Somebody kidnapped my babies!!

And in their place left me with these two toddlers:


Seriously?!?!? Where did my baby boys go to? I don't recall them growing up before my very eyes, but I guess the camera doesn't lie, does it? There is no denying that they aren't babies anymore and not just based on this picture, but on lots of things that have snuck up on me:

1. Josh is officially crawling....wounded soldier crawling, but crawling nonetheless. And man can that kid move only using one good arm and dragging his legs behind him. And what does he craw to the fastest??? The wires of course!
2. Brody is standing better and better when hanging on to something. While he has no interest in crawling, his favorite activity is spinning around on his butt.
3. Table food, here they come! They will eat any and everything you give them - no joke! I was eating olives the other day and Brody whined and whined until I gave him a piece, thinking he would spit it out immediately, but nope, he just whined for more!
4. They both have so many teeth! They are actually trying to chew things, including my feet.
5. Josh is clapping, and not only clapping, but with the accuracy of a Simon champion of the '80. We clap once, he claps once. We clap five times, he claps five times. No getting anything past this smarty-pants.
6. Brody is drinking not only from a sippy cup, but a straw sippy cup. And, they don't mind the taste of cows milk which has been slowly incorporated in their diet. But of course not, it's food, isn't it?
7. They have outgrown all their "age equivalent" clothing and have moved on to 18 & 24 month sizes...preemies, what preemies??

But alas, no mama...not even close, of course if you count "maba" close. Which I don't. Heck, if Matt didn't even count "a da" as close how on earth can I count maba? The quest still continues...maybe, someday, I'll get my wish. To be called the name that I am sure will drive me nuts for the rest of my life. But for now, lay it on me kids....mama me up, mama it to me, it's all about the mamas (wha!wha!) baby!

As for me, I'm getting quite weepy at the prospect that I no longer have two little preemies to care for, but two growing, independent on my hands. Really, where did the time go?? And to think, about a year ago I was on bedrest in the hospital on the precipice of some fantastic voyage that I hadn't the faintest idea what was in store for me. All the sleepless nights, all the hospital visits, all the hospital stays, all the spitty clothes, all the blow out diapers, all the thoughts of how on earth was I going to take care of not one, but two infants! I won't lie, I've thought about running away a few times (ha! The way I run, where was I going to go, to the end of the neighborhood before I was done!), but it was all worth it. All the smiles, hugs, giggles, raspberries, and all the new things they are learning by the second. It was worth EVERY minute I spent on bedrest, in the NICU, and nebulizing two very angry boys. They are a joy to behold and cannot wait to see what the future lies in store for us...

Maybe, just maybe, a "mama" :) Pretty, puh-lease!!

Just a running talley...

...of the boys' vocabulary so far: dada, baba, yaya, fafa, uh-oh, and all done! (don't ask...)

As you can see, there is one word that is strangely missing. One word that you're sure would be spoken before uh-oh and all done for that matter! Well, at least I was SURE that the elusive "mama" would have been uttered before any two word phrases. But sadly, it has not :( Well, I am fibbing, because just today, Josh said maba...but in my book that just doesn't count!!

And, with me going away on my first business trip since the boys have been born, I am now worried that they will indeed utter the words that I have been practically willing out of their mouths. Of course, why wouldn't they say mama while she is 3,000 miles away??

I also dread that I will miss them crawling, not that they aren't already mobile, because they are. They can roll so quickly across a room, it'll make your head spin. And you know what they are rolling to?? Nope, not all those bright, loud, and colorful toys....not those, but those fascinating wires coming out of the wall. And that absolutely intriguing dog toy that MUST be much more fun than one of their 10,000 toys scattered around the house!

So, now I am faced with a decision...go the full disclosure route with Matt, with strict instructions to videotape any new milestones, or I could decide that the "ignorance is bliss" mind-set is the way to go, asking to not be posted about ANY actions that may or may not have occurred while I was gone. The jury is still out, but I have a feeling that I will want to know if they have indeed called out for their momma. A little piece of my heart might break at the fact that I wasn't there to hear it, but at the same time it would be nice to know that they didn't forget about the person who loves them more than anything in the whole wide world, even though I have to be away from them for 4 full days...sigh.

So I will let you know how it goes to be without all my men for the first time since their existence...I'm not going to lie, I am looking forward to waking up to an alarm clock for the first time in 10 1/2 months instead of waking up long before the alarm is to go off and ages further from the sunrise itself. But man, will I miss the smiles, and the giggles, and the funny faces, and the games, and the snuggles. But, strangely, I won't be missing the super-duper explosive wonders that come from an hour in the jumparoo :)

Wish me luck, tomorrow...and not too many tears when I leave. Don't worry, I've already loaded my ipod with hundreds of photos to remind me of them and have demanded that Matt send me photos on my phone throughout the week! And here's some photos to make me (and hopefully, you) smile, because I need it.