Things I miss from the baby years

The boys are both growing faster than I could have ever imagined. Every time I look at them they seem to be a foot taller and days away from growing stubble. Ok, maybe that's an exaggeration, but not by much. When I look at them now, they are no longer babies. Not in the least. Even little dog, my baby, is well, a little boy. Not even a toddler now. And generally it's great. The bigger they get, the more fun they seem to be to hang out with on a daily basis. The older they are the more they interact and say funny shit I can write about here. But there are things I miss from the baby years. Not many, but a few.

1. Tiny chubby baby feet, and the little socks that cover them. They're just so nibble-able. The feet, the socks not so much. But still, when I come across those tiny little socks in the heaps of outgrown clothes that fill our house, I can't imagine the boys ever having feet small enough to fit them. And now those same feet that once fit in my mouth, (don't ask how I know this) are big. Big and kind of stinky from time to time.

2. Being able to blame messy clothes on the kids. Before it was the filth of motherhood upon my clothes, it was the fur fallout of dog ownership. It was a great upgrade in excuses. I guess I could just cover more ground with the, "Oh man, the baby spilled on my shirt again!" Now I have to own up to the fact that I am a clumsy and messy person.

3. The get up and go when mommy says so. Getting out of the house with a baby can be a chore. You have to coordinate getting the diaper changed in time, but not too early, get the clothes on, have the baby fed and gather the right stuff for the diaper bag, but once you got the hang of that, you were good to go. Now that I have two boys with strong wills of their own, even motivating them to get their shoes on can take the better part of the day. And they're mobile, so I can't just stick the shoes on their feet when I'm ready.

4. Infant carrier car seats. Essentially a Hannibal Lecter conveyance for a child, but man was that handy. Kid falls asleep in the car? No problem, take the kid and their carrier into the house without the limp-body dead weight I deal with now.

5. The ubiquity of baby wipes. I discovered a million and one uses for them. Sure, they're not all that environmentally friendly, but boy are they ever handy. They clean bums and laptop monitors a like (though hopefully clearing away different contaminants). They can spot clean your shirt or wash hands in a pinch. I love them, and yet, now that we're all potty trained, we don't buy them so they are more or less gone from our home.

What do you miss most from those baby years?