ah yes. one was such a challenge for me to get my mind around. two, even more so. yet more and more i see the ease of it, the already-readiness. and yet i wonder how the second kid has a chance at all given the love for the first - and how perplexing that is to think of that times two.
sweet congratulations.
I'm pregnant with the encore as well and have found that although the awe is lessened, there's this new thing replacing it -- excitement of the do over or something like that. Like starting a new book by a favorite author. (and then behind that emotion is the overwhelming feeling of why are we messing with a good thing? but we'll do it and there's a good chance these changes will just pile on more life to our lives).
I loved being an only child. (From time to time, I did want an identical twin. Even now, I think that would be fun.) That cartoon actually makes me crack up b/c I always give my parents a hard time about not protecting me from ANYTHING. I was always hitting my head on sharp-cornered tables, falling off my bike without a helmet or padding (though did that stuff even exist back in the 80s?), doing backflip-like stunts off the back of sofas, and was constantly bruised, bumped and scabbed. If I seem a bit spacy now it's probably in part due to the aggregate head trauma I suffered before the emergence of the child-proofing industry.
Anyway, I always feel like I have to stick up for only children (although I guess instead I ended up making my parents sound like they belong in the "Carl" books). So that out of the way, I wish you guys the best! I'm looking forward to reading the continuing adventures of your fun household. 
Congratulations on your impending arrival. I can relate to your fears about adding another to the mix. Unfortunately, I never got over mine and some days I ache with the longing for just one more. I can't wait to read your stories about your family of four (well, really five, with Wendell).
I loved being an only child, and so did my husband. I think that your childhood is influenced by so many factors; whether you have siblings is only just one thing.
I know lots of people with siblings who say that they could not imagine life without them. I know only children who could not imagine life with siblings. And I know people who are the reverse: people with siblings who hate them; onlies with no siblings.
Whatever you do, it will be fine. Mazel tov.
In keeping with the theme:
May Juniper become a flourishing hidden tree
That all her thoughts may like the linnet be,
And have no business but dispensing round
Their magnanimities of sound,
Nor but in merriment begin a chase,
Nor but in merriment a quarrel.
I'm an older sibling too and I gave my sister hell on a daily basis when I was younger (she learned how to retaliate eventually). I do worry how my daughter will react to a future sibling...but at the end of the day I think having a sibling bond is important, and rewarding, in its own way.
Having two still scares the crap out of me though.
I cried for three days when I got a second CAT; I can't imagine how I'd handle a second child. You're doing admirably.
Also, I'm very impressed that you managed to include (on purpose, I'm sure) not just a Joan Didion reference, but an allusion to a Yeats poem as well. From one nerd to another, well done.
If that delicious little munchkin is the realization of all your fears, then I would say you've got it pretty good . Seriously, Kid the Second is going to have some catching-up to do in terms of cuteness.... but I'm sure he/she will be up to the challenge.
as i wait for my #2 to join us in the next week or so, i have been amazed at my deluted excitement compared to the first. i guess it's cos i know what's coming and is isn't necessarily easy, pastel, and glowing.
but i think it's also the beginning to accepting few things about this next one will be the same, and that's hard to train your brain. from the pregnancy, to the birth, to the baby's looks and cry and temperment. it's all going to be different and that should make me more excited.
it's also hard to see how those first few months will go when the transition to selflessness has already happened. That was a hard transition for me and my husband (ugly would be a better word). that won't be part of it this time for us, i hope.
My husband also considered the what-if scenarios just after we had our first child. Now that we're expecting our second child, he likes to refer to it as his hedge.
Congratulations!
I'm the eldest of six, and to be quite honest, it's pretty intense. But I have five best friends, and I am so grateful to my parents for giving me siblings (we are three girls and three boys). Now that we are all growing up (the youngest is 7, I am 22) it's so fun to share movies and books and secrets with each other. Juniper will be a great older sister. Not saying you should have 6, but adding some into the mix certainly can't hurt anything.
As a side note- I feel kind of bad for only children, who do they have to bitch about t1he weird things their parents do? My little sister is the only person I know who can do a perfect rendition of my mom completely losing it- cracks us up to no end. (We're jerks.)
That last line is beautiful. I think you summarized what we all feel about becoming parents, whether its for the first time or the second, or the tenth (yikes!). I am an only child and will probably only have the one myself. You don't miss what you don't have, you know? The key is to make your choice and do it well. I applaud your willingness to take the leap again and can't wait to hear your adventures.
The fears will melt away when the little one is born. It isn't the same as with the first in many ways, but is just as exciting. And it is even more exciting watching the interaction between the two. We have three now, and it is amazing (and hair-pulling) to watch them all. To not have any quiet or down time really. But it is so worth it.
Congrats. I have two and, against my better judgment, a minivan - the back of which (seats removed) became a godsend after the oldest kid learned to pick locked bedroom doors.
I've got two -- and no minivan! There doesn't have to be a minivan -- literally and metaphorically.
I may have fallen prey to the cult of the minivan but never, never while my heart still beats will my kids wear flashing disney shoes.
My worry with two (and initially, three) was that I could never love the subsequents as much as the first, that my heart and energy would be split, somehow lesser. But I'll tell you, your capacity for all those things, love included, doesn't divide but multiply when you add more kids. You heart will be twice as big, and it will all be just right.
As always wood and dutch, loving your words.
We have our first on the way, and your words consistently say what we have been unable to in two languages. Thank you.
I have complete faith in you that you won't be getting a minivan. With our second due about the same time as yours, we're still carless. That might change, but if it does, I know it won't be a minvian (or worse: SUV). At least, that's what I keep telling myself.
It's scary and exciting having another, but l can't wait to see how it will change our lives.
For the record, I have a very sweet little brother. He is eight years my junior, and my dad's son. My mom -- the one from whom I get the undiluted and at times oppressive parental love -- only has me. I think it was the situation of being half an only child, half a sister, that made me always know without a doubt that I wanted my children to have siblings. Growing up, I always felt like I wanted to be more of a sister, and to know my brother more.
I never longed for siblings growing up, but as my parents have aged I find myself thinking it would be comforting to have a brother or sister. It's a shame that I'm the only one who got to experience the joy of being their kid.
This post brings a tear to my (admittedly hormonal) eye, as I sit here gestating with my first ...
Sweet congratulations!
It is right to have doubts, to be aware and mindful of them, when you consider bringing a whole entire new person into your family--even when you can see clearly how well things have turned out so far.
And: you write with such maturity for someone who saw this New Yorker cartoon (in a back issue, no less) when he was only 13.
(It was published in 2003.)
i disagree with Nicole E.C.- i think you *should* have 6 kids total- think of the endless writing possibilities! think of the boobs! forget the minivan- do we we did and just go chevy 2500, baby- room for kids and dogs and damn near everything you own! (oh, the things you can thrift when space to bring it home in is no object!)
you two always are able to explain what i am thinking even better than me. as freakin terrifying as i am to add another kid into this insanity, i know she deserves a sibling or two, someone she can have a bond with for the rest of her life, for so many million reasons. damn you internets and all of you repeat gestaters- we stop not trying next month. god help me.
Congratulations. I'm sure that Juniper will be a sweet playmate for her little sibling. Or maybe she'll be a hellion to both you and the one you carry, but she'll still be a sister. and sisters are wonderful to have. I have only one, but I am so happy I have her always. Not many people that you can say that about.
I'm an only child as well. We have four kids.
Forgive me while I dip into cliché-land for a moment, but having kids at all has been both the hardest and most rewarding thing I've ever done.
Doesn't stop me from going insane semi-monthly, though. :-]
Ohhh I feel for Juney here , being the oldest of two and the center of attention till the day my brother was born... Let's just say he's had a hard time from day one to his fourteenth birthday 
. BUT now I am so so so glad that I have him in my life!!! And I deeply regret the things that I did and said to him, just because I wanted to be an only-child... Juney, even if its strange and difficult to adjust in the beginning, you will appreciate it. I promise. Or you might as well like him/her from the very beginning....
All best wishes for your family!
nicely said
"as an older brother I tapped into the same well of pitiless human cruelty that surely inspired medieval inquisitors, eighteenth-century satirical poets, and Karl Rove."
ahahahahaha!!! Falling off my chair laughing...love that line!!
and all that other stuff you wrote: also brilliant.
PS. cutest picture of juney, ever. LOVE the brady-bunch dress.
I'm an only child and it was damn lonely growing up. So, I have three children. My daughters have each other with whom to commiserate when I become unbearable and senile. My son? Well, my husband isn't buying the "he needs a brother" line. Three it is, then.
Your anxiety is a beautiful, poetic thing, Dutch. (And I'll second the kudos from Nothing But Bonfires for the Didion/Yeats reference. Made me smile.)
I experienced all of the same anxiety you're having when I got pregnant with #2. #2 turned out to be twins (no, they don't run in my family and no, I wasn't on fertility drugs). Anxiety morphed into an all-out nine-month panic attack. This is for sure- nothing has been as I imagined, and it has absolutely been exactly what was supposed to happen. I said "Why us?!" and my husband said, "Why NOT us? We've got some money, we're not assholes, we're good people." He was right.
We can't have anymore kids, so one it is. I am practicing ignoring her now so as not to be oppressive with the love. I grew up with an older brother and we were at such odds all the time, i prayed every night that i would wake up and he would be gone. Awful, but true.
We don't have a minivan, but sometimes I want something bigger than a corolla, b/c I feel as if I have to fold the kid in half to get her into the car seat.
congratulations indeedy!
I just read this and enjoyed it:
http://www.amazon.com/Siblings-W...r/dp/
0380799006
Best of luck on this next adventure.
Both RookieMoms have recently become sophomore moms, so we welcome you to join us on the other side of #2. Congrats to all three of you.
I have only forgotten about #2 (Scarlett) one time in the six weeks we've had her. (Marched right up the preschool path for pick-up and noticed a pregnant mom waiting at the door. Suddenly thought, hey, I was pregnant last month. Then, hey, my baby is in the car! Turned around and retrieved baby from car. Entered preschool appearing to be normal.)
I'm sure many commenters have already provided an alternative to your sibling experience. My brother (2 yrs younger, was 3 yrs behind me in school) is undoubtedly my best friend. We fought some as all kids do, but there has never been a time when I did not appreciate that he was my truest ally. There's no better way to describe it - no one else understands so well.
We saw that girl having brunch with her parents last weekend (OK, at a diner, but still) - she made us want to try to figure out how to swing having another.
Like Wood, I want to add something for the record: my sister is an absolutely wonderful person whom I treasure very much. But the hurt I caused her when acting out on all my adolescent insecurities is something I do not ever want to see Juniper inflict on her still-unborn sibling, or for that sibling to have to put up with.
Meant to comment on Juniper's dress earler. I think I had one very similar when I was her age....My Mom had the matching adult version. Very 1974. I now have a quilt made of all the scraps of those "matching" polyester outfits from that time in my life. Not exactly an heirloom quilt, as polyester is still the worst fabric ever evented. But I love the quilt and the memories it holds for me.
Did you know with each child, you get 10 more minutes of leeway before you are officially late? With two, you will get 20 free "late" minutes for any official family function, holiday or party.
I have a 3 year old girl and a 1 year old boy and we manage to live in an urban area (although not the fashionable neighborhood of your only-child daydreams). One thing that surprised me was how easy the newborn phase was the second time around. I mean, it's never easy, but it came so naturally and I was much more laid back about the whole thing. When I was pregnant I had several major freak-outs because I didn't know how we could deal with twice the work of entertaining one already difficult toddler. But it turns out that they play together a lot and entertain each other. Also, labor was a piece of cake in comparison to labor with my first. I know anything can happen and this is only my personal experience, but I highly recommend second babies.
Congrats to all three of you!
Interesting. I am in the opposite situation; I had always thought I wanted two, and we had discussed it, and were pretty much planned out for another one right about...well, soon, anyway.
And then we had one and I realized that I like it this way and don't want two at all; it makes me feel shaky and panicked even to think about. I'm still sort of grieving that planned second child that I now doubt we will ever have; I will follow your adventures with great interest and some residual inchoate yearning.
It's the cool people of the world who SHOULD be having several children. This will not change you, it will just make you better. It's going to be great.
It's funny, sometimes I feel this intense guilt over having only one. I am the oldest of four, and I never knew a time before being a sibling - my brother is a bit more than a year younger than I am. He is in all my memories. So I wonder often if Boyo is missing out on that - the friendship and closeness of siblings, the secret things you remember and no one else ever experienced... and of course the fighting and learning to stand up for yourself and all of that, too.
I think it's harder for me in some ways because I have no idea what it's like to be an only child. It's outside of the realm of my experience, and I guess that it's the fear of the unknown.
I can see benefits, of course - his father and I aren't making great money, so another kid would just stretch things further, he has so much attention and interaction because of being our only focus, he is growing up self-sufficient and capable of being comfortable alone as well as with people (perhaps more than he would if he had a built-in playmate). But still I worry that we are making a mistake.
Either way, though, he's my only and that's how it's going to stay, and if he ends up in therapy or something, I figure he probably would have either way.
Boring!
Yes, there is the tormenting of one by the other (and vice versa!). But picture this: A 5 1/2 yer old girl returned to her Montessori school this very morning for Kindergarten. With her is her about-to-turn-two year old sister. Little sister is familiar with the school, having picked up the older one at the end of the school day many times. But still, a little nervous as Mom says goodbye and slips out the door. Mom looks in through the window. The five year old, having put her lunchbox in the fridge, quietly walks back over to her sister and gently holds her hand, until little sister relaxes. There are no tears, and when Dad picks up little sister two hours later, she objects to leaving.
Together, they will amaze you.
dutch, it's only as horrible as you project on them it will be. amazing parents beget incredible children. yours are and will be starting with a huge advantage in life: a parent (or 2) that cares enough to try to get where his/her own familial relations went awry.
it's paranoia-inducing. it's everything you think it will be and more. my only piece of sage advice: start interviewing evening babysitters now. it's the most important thing you can keep in your probably nonexistent diaper bag.
you're going to carry juney's sib around everywhere, too won't you? or will you finally get a stroller? not a double wide, but maybe a used umbrella stroller from goodwill?
Oh, congrats to you both, and to Juniper. I am an only child, we thought we'd only have one, we had two, and it has been a blessing. No other way to put it. So happy for you.
dutch and wood, i have the same fear about seeing families with multiple children. but, i also have similar fears of seeing ONLY children (yes, the gross shoes, the candy-dripped hands: oh god, i just described my own child!).
thankfully, there are people like you who are re-inventing the american 'predetermined social norms' of being parents. and while having a second can seem daunting, i think it's going to be a new and amazing challenge (i know, duh).
and selfishly, the rest of us uncreative types will benefit by seeing how you manage it all it out of a little 4-door, after having left the thrift store, on your way to shoot graffiti downtown. if anyone can do it, it's your family. hot damn!
I have the same fear about #2. Not about her being #2, but about her being a HER. Will I commit the same gender preference sins as my Irish mother? Will I be as hard on this little girl as my mother was on me and my sister? Will I love her as much as my son? These fears are only real to those that feel them.
I grew up an only child, but due to having had a troubled relationship with my own parents, I eventually found a mother figure (and a sister as well) in my mother's first cousin. They couldn't be closer to me if I had been born to their family outright, and they have so enriched my life that I can't imagine it without them. So it goes to show (not you, Dutch and Wood, but those who worry that only children don't have relationships of that depth and strength) that life is what you make of it, no matter how you are born into the world - with or without siblings. Every experience is different, and ripe with opportunity.
Good luck directing the siblinghood - I'm sure you can do some things to guide Juniper, but there's so much you won't even know she says/does with and to her sibling!
can you call up my husband & convince him of baby #2? my clock isn't ticking any slower you know ...
i was a happy only child who has always thought that i would have two children. i didn't really give much thought into why that was until more recently as i am now contemplating a second. if i was happy being an only, why do i feel that Julia needs a sibling? there is the "just in case," but i think that strangely now, in my thirties, more than ever, i wish i had a brother or sister. ultimately, i think the desire to have a second or beyond shows a real optimism - they will bring each other more love and happiness than grief and fighting. also, after the 2004 elections, i think liberal minded folks need to have more kids
lastly, not defensive because i could care less whether people drive minivans or not, but i love my minivan - it's the most luxurious car i probably will ever have.
I hadn't heard the "what ifs" about an only child until just recently. From what I understand it pertains to what if something happens to that first one. That's a terrible thought. I instinctively go to what if something happens to the parents (which is my story). I could not imagine being 19, parentless AND siblingless. Thank God (Buddha, whomever) that my brother was there. I know it's everyone's individual decision but mine would be a sibling over an only child any day. Congrats again. Hope the pregnancy is smooth for all four of you.
I always feel I need to weigh in on any discussion around only children, considering I'm one, my dad is one, and my boyfriend is one as well.
My whole life I have wished I had a sibling, and that still holds true. While I had everything I could ever want, there has always been tremendous pressure on me. I assume it's the same for my dad, considering our similar perfectionist qualities.
My boyfriend also wishes he had siblings. We always imagined it was nice to always have someone around to play games with, and to blame things on too.
My dad is now in the position of caring for his aging parents and his life is largely on hold because of the responsibility falling entirely on him. So from childhood on up, I definitely feel there are advantages to siblings.
Plus, I share the thought that all intelligent, good looking people should continue to breed, or we'll quickly be outnumbered by the buffoons!
Wait.
Wood is pregnant with the Messiah?
Holy shit.
I'm probably being a bit over-prying and nosy, but I'm dying to know what names you're considering
You will surely be the well heeled, fresh-faced urban-hip you describe, holding hands with Juniper and #2 slung jauntily across your back.
Congratulations on your lovely news.
As the youngest of four siblings, I endured the wrath/teasing of them regularly. I still can say however, without hesitation, that I would not change a thing. They were gods to me growing up, and made me who I am in ways that are as significant as my parents' influence on me. As we've gotten older they've become my best friends. There is a sibling bond (often involving the insanity of your parents) that is like no other. Giving Juniper a sibling is the greatest gift. Congratulations.
Strange, that happiness when your fears are realized. Sometimes I wonder why we are afraid. I blame society. But then, we started later than you did and we resent the years without her.
It's a little bittersweet reading this because we have been trying so hard for a second and it isn't happening. And I hate to say it might not--in the usual, easy way, anyway. I wonder what this will do to my fears. Do you fear something you strive and yearn for? Yes, probably.
Congratulations.
Our first daughter opened us up to a love deeper and more vast than we could have ever imagined.
Our second brought vivid color and intense passion that covers a spectrum we never knew exsisted.
They each offer their own unique and invalueable gifts. You never know what they will be but they bring these things with them and we are never the same.
De-lurking again to say congratulations, Beautiful Wife and I are just at two years with lil'screamie (Dear Alex) and we've been endlessly considering the option and inevitability of number two.
So much changes, and you can almost see a light at the end of the tunnel at two, but the thought of another soul in your care is almost too much to bear. How is it possible to love another as much as the first? I'm guessing you will. Good for you and yours.
g.
Dumbasses that we are, we bought a civic hybrid two weeks before having our #2 back in July. There's about 10 inches of space in the back between the two carseats. And I had to climb over the seat and squeeze in there last weekend when we got stuck in traffic and the baby started ripshit screaming for food. The 2year old thought it was hilarious to have me back there and wouldn't stop hugging the free arm that was not feeding the infant. I finally said to Dan, 'just pull over somewhere. I'm getting the fuck out of here.' and we both cracked up. Buying this car was not practical to say the least. But the struggle to stick with what we want to do/have in our lives vs. what would be EASY is forcing us to maintain a major sense of humor, and that's been the biggest gift of our second child so far.
You guys have wit and humor and passion and it will all get a workout when you bring this one home. That's the only advice I have for you, since we're only one month and one day into our adventure with #2.
congratulations, and good luck with the pregnancy and birth!
now that we've got two, i wouldn't go back to one : )
Bossy is familiar with your vision of Only Child-ness. The single kid is like accessorizing the Cool Married Couple outfit. The single kid is from The Urban Collection.
But the Second Kid doesn't have to be a surrender to mundane. In fact the second kid is often on back-order from the chicest catalogues.
Our daughter and son are 33 months apart. The experience of the second infant was great in how much more relaxed as parents we were. Now that the kids are 4 and 16 months, they play together and Jade tries to comfort Cooper. I am so, so glad we had two.
Heartfelt congradulations to all of you.
as we're thinking of having our first (and both being fresh lawyers), i keep feeling this sense of irreversible doom. your list of stereotypical fears chant through my dreams. i only hope that our future child will bring us as much joy as juniper has brought to you guys. and i hope that our child is as beautiful as juniper is! this picture is my favorite one so far. she's gorgeous!
Um, does this mean you're going to change the name of the blog? Or have a subtitle or something?
Like Staci our girls are 4 and 15 months and it has been such an adventure. DD#1 has always been extremely laid back & easy going. DD#2 had all kinds of issues her first year (severe reflux). Luckily both have always been very, very happy girls,no matter the situation.
The first year of two was very hard on me, for lots of reasons which hopefully won't exist for you, but the adjustment was more or less resolved after the first month.
Now, my girls are so very much in love with each other I can't hardly stand it. I'm not saying they don't have disagreements, as they are very, very different personalities, but the first thing they do each morning is look for each other. The big hugs and kisses, the dress up (already) and playing pretend are so fun to watch. They are already best friends and it is so fun and amazing to watch that friendship develop.
I always wanted two (I had a younger brother) and even though it's hard and exhausting a HUGE part of me wants another. Oddly, I don't really want a boy, I would be secretly praying for another girl. My husband says it's hormones, and he's probably right, but it's really that much fun.
You'll do fine and be happy. Just wait till they start ganging up on you together. I can't wait for the posts.
I'm very late commenting on this post, but I keep thinking about it. How bossy I was and how much of a tyrant my little sister was, and yet how there is nobody on earth I was or am closer to. My mother would tell us at every opportunity 'your sister is the only person you have who will be here your whole life.' Corny, but true. My sister is a piece of me. I'm so glad my parents decided to have a second.
When I broke the news that I was pregnant for the second time to my supervisor at work, he said "Having two is three times the work." And I thought "Why would you say that, and that can't be possible." It's possible because it's true. But you manage--humans are wonderful at adapting. Otherwise, people wouldn't have more kids. Enjoy your time with Juniper now more than ever before another little alien invades. The cool thing is that Juniper will scarcely remember life without her little sibling!
As someone in the exact same boat as you (a perfect, wonderful two year old girl and a sibling due in February), this all rings so very true to me. My husband is the youngest of five. They are not close--his middle brother just met Maggie for the first time last weekend. But his mother is beginning cancer treatment while his dad is in the third year since being diagnosed with Alzhiemer's and declining fast.
Surprisingly, the brothers have rallied around, organizing help and going with my MIL to appointments and staying in touch with and supporting each other. Similarly, my brother and I helped each other more than anybody else did while our parents were separating. I've had the thoughts, too, of "We have to have another because what if something happens to Maggie" which, ick, really, the idea of a child as just a spare. I think the real reason, as someone noted above, is for when something happens to Paul or to me. I want Maggie to have someone to bitch to, commiserate with and lean on. To have a sense of family even when we are gone. And, the whole thing about the exhausting and oppressive parenntal love. I felt like that would be a lot of pressure to put on Maggie, to be the recipient of so much laser focus. At least this way she'll have someone to complain with about how she wishes we would just back off already.
The multi-child family you describe? We're already too close for comfort, and I fear that two will turn me into the bad-hairdo, shortalls-wearing, screaming wal-mart mom. But then Maggie will ask to kiss the baby in my tummy, or inform me she wants to name it Cousin, and I can hardly wait for February.
I'm looking forward to reading and observing as we both go through this. I think the easiest time the second time around is the idea that yes, eveything will change, and it will be better than all right, it will be wonderful. I know that in a way I didn't three years ao.
So true. There are a million different ways to convince yourself that one child is perfect, or that one is almost unethical, cheating both yourself and your firstborn. I have had all these thoughts and many, many more as I try to reconcile myself to my decision to have only one child. I'm sure the truth is that neither option is right. You just have to choose to be happy with whatever path you end up on.
Write while you can.. Twice the children; half the blog. The minivan is not the only sad part.
And maybe there will be some appropriate time to share this little note with Juney.
We are trying for our first and I feel much the way you did the first time around. I am shitting my pants. Thanks for expressing how I might someday feel, and for putting my mind at ease.
congrats! we are done with one...everything in our minds tells us that one is right. i cannot imagine having two but i sure agree with you on being happier than ever. my littlefoodie brought out the best in me and i have to thank him everyday!
(de-lurking to say) Damn, that was good. I'm not even hormonal and you've got me all choked up. I'm going to need to take a minute to soak that up a bit more.
Just found you two via Slouching Mom.
What a lovely little girl, first of all.
Second -- congrats. I strongly suspect you will find that the second will also make you happy with the realization of more fears. During the first six months, I wondered what posessed me to have 2 kids two years apart, but now I get it. Just wait till the morning the younger one figures out how to give the older one a real kiss. Or the day Juniper tries to read the baby a book.
Oh, and get the Phil and Ted's if you can spring for it. Much better than the double-wides -- you can hide the second one and no one will discover your foolish decision to forgo the Samuel Beckett discussion in favor of roller-shoes.
2 = twice the joy, 2x the stories. I love it now, although in the beginning, it was tough to get everything coordinated. I disagree with the poster who said it was twice or 3x the work; older sibling entertains the younger one and vice versa, freeing me up more!
Congrats again, Dutch. She is so darn cute. I am an only child, and I tell you: it is hard, indeed, carrying the weight of the parents on one's wee shoulders. Indeed, there's only me to hear it all, any of it. The Plus side: I adore my parents insanely; a negative: now that I am getting older, I can't help but realize that when their time to pass is here, I will have no one. I do not have close cousins or aunts and uncles I could just 'call.' Yeah, I am pretty independent, but still...there is something not-so-comforting about that kind of aloneness. So, my husband coming from one of five kids, we have had three of our own. And I am so, so content that we have. Juniper and her sib will have a super time - especially with you two as their parents - best of luck -
about your weekend post- i hear ya. on those days i think "and i am adding another one to the mix?"
pull out the paint or something new you both normally don't do. hit the zoo. dance with her to loud songs YOU enjoy. do something for you, with her, and it might be a better monday than you expect.
on the church part- i loathe adult gatherings with family we hardly see cos people forget too easily what toddlers are like- they are nothing like adults. and everyone in the room is appalled when they act their age, so you feel like a traveling circus parade with a monkey. you guys are great parents. she was being her age and by next year all these little different things about her might be completely different- grown out of.
ugh, i know you didn't want suggestings (hence comments off on that one). sorry
and here I thought I was the only one thinking, "sweet. new blogfodder." congratulations/good luck folks. I hope you've kept all the gnome outfits.
What, no commentary on the Mondrian-esque little A-line sheath number?
Congratulations.
Thought of you this weekend as we dragged two kids (one of them finally asleep after staying awake for a 6 hour flight across the ocean) across Heathrow, along with innumerable carry-on bags. In fact, thinking of you was the only thing that kept me smiling as opposed to throwing myself in front of one of those little trucks that beeps around the airport.
That Sweet Juniper is growing ever more beautiful every day.
Congratulations on the second. It is all those scary things and more, and you will love all those scary things as much.
Delurking to say congrats, and you are a wonderful writer!
Our "second", on-the-fence about having baby turned out to be twins. Now you wanna talk strollers!
Look forward to hearing more...
Congratulations! I've been wanting to say that and more since I read this sweet post. (Can never nail the right Hallmark sentiment.) Your blog brings me joy -- I'll leave it at that. Thanks for taking us all along for the next chapter!
Delurking to say congrats (though it's very late), and that this post and the comments made me all weepy.
I am the second-to-youngest of six and, like Nicole said, it is intense. But really, honestly, magnificently brilliant at the same time. I wouldn't change a single thing.
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