12 Weeks: Hello World!

The twins "woke up" this past week.

They want to play more, interact more, and of course...be held more. Which is quite a challenge when both of them are fussing at the same time!

One day this week, I placed them on their sides facing each other. They had been bathed, fed and changed. They were wide awake.

The most AMAZING thing happened. They locked eyes and stared at each other. And then, suddenly, they both smiled at each other! Great, big, huge smiles and lots of cooing. I'm pretty sure I heard them saying:

Hey, I know you!

I know you, too!

How are ya?

Great! You?

Just dandy. That Mom-lady is pretty great, too, huh?

She sure is! But hey, would you mind saving a little more breastmilk for me next time? I'm just saying, don't hog it all.

Yeah, yeah. First come-first serve, babe. Get used to it.

They were carrying on like this for a good five minutes; smiling, cooing, batting at each other.  And then they got bored with it and started fussing. Where was that Mom-lady, anyway?

Seeing these first social interactions has been a beam of sunshine into my heart. These first few weeks have been grueling, labor-intensive and exhausting. But to see my baby girls growing, smiling and cooing makes all the hard work worth it.

I mean, this is what it feels like most of the time:

One cries, I nurse her. The other cries, I nurse the other one. Then they both want to be held--so I hold them both at the same time.

On top of this, I'm shuttling kids to and from school, cooking dinners, helping with homework. It's hard work.

And then, one day, in the middle of the madness, the babies look up at me and smile and coo. My heart melts and tears spring to my eyes.

It's one of those crazy paradoxes of life: it's really hard work. But it's also unspeakably rewarding.

I wouldn't trade my job for anything. I'm worn to a frazzle but I'm also deeply content and at peace.

Strange, crazy and beautiful, this journey of motherhood; don't you think?