for your viewing pleasure
on the eve of the second anniversary of my son’s birth
henry turns 2 tomorrow. we don’t have his dr appt until next week, so i don’t have any stats, but i have some cute pictures of him and this letter i wrote. i love this little boy so much. its hard to accept that he has been a constant in our lives for 2 whole years, now. sigh.
dear henry,
i have sat down to write this post several times – to get all my thoughts out “on paper” – and i’ve been overwhelmed with all that there is to say about the person you are and the one you are becoming. so excuse me if this message is somewhat disjointed.
let’s get started. when you see an incline of any kind, you take it as a personal challenge. all stairs, ramps and up hill ground features are to be conquered. and not just once. but over and over and over for all onlookers and the hill itself to be confident in your ability to rise up and meet the task. you have started to ask for the attention of others with saying their names over and over as loud as you can. usually with dad (dahdi, dahdi, Dahdi, DAHDIDAHDIDAHDIDAHDI) or roy, which you pronounce more like “ray”. you love ping pong and it is the first thing you want to do when you get to your dad’s office. you love to color, especially with green and brown crayons. and when you ask us to sit and color with you, you only allow others to use those colors, too. today we are coloring. i take our roll of butcher paper and cover half the table so you can let your creative juices flow and you aren’t limited to the paper in front of you. you can color on every surface you can reach. and after you have completed your masterpiece you start to rip the paper from the table, piece by piece. it is so amazing how fleeting these moments are with you. now, i can fix the rips with tape. we can color on the paper over and over again and again.
you are such a happy, fun loving guy. you have the best smile and expressions and conversing with you is one of the most interesting parts of my day. you love life and you laugh freely. you have such pride when you complete tasks – like finishing a puzzle, putting away the wipes or throwing away garbage. you are unabashed about your love for your parents, and sometimes your sister. hey, let’s talk about that for a second. you love your sister and that means you want to be in charge of her. but sometimes she needs to eat when you when to hold her, or she is asleep when you want to give her the binky (which is so kind and thoughtful), but it just isn’t a good time. and you hate that. i don’t blame you. holding cora is amazing, we can all attest to that. but it is important for her to get her rest and for us to prioritize it. i think you are starting to understand where i am coming from, but i am sure we still have several bumps to overcome in the road ahead.
you are like most toddlers in that you have the ability to be the most amazing, well behaved nearly 2 year old there is. but you also have the power to shatter that image with a roaring scream, fist throwing and rapid kicking. and the speed with which you make the 180 degree transition can happen in a neck-breaking split second. but don’t let this mislead you – you are a wonderful boy. you are full of joy, boundless energy and the never-ending need to be able to do things how you want and on your own. i can totally respect that. its a trait i understand pretty well and i see it in both your dad and myself. and, honestly, i am content to have a “strong willed” child, since there isn’t really a better term for it. i want nothing more than for you to figure out who you are, what you want to be and what you are all about and pursue it headlong without ever looking back.
when i reflect on my own childhood, the silver lining of it is that i had parents who loved me, but i also had a father who provided me with endless support. when i wanted to do things differently (i.e. wrestle in high school), my dad was able to separate his doubt from his love for me. and i never felt anything but his pride. i want you to have that, baby. i want you to know that no matter what choices you make, if you want to be a sculptor or a banker, if you want to feed sick children in africa or work in the tech industry and live right down the road, i will be proud of you. and i want to do my best to separate my doubt from my love for you and my support of you as a person and who you are. because, bubba, i am already so proud of the little boy you are.
the depth, width and height of my love for you is vast. you hear me say it all day everyday. and you will be able to read it in little notes and maybe even these blog posts as you get older. but it is so hard to explain and depict in written words. it has so much more do to with the tiny moments of being that pass between us. when we eat breakfast together. when we snuggle on the couch to watch a show, play with the ipad or read a book. and it is my greatest goal to make you feel loved. to know you are wonderful just how you are. your being is marvelous, henry. and your immediate acceptance of the world and the way things are – your joy and delight in the simplest of pleasures – i hope you can keep those things despite your age, your awareness and your life experience.
i hold your little hands and hug your little shoulders and i look at your sister – roughly a third the size of you and i struggle with the idea that you used to be that small. it seems so impossible, it seems impossible to hold both facts – that you are small now and were once smaller- in my head at the same time. cognitive dissonance. i marvel at your perfection, too. the soft curve of your cheeks when i stare at your profile, the way your smile fills your entire face – and changes the look of all your features.
so many of my smiles begin with you, henry. so much of the joy i have in life comes from spending my days with you and being a part of your life. thank you for all your love, hugs and kisses. thank you for your patience as i navigate through the path of parenthood. and thank you for calling me mama.
love, mama
randoms
january 8
i’ve not been taking many photos with the slr lately, just the iphone. so excuse the sometimes poor quality. these are from a weekend trip to the museum. oh, how we love the museum!
january 9 – around the house
january 13 – ping pong at rapleaf
january 15 – the boys at crossroads
baby frank
january 6
so last, last weekend was a pretty hectic and exciting one. we were on call for the arrival of roy’s little bro. he was “due” to get here on December 30. but you all knew how pesky those due dates can be. when we hit january and the babe still wasn’t here, we all started to get a little anxious for Kirsten. Especially since we were on call to care for roy when this all started to go down.
so friday afternoon, K had a dr.’s appt and by the time she got back was having contractions. we just happened to be hanging out at her place so we brought roy back to our place, just in case. around 3 that afternoon the contractions were gone and roy’s parents picked him up to go home.
roy seemed to be dealing with it all pretty well. henry provided moral support by holding his hand. cora remained remarkably calm through it all:
then at 11:30 that night we got a call. K was in LABOR!, could roy spend the rest of the night here? well, duh! roy arrived, a little shooken up. we watched some finding nemo to calm him down and put him to bed. i got a text around 6 am that little baby frank was born at 5:30 am. he was 7lb 9 oz and had brown hair!
the next day we took roy with us to a birthday party and his dad picked him up after nap. it was really special to be able to spend that time with roy and support their family just as they supported ours when cora was born.
the story goes that when roy met his little brother for the first time he said “baby cora”. its so cool to have frank as another member of our SF family.
sibs
January 5
things have been pretty chaotic since having a second baby. i don’t think its been harder, as much as it is busier, louder and more complicated. lots of tense moments mixed right in with the calm and happy ones. and this is a happy one. henry wants to hold cora all the time. sometimes its inconvenient, because cora is eating or fussy. and sometimes it takes a bad turn as henry decided he wants to move her around on his own. but it is sweet and tender. and its one of those cheeseball things that makes all the other stuff bearable.
the guys
January 4th
we met up with roy and sev and their mommies at the park – a different one than normal. i am not sure what it is, but when even just two of these guys get together, its all high pitching screaming, laughter and running. they all seem to encourage this in each other and egg the others on.
cora is one month!
dear cora,
you are one month old. you weigh 10 pounds and 7 ounces and are 23 inches tall. go you!
having you around has reintroduced the magic of infanthood into our lives in so many ways. as your brother has gotten older it has been easy to fall into the trap of expectation – where we know what he is capable of and have started placing these expectations on him for how he should behave and act. and having you here has reminded me how we have such little expectation – just your breathing, eating and sleeping are perfect in their simplicity and their necessity – only to be so impressed by everything you do! being reminded to lessen my expectations has been a wonderful lesson. look at you teaching me lessons already! you are an amazing little human being.
you have continued to bring your smiles and delight into our days. and i swear the other day, as i was holding you on my shoulder post meal you laughed in your sleep! i could hardly believe it.
we are still far away from having any sort of schedule, so you mostly just get your naps and meals in around henry – the plight of the second child. but you seem pretty content. you have a pretty good stretch of sleep at night (thank you, thank you, thank you) and things are still easy going in the breastfeeding department. also, you burp and fart like a man. sometimes we hear you from across the room.
you’ve already got the men in your life completely head over heels in love with you. your dad spends time just staring at you (he will even announce to us that he is “going to go stare at [his] baby now”). and your brother is constantly bringing you things – your binky, blanket, food, his toys. that is in between spurts of frustration at the attention you unintentionally distract from him. but he always, always, always kisses you on the head before he goes to bed at night, my dear. you’ve got them good! though, if we are being honest, you’ve got us all pretty good.
i am not sure what your future holds, little miss. so far you have blown any idea i could have had out of the water with your easy going and generally happy demeanor. i know there is a lot of time ahead of us for change and that you have countless surprises in store for us as you grow into the little girl and woman you are supposed to be. i am so thrilled i get to be a part of your story and your journey. thank you for choosing us, cora bear. love, mama & daddy
new years at the zoo!
on new years day we joined roy and his mom at the zoo.
we got there early enough to see the penguins get fed. bryan was just as into it at the boys were.
cora made this cute face
and henry and roy had a stroller fight (led by bryan)
i am not sure about you, but i cannot believe it is 2012 already! I am really excited to see what this year has in store for us. 2010 and 2011 brought us our first son and daughter, respectively. there are currently no plans for another baby on the horizon for 2012, but it will be so exciting to see our children grow, our family evolve and experience all the events in store. we are excited for ali and greg to get married, to travel to houston for another family wedding and for all of the other completely unpredictable and unplanned adventures the year may have in store. i hope everyone had a great holiday and 2012 is the best year yet!
the holiday season
so, the week between christmas and new year’s was a super blur. my parents were here until thursday and i succeeded in not taking any pictures with my camera after christmas day! ugh. i did get a few on my phone though, but i don’t know the exact dates of all of them. but i got some cute ones anyways…
