This July is a pretty big month around our house. Not for any big changes, trips, or that sort of thing, but both the boys are having a big one. (It was supposed to be bigger … Daniel was supposed to get his hearing aids … but oh well.)

Daniel is 4 months old today, and I can’t grasp it. He feels younger to me, probably because he’s only been home for half of that. He has finally gotten to the point, though, where his time spent at home is greater than the time he spent in the hospital. He is such a different child, much happier. Of course, the stinker still rarely smiles for me, but he has smiles for everyone else and I steal them and keep them for my own. He’s learning to laugh and it’s the cutest thing ever. Not only is he growing like a weed, but he’s pudging out too. At the rate he’s going, he isn’t going to be the “little” brother for all that long! I’m doing a lot better too; the NICU seems like a distant memory, and the last time I drove to the ENT, I didn’t even get the lump in my stomach much. I’m considering, depending on the timing, taking him to visit his old nurses and letting them see how well he’s doing the next time we go up there. We’ll see.

Of course, there’s a mix of sadness with his 4 month birthday, hitting a whole third of a year. Unfortunately, I think all of his birthdays will have a bit of a shadow over them for quite some time. That was a bad, bad week.

Not long after Daniel hits 4, Eric hits the big 2-4 … months, that is! Now there’s something: my baby’s going to be 2! Of course, I’ve said he’s 2 for a few months now when people ask, but it’s still kind of wow. He is starting to transition at daycare, so it isn’t a sudden thing on his birthday. He’ll spend a few hours over in the 2′s room. He ate lunch over there the other day, sat at the table, drank from a real cup, even ate the cheesy potatoes instead of his usual just eating the fruit! He sleeps on a cot at daycare now too, and sometime coming up they’re going to try a nap over in the 2′s room. Like his first birthday, rather than being all emotional, I’m pretty psyched – he’s turned into such an awesome little guy!

I also can’t wait for my daycare bill to reduce. Ahem.