12/52

"a portrait of each of my children, once each week, in 2015"

 

Cruz: I LOVE this age right now, love that he is showing signs of growing up, yet still so innocent at the same time.  He's still my wild boy, but his sensitive side makes me melt.  The other night, I made the mistake of telling him I didn't want him to grow up, that I wanted him to stay four and live with me forever.  I expected it to go in one ear and out the other, but to my surprise, he crawled up in my lap and started sobbing, telling me he didn't want to get big and didn't want to move away.  It was my first sign of so many lessons to learn, so many big conversations we have yet to have.  Sometimes, it seems life can't get much busier or harder raising these babies, and then I quickly realize that this parenting business will only get harder.  If we could just keep them little...

Mila:  I had also forgotten how much I LOVE this age, too, 12-18 months is one of my absolute favorite stages.  Mila is our free spirit, and her sweet, unique personality makes us all swoon.  Her scrunchy faced, toothy grin, her slow open-mouthed kisses, her big Forrest Gump wave, and her vivacious, oftentimes irritable temperament are all bottled up into this perfect little soul that we're obsessed with.  Sunday, I dressed her up in her gold tights and vintage dress from Aunt Gina, and introduced her to the wonderful world of fruit snacks so I could sneak a ponytail and her first ever bow in her hair.  She wasn't so much a fan of the whole ordeal, but I couldn't get enough.  Our wild one immediately looked so girly, so grown up, and I once again stood in that familiar territory of wanting to freeze time forever.