Then and Now

The top two pictures are of Ben and Chris. The bottom two are of Anna and Chris. I'm completely flabbergasted that they look so alike. They are so different to me. When someone says, "Wow, she looks a lot like Ben!" I think, "Wow, you are freaking crazy!" But I guess they have a point. I just can't see it because I'm too close. I know what a gentle jokester Ben was at this age, and what a spitfire Anna is, living so close to the edge of so many emotions.

Chris loves them the same. He nuzzled Ben just as much as he cuddles Anna. His little babies. His growing children. I know he's scared of disappointing them, of disappointing me, of them growing up too soon. He thrives on family time, and when he has to leave us (especially when we're all happy), he keens with longing. I can see it on his face as he reaches in for one more hug, one more kiss, one more tickle.

Looking at these pictures of Ben then as Anna is now is such a mind-mess. It reasserts the concept that Anna, in a blink, will be a toddler. A 2.5yo scrambling onto Mommy and Daddy's bed to watch a favorite movie, asking for cookies and chocolate milk, running up to my legs to hug me fiercely after an absence. I'm dizzy at the idea, but I'm so looking forward to it. *I wonder what she'll be like.*