Little m Long a

The life of a parent is filled with tiny moments of joy, moments that seem to validate your parental efforts.  We’ve even given these events a name, a moniker.  Developmental Milestones.  I should be happy for today I witnessed the passing of yet another mile marker.  No, I’m still buying Pampers.  I know the good folks over there are giving each other high fives about that.  And no, the twins have not learned to dress themselves although Zander is getting very good at pulling his pants down.  More words? Complete sentences?  Not really.  They are adding new words and sounds every day but it’s so subtle and gradual that it’s really hard to consider this a milestone.  So what is it?, you ask.  What have they learned to do?  And why aren’t you happy?

Today, the twins drank from a cup.  That’s right!  Totally unaided and on their own accord they chose today as the breakout day.  They used the small Dixie cups we keep on the kids sink in the bathroom.  They had gone up there on their own and I could hear the laughter and squeals of joy.  It sounded like they were having a good time—too good.  I am contractually bound as a card carrying parent to put the kibosh on such frivolity so I trudged upstairs.  I heard the plastic cup fall to the floor spilling it’s contents.  Zander met me at the top of the stairs, shirt completely soaked, right pants leg so wet the water was literally pooling at his feet.  I sighed…..heavily.  He started singing like Sammy “the Bull” Gravano.

“Llella did disss.” Pointing at his sister, just as soaked, who was now holding the plastic cup offering it up to me as if she were presenting the very blood of Christ.  “Llella did disss,” Zander kept repeating in the background.  “Llella did disss.”

It looked like a water main had burst.  Every square inch of the bathroom floor was soaked.  The bathmats were dripping wet.  The only thing dry in the bathroom—–the sink.  That’s right.  The twins had worked their way upstairs, went into the bathroom, carefully selected a Dixie cup from the sink, and taught themselves how to drink.  From…..the…..toilet.