Six

I'm  sitting here in shock.  Six.  Six years old.  My "babies" are 6. 

Six years ago, I was spending my last day in the hospital with Bobby and Maya on the "inside".  By 7pm, I was in the OR and twenty minutes later, my sweet little two pounders were being taken out of my body and into the "NICU womb" that would care for them for nearly 9 weeks.  Even now, I get choked up thinking about it.  I read their birth story and couldn't not cry. How was that 6 years ago?  How did that happen?  It feels like yesterday, like forever ago, like a dream. 

Suddenly, my just-shy-of-3-lbs-son is now 65+ pounds, his legs hit below my knees when I snuggle him, and, although he is behind developmentally, the last few weeks have seen such huge leaps in both language and behavior.  Bobby loves to write and has beautiful handwriting; his memory is amazing and he can memorize things like it's no big deal.  He really enjoys cooking and, if commercial art were still a field, I could see him going into something like that with his love for logos and design.

In the blink of an eye, my barely-over-2-lbs-daughter is now 37 pounds, long and lanky like her dad with her size 6 skinny jeans but 3T cinched waist.  Maya loves being a Girl Scout and has Peter's scientifically leaning mind.  Science and Math make her happy like nothing else!  She loves to garden and her gift of gab comes straight from me.  She is the princess in our house (although she thinks of herself as Queen Elsa) and I think she puts her value as "big sister" above everything else.  She's my minime at times and it's amazing to talk to her as we snuggle and hear her views on everything from God to space to her best friend.

We went from zero to six in what feels like seconds...

...and I'm not ready.

I'm not ready for them to be well into second grade and preparing for First Penance and First Communion.  I'm not ready for them to be so opinionated and expressive.  I'm not ready for them to be responsible.  In my head, I'm still holding two babies but they are clearly two "kids".  Two kids who want to have their own choices and decisions.  It's hard to let them make them, even though I know they have to... they need to.

So, happy birthday, Bobby and Maya!  Today, we will celebrate you for all the wonderful things you are and the beautiful things you bring into our lives!  May you have many, many more wonderful celebrations of the lives you have blessed us with.