Personalities

Having two children leads to comparisons. It is as simple as that. You can either deny or embrace it, but it is a fact of life. When you have your first child, everything they do is unique and important and singularly perfect. When they smile for the first time, laugh, eat solid foods, poop in the potty... all the happy moments of parenting come with a flourish of newness and importance. When the second comes along you begin to have the strange sense of appreciation and critical analysis occurring simultaneously. I realized this the other day when I decided Finn was going to start eating purees. 


I wanted to wait until the recommending 6 months, but then I realized I have always let my instincts win out over vaguely terrifying medical articles and so I went about feeding my son. I bought squash and sweet potatoes. I intend on making my own foods for him but wanted to test run a couple before investing the time in steaming, pureeing, freezing, storing a food type he was going to Kidwell* on me. So the comparisons started when I realized that I had started Lily on solids on January 4, 2008. It was the same month and day only 4 years later that I began foods with Finn. 


That was where the similarities ended, friends. Mark used to have to pin Lily's flailing arms down when we fed her. The real possibility of the little princess smacking liquefied carrots all over the floor was something she deemed worthy of her utmost endeavors. Finn on the other hand grabbed the spoon and like a tractor beam pulled it steadily toward his gaping mouth. The weirdest part was the look in his eyes. It was menacing yet calm, like a criminal mastermind watching his plans for world domination coming to fruition. He was intent on getting that food himself because clearly I was either too simple or too mean to get it to him fast enough. I would get the food in his mouth then dip into the bowl for more and he would start whimpering. I was wondering if he didn't like it and was less than thrilled with the whole idea. Then I realized that he was only starting to cry when I was moving the spoon away from him. I had to set the bowl under his two chins and quickly dip then insert. It was more like keeping the food coming at a constant flow rather than bites. I had a flashback during this inhalation of squash of earlier in the day when I saw spoons that held the food inside this canister attached to the handle and laughed at them in the Target aisle. 
"Hahaha! Who would need a rapid delivery system for baby food! They're just babies!" I guffawed pompously. 
Ha. Ha... harrrumph. Me. That's who.




*Kidwell: verb- to reject a food based on appearance and principle based on it's inherent health value to humans. Example if a food is in the vegetable or fruit group the likelihood of being Kidwelled is quite high. 

Lily's first foods/Carrots/1.4.2008

Finn's first foods/Squash and Rice Cereal/1.4.2012

Hiatus

Hello friends!
Sorry for the extended lack of blog posts. I had a baby. Then Lily started 4K. Then we were all sick for the month of November. Then came Christmas and now we are in the new year. 2012. We had a lot to be thankful for in the past twelve months. Chronologically I suppose we could say we celebrated Mark's last birthday in his twenties, my last birthday being pregnant, Lily's fourth birthday, Finn's miraculous entrance into the world, our five year wedding anniversary and Christmas with two beautiful children. Honestly, there is no better feeling than contentment at home. I am so blessed and feel so honored to be a wife and mommy to the loves of my life. 
We had a very perfect Christmas morning this year. Finn slept through it. Mark made coffee at 5am and we waited to hear Lily's footsteps coming down the stairs. She kept us in suspense until around 7am when we heard the familiar thump, thump, thump of a sleepy little girl making her way downstairs. She peeked her head over the banister and Mark and I were standing in the living room staring at her. This NEVER happens so she immediately raised her eyebrows in interest. 
"Dad? Is it Christmas?"
"Yes, honey."
"Mom? Is it??"
"Yes, baby."
...
"DID SANTA COME?!"
The sleepy thumps morphed into swift and precise toe touches on the remaining steps as she made her way to the tree. Presents gleamed in the glow of the tree's lights. She smiled at us and our Christmas wishes were realized.


Truly this story sums up our year. Our family is complete and we are so very blessed.


Here are some snapshots of 2011