Newborn's No More!!

It is amazing how time, which once went by really fast, seems to go faster after you have children. Every day brings a whole new world to them. They change so much and learn new things and it is no wonder how it is often said, in what seems like an instant children become adults.
When Chase and Ryder were born, they were just over 4 pounds and only 17 inches long. they spent a week and a half in the NICU hooked up to monitors. They were the tiniest things we had ever seen! We brought them home and they swam in their clothes. Even preemie onesies were too big. We had to fold over the smallest size diaper to make them fit and we held them in the palm of our hand, their whole bodies fitting within the lenghth of our forearms. We carried them both and they were still so light. Today, Chase and Ryder are 5 months old. That is still very young, they are still babies, infants even. But last night it was made clear to me how quickly time has passed from the preemies they once were. Last night I held a two week old baby boy. His name is Luca David Bahuriak. He was born at 6 and 1/2 pounds, 20 inches. Two weeks later he is at least 7 pounds, if not more. He is almost twice the size Chase and Ryder were, and yet when I saw him, he seemed to be the smallest thing ever. All light and tiny and curled up into a cute ball. I was stunned at how quickly newborns become babies. I was stunned at how small Luca is and amazed that our boys were even tinier.
Now they weigh close to 14 pounds, they are over 2 feet long. They are growing out of the diaper size and their 3-6 month onesies are growing small. They laugh, smile, and roll-over. They are, however, my babies and still seem so small and fragile to me.
Let it be a lesson to relish the time. Each and every moment, each and every day. We find ourselves wishing it away, ever so innocently. "I can't wait until they smile, laugh, roll-over, crawl." You learn, often too late, they will do all of these things before you know it, and when they do they are no longer the small, light, curled up newborn. Preemies they once were, but they certainly are no longer!!