Categories
Kids/Parenting Fulfillment

Finding that sweet moment

kids-feb-mar-2009-036smallAs of yesterday, I’ve been a mother of two for nine months. It hasn’t been everything I expected—or maybe I should say feared. Yes, at times it has been very stressful (especially lately with both children suddenly thinking they need to make sure I wake at least every hour during the night).

But, as I always seem to find, enjoying motherhood is less about what my kids do and more about who they are. Of course, that’s also manifest in their actions, but their little personalities are some of the biggest joys of this life.

Especially when their little personalities get along so well.

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Naturally, Rebecca is fascinated with Hayden. She can’t keep her eyes off him when he’s in the room. She laughs easiest at his antics. Even his mere presence can be enough to elicit a giggle.

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And for his part, Hayden loves his little sister “Werbecca” very much. His favorite things to do seem to be helping to sing a lullaby before her naps and bedtime (“Baby Beluga”) and being there to wake her up after her naps. (Of course, since she finds him so interesting and entertaining, sometimes his efforts to help put her down aren’t so helpful after all, but it’s still sweet.)

A recent comment here really struck me. Mom on the Go said:

Don’t wait for the day that you can say it’s worth it. Wait for the moment. Grace comes in all lengths of time. The short ones seem to come with the small kids.

A few weeks ago, I let Hayden go in to talk to Rebecca after she woke up from a nap, while I was finishing up something on the computer. I came in to get my giggling children and I found one of those moments just waiting for me:

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What moments have you found lately?

Categories
Kids/Parenting

Can it get any better?

Most parents of more than one child will tell you that second children tend to be easier. They sleep better (my mother-in-law’s second was sleeping through the night at three weeks!) (!), they sleep anywhere, they eat better, they’re portable, etc.

But I’m very concerned that our second can’t be that much easier than our first. In fact—though I hope I’m wrong—I have a nagging suspicion that our next baby can’t be any easier than Hayden.

easy street = dead end
Photo by gshoe95

Hayden is, in my opinion, a pretty easy-going kid. He’s content to play by himself much of the time—and not just content, but insistent (lately he’s taken to telling me “bye bye” when he wants me to go away and let him play by himself). He sleeps through the night (though that one did take some time). He’s generally pretty good about taking naps. He wakes up happy the vast majority of the time.

Granted, most of this self-sufficiency is age related, but Hayden has always been a pretty easy-to-handle little guy. He never seemed to cry much. He took as many as three good naps on a reasonably good schedule by about 4 or 5 months.

I’m just not seeing a lot of room for “improvement,” you know? What do you think—am I just glossing over all the rough parts of Hayden’s babyhood (and personality), or am I pretty much doomed?


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