Saturday, February 27, 2010

You've Come A Long Way Baby

My baby is no longer my baby. Sob...... Charlie turned 18 mths old the other day, and we celebrated by reminiscing.

I remember the early cuddles where I was paranoid he would be man-handled by his brothers...



.... to today, playing with his brothers is the highlight of his day, and brings a sigh of pure love to my lips.




I still remember the early days of short baby catnaps, barely long enough for me to lay down and close my eyes.



.... and today, well, bad example, that hasn't changed. AT ALL!
Will this kid ever sleep?


I remember those sweet early baths.....



... that were followed by the loudest of "What on earth do you think you're doing? Put me back in the water, oh put me baaacckk" screams.




To bath time today, where negotiations of an epic scale have to be undertaken to get him out of the bath.




I will always remember those feeds during the early days, both breast and bottle, where he would watch me with his big eyes. Complete love and trust that I would provide all his needs.




And then there is today. Hmmm, how to describe dinner time today?

Perhaps I'll let the following picture do the talking :




I remember all these things, and oh so many more. 18 months that have been the hardest, but the most fulfilling of my life.

To see my last baby grow and thrive, to see my older boys discover and express their gentle side, to learn to love and care for their baby brother.

To see the pride in my husbands eyes at each milestone Charlie reaches, to hear his laughter come more easily at the antics of our son.

These are the things I want to remember as we journey from babyhood through toddlerhood, and beyond.

4 comments:

  1. oh he is darling. 18 months seems so far way for me even now-- my youngest turned three recently... Oh those baby days go so fast!

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  2. Aw, he's still a baby though, to some extent! I find myself looking at my boys and they seem so big and grown up one minute, then I realize that Dante is still just a tiny little boy still, even though he seems so big to me. I think when you're so close, they seem to grow up faster because you see the changes. To an outsider, they're still babies.

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  3. another lovely post Leiani, those 18 months seem to have flown by......

    Gill

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  4. Oh ladies, I agree the time goes by so fast. I wanted to record this milestone of him reaching 18mths, as with my two older boys I find it hard to remember all this little endearing things they did. And I know he's still just a baby in many ways too, I just have to compare him to his big brothers to see that.
    Thanks so much for your comments, you really know how to make a gal feel welcome in the blogging world!

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