eric, "this was the baby who crossed his eyes and wouldn't latch for the first 5 days?!?"  I am almost always the object of their attentions, and if I sit down on the floor with them (which I do several times a day), they both come toward me and climb all over me.

I do miss how snuggly they were before they were capable of voluntary movements, but Benjamin is 100 times happier now than he was as a little infant.  In the earliest months, Benjamin needed to be held all the time, which made it very hard for me to do things like eat, use the toilet, and shower.  So 2 of those 3 things took place with him strapped to me in a Moby wrap.  Now he is happy to be independent in the exersaucer, jumperoo, walker, or practicing his crawling on the floor.  Asher was our "easy" baby, and while he is still easy-going, he has started crying a little more.  Still not as much as I imagine most babies do.

For the most part, both boys only cry if there is something that they need and aren't getting, and I have never had one of those moments of mommy frustration where they won't stop crying no matter what you do and you think you are going to have to leave them alone in the crib to cry while you go for a long walk to cool off.  They are very quickly soothed, and quick to smile.  Benjamin has become a bit of a ham for the camera-- every time it's turned on him, he grins!  Now, he grins a lot anyway, but it is really cute.  Benjamin also loves interacting with other babies, and will smile and laugh at them.  He also likes to smile and laugh at Asher.  The fact that they are generally happy, and easy to soothe and smile makes me think that I must be doing something right here!

This weekend Eric has a home improvement project planned.  He and our neighbor will rip out the closet in our room, and then he will patch the walls and ceiling, and then we'll paint the room a new color.  Big changes!  I am excited about it.  I will try to take some before-and-after photos of his handiwork.