It’s amazing how quickly you forget the little things. Jas and I went to a multiples class last night here at the hospital and our teacher showed us a video that included a shot of a baby crying so much that they were turning that dark red/purple combination of a truly pissed off baby. I turned to Jas and wide-eyed said, “I remember Buds used to do that!” but before watching the video, those moments had completely slipped my mind.

As parents, we tend to think of our kids now, not as newborns, or even infants. When I think of Buds, I picture a hilarious toddler asking for more cheese and giving me big running hugs, I don’t think about him as the teeny tiny adorable yet scary newborn that was thrust into my arms after a super fast delivery.

I definitely do not think that random people on the street doling out advice to passing parents have anything of value to add to people’s lives, but I will agree that time goes so quickly, as everyone and their mother and nana will tell you. Our first year with Buds happened so quickly, and I was lucky enough to be home for it all. Now, his second year is almost done in a flash.

With the girls, we know they’ll be in the NICU, so their beginnings at home with us will be more like their three month mark. It’s weird to think about the difference between the babies’ “real” ages and their gestational age and how that will factor so much into their development and even into things like their immunization schedules.  I talked to our teacher about the effect of the NICU on the girls then being brought home and bonding with each other, as they will have spent time in separate incubators. Despite the fact that we’ve been there before with an infant and know the basic way to care for a child, having twins, and preemies, no less, will be an entirely different experience.

Although the point in the class where we added up newborn twin care, and it came to something like 21 hours out of the day, was terrifying, the pictures and videos of the newborns took me back to the beginning with Buds, and I’m excited to have a new beginning with our baby girls. Plus, their little bums just looked so cute!