Today the girls are One. One. Year. Old. First, there is the incredible realization that we - all - have survived the first year of this, umm, adventure. There were certainly many nights when I had a strong suspicion that we would not live to see the rising of the sun, but rise it did. In retrospect, I think the human brain is conveniently hard-wired to forget the staggering lack of sleep, the utter exhaustion of nursing two babies simultaneously and the bottomless pit of dismay at the endless crying marathons. But. SURVIVED! WE DID IT!
And now? And now, we have these two amazing creatures who are celebrating their first year of life here on Planet Earth. If you're at all allergic to saccharine, you might want to skip the next bit.
These little people are truly extraordinary. Both girls swing their butts like hula dancers at the first hint of a song - be it a jingle on tv, a CD of baby songs, or their Dad singing the most-god-awful-off-key-rendition of "Itsy Bitsy Spider" ever known to humankind. The sight of those little diaper-clad bottoms rockin' out to Bob Dylan is enough to warm the cockles of any heart. Actually, the sight of their bottoms is heart-warming in virtually any situation (poo-filled being the obvious exception). Apparently, I have developed some sort of motherly ardour (read "Obsession") with my babies' butts. Seriously? They are the Most Adorable Butts placed on the globe. Bath time is soooo sweet I almost need insulin afterwards. And generally a change of clothes, but I digress.
The girls have also developed a penchant for "giving". They take great pains to bring me gifts every waking hour of the day and night. These gifts include, but are not limited to: wads of used kleenex, pages torn from my Cook's Illustrated Magazine, shoes (mine, theirs, their brother's, anyone foolish enough to leave a shoe lying around), books, toys - of course - bottles, sippy cups, and clean clothes rescued from the laundry basket and liberated to the living room floor. The constant gifting is all the more impressive, as the girls must Locate the Gift, and then Distribute the Gift. Gift distribution is hampered modestly by the fact that
crawling while
carrying shoes/bottles/moist kleenex requires a technique of dragging/hauling that makes me really want to equip then with baby backpacks. Or purses. On the upside, the technique does result in cleaner floors. On the downside, the once "clean" laundry Gifts are, shall we say, "embellished" with festoons of dog/cat hair, miscellaneous food remnants and odd grey streaks that remain unidentifiable. It's enough to make a girl walk upright. But - no rush there, ladies, take your time, Muma can happily wait a little longer. Really.
But the biggest gift? The biggest gift has got to be the expression on their faces - dimpled, largely toothless grins and sparkling eyes, as they hand over the latest treasure with a flourish worthy of Liberace. How can you NOT fall in love?
So, there you have it. Happy Birthday, Ladies. So amazingly glad you are here.
(We're planning a celebration on Saturday, hope to have pics for you all, shortly thereafter!)
The birthday girls' cupcakes. The "angels" cupcakes are chocolate with cream cheese and chocolate chip filling, and the "roses" are lemon cupcakes with lemon curd filling. Unfortunately, the photos of them cramming pink frosting into their mouths and smearing it into their hair were somewhat unsightly, so I'll spare you the horror.