My babies are growing up too fast. What is it about we moms? We await each milestone with eager anticipation, we encourage, even push, our babies to learn and grow, and when they finally reach each goal our joy is tempered with sadness. This week I bought Spencer's big boy car seat. My little, itty bitty, tiny guy is outgrowing his carrier. He's not my little tiny baby anymore. Even though he's still little (just over sixteen pounds) he is crawling, trying to pull up, and doesn't want to be held still and cuddled anymore. He wants to go, go, go!

Alex began sitting up on his own without propping himself on his hands yesterday. He is getting so much stronger. Every day I see improvement. This despite the fact that he has had two surgeries in the last two weeks, the first to excise the scar from his ostomy takedown, and the second to reopen the new incision because it became infected. The kid has a big, open wound on his belly right now, which I have to pack with wet gauze several times a day, and he is just as happy as ever. He's such a trooper. I clap and cheer for Alex every time he works on his developmental milestones. Just today I began teaching him how to clap, too. It's so cute when he actually gets it right. We'll be practicing!

Tonight for dinner I cooked Annie's Organic Whole Wheat Shells and Cheddar for the boys. I chopped some broccoli and threw that in with the shells. This is the first time they've had "real" mac and cheese. I didn't cut up the shells at all, and they ate them. In fact they ate several shells at a time. They are eating like toddlers (and they look like messy toddlers when they're done, believe me). I love every minute of it!

The biggest change is that Alex and Spencer are now drinking regular cow's milk. I am so glad to not have to mix formula anymore, but it's just another reminder that my babies are growing up. I know they can't stay babies forever, and I'm looking forward to watching them learn and grow. I just wish I could still feel the way I did when I cuddled my tiny, warm, soft, precious babies against my chest.

Spence and Alex went to the park the weekend before last with their cousins. Here they are their first time in the baby swings.