First tooth!

Nick first tooth broke the surface today! It's barely visible at this point, but we should have a full-blown bottom tooth in the next week or so. Wish us luck that he gets through the experience relatively pain-free. 

11 months for Nicholas!

Our little guy is heading into the final stretch of his first trip around the sun! Other than the stair climbing already reported on earlier this month, not much new is happening with Nick. He's just a big, happy boy. He's still sporting a toothless smile, so bets are on as to whether he'll pop one through before his birthday.

My favorite thing right now is watching him eat. I swear he's the most adorable little eater ever. Where Lainey would just shovel handfuls of food in her mouth as quickly as possible, Nick's got this perfect little pincer grasp and picks up one piece of food at time and slowly puts it in his mouth. He likes to savor his chow and has a very thoughtful look as he gums away. I think he's going to be a foodie. 

Happy 11 months my best boy!

                    Me and My Guy

Elaine Brandi's Brother

I grew up the younger sibling to quite the extraordinary older brother. It was always, "so, you're Chris Anderson's sister. We expect big things from you." The ongoing comparisons caused me to dub him "Golden Boy" when I was around 10. Even in college, I was right on his heels and in direct comparison. I remember one professor stopping mid-lecture as it suddenly dawned on him that I was that Anderson. He seemed truly flummoxed that I belonged to Chris.

I suppose the whole situation could have been worse if I weren't an above average student myself. While I wasn't "Chris" smart, I wasn't hurting in the intellect department, and I had a few talents that Chris did not, so my self-esteem didn't take a crushing blow from falling short of my older brother's achievements. But, I won't pretend that it didn't grow tiring being identified as "Chris's sister."

Rest assured that at 34 I'm not feeling the chill of Golden Boy's shadow. But those old feelings were stirred up over the weekend when realizing I compare Nick to Lainey much more than I should. While I suppose it's natural to use Lainey as a benchmark for development (she is the baby I know best), I get a little too antsy when Nick's not at the same milestone she was at his age. While she has always blown away the standard developmental markers (sometimes by months), he recently "failed" his 10-month developmental questionnaire. His communication and fine motor skills are solid, but he's struggling a bit in the gross motor category. After talking through a few items with the doctor and the progress he's made in the past month, she felt confident it was nothing to be worried about and he didn't require and extra trip to the office before his one-year check up. She gave me the "all babies develop differently" speech, but I still joked with Mark that Nick is going to grow up "Elaine Brandi's brother."

I suppose comparisons are inevitable if  you have a sibling close in age, and the younger one will always be the second on the scene. It's just something I want to be cognizant of as they grow and start pursuing interests. There are a lot of things I did along the way simply because Chris did them first, not because I was particularly interested. And there were also things I didn't go after, because he had already been there, done that, and killed it, so why even bother.

As time goes on and things getting more complicated than who sat up or walked first, I'm not sure what I'll do from a parenting standpoint to help my kids find their own identities independent of each other. I'll just have to wait and see how things shake out. Who knows, maybe this will be a complete non-issue for them. At the end of the day, if my biggest worry for my kids' well being is whether they both get ample opportunity to shine, I'll take it and count my blessings!

I hope I can still get this shot when they're teenagers

                                              

Stair Climber

Stairs weren't something we had to deal with when Lainey was a babe, but Nick has discovered them and can't get enough. Every chance he gets he makes a break for the staircase and starts climbing. We tell him "no," but he just looks over his shoulder, laughs, and keeps on truckin'--and he's FAST. Guess we're going to have to finally open that baby gate we bought when we moved into the house.

Rock Bottom? I don't think so...

Article:  My Rock-Bottom Mom Moment Caught on Camera

I just read this article, and while I agree that it's great for parents to show and discuss their not-so-perfect moments, I don't think the overall tone of this piece really delivers on the supposed message that, as parents, we have low moments, but aren't necessarily bad parents because of them.

To give a quick synopsis, there is a picture of her three kids--the infant being fed by the six-year-old while he watches something on an iPad, and the oldest sitting in the baby carrier while she watches something on an iPad. She did this so she could keep them occupied and get ready for an evening out. The picture is funny, but I would hardly call this a "rock bottom" moment. I call it "life with kids." I mean, you can see some version of this scene DAILY around our house (and we only have two kids). The title of the piece made me roll my eyes, but her closing paragraph flat out annoyed me:

"Bottom line: I think it's important for moms to share the "doing-whatever-it-takes" moments as well as the Pinterest-inspired, picture-perfect ones. Would I have posted this on Facebook? Um, no. Am I proud of it? Not really. But I’m taking one for the mom team and throwing myself under the bus here so that other moms can feel better about some of their own subpar parenting. You’re welcome." 

Well, thanks so much, but I neither think you are throwing yourself "under the bus," nor is this what I call "rock bottom." Let me enlighten you on rock bottom...

A rock bottom moment is when you yell at your 10-month-old to "shut up," because it's 4:30am, you've had two hours of sleep, you're battling a severe cold, and you're petrified that he's going to wake your two-year-old.

A rock bottom moment is when you call your two-year-old "a little brat" to HER FACE, after you've spent the day battling her and listening to her scream and you just lose your sh*t for two seconds and forget you're the adult and she's ONLY TWO.

A rock bottom moment is when you've had a really hard week and find yourself running to the grocery at 9:30pm and instead of going over your list in your head you're thinking, "What if I just don't go back?"

A rock bottom moment is when you shut yourself in the hall pantry so you can pound your fists and stomp your feet and throw one hell of a temper tantrum without your kids seeing you (but, I will give myself points for  having the forethought not to let them witness it).

These are things that I truly am not proud of. These are things that make me question my parenting. These are the things that I have to forgive myself for and then try to do better the next day. Giving my kids a little screen time, so I can get showered and dressed for a party? That's just keeping sane.

While the gesture of the article is nice, the example kind of sucked and definitely didn't make me feel better as a parent. Her "subpar" parenting is my daily parenting. So if that's her standard, I guess I am a looooooong way from the "Pinterest-inspired, picture-perfect" kind of parenting. And that's okay.  And I still get it right way more than I get it wrong. And I'm still a good mom.

10 Months for Nick!

Nick passed 10 months last week, but he seems to be growing well past his age. We had Lainey in the trusty Keyfit 30 (infant carseat) until 18 months, but there is no way Nick's making it that long. We'll be lucky to hit one year. Although he's still under the weight limit, his little feet are starting to dangle past the edge and with his winter coat on he's definitely snug as a bug. In spite of this, we are STILL carrying our big guy around in it...but, only in/out of daycare. It's just easier to struggle along with him weighing me down in the carrier than to juggle getting Lainey and him safely to and in the car. If the temperatures weren't so scarily frigid and we didn't have mounds of ice and snow everywhere, I'd be a little more open to figuring it all out. But for now I just want to get them safely in their seats as quickly as possible in the eveings.

Nick's had a few achievements recently. As of this weekend, he's finally pulling himself into a standing position. Mark tried futilely all weekend to capture it on camera, but Nick wouldn't perform. What he DID catch on camera was Nick's first "mommy" during bathtime tonight. As much as I would like to claim it as his first word, Mark's says he said "dada" twice the other day and pointed to him. I did not see this feat. But, since no one witnessed Lainey's first recognition of me as "mama," which I still declare HER first word, I have to give this one to Mark. Although, if we're both honest, I really think his first word was "Lainey." For a few weeks now, he's been making the noise "aynay," and it just so happens he makes it when Lainey appears in the room. Mark took the video on the camcorder, so it will be awhile before I actually get around to downloading it and posting...like until we run out of memory and have to take stuff of the memory card.

Nick's also waving hi/bye, clapping, and playing peek-a-boo (aka "Where's Nick") on command now. And according to his daycare teachers, he's rolling his eyes. I wonder who taught him that little trick? Couldn't be my sweet little 2-year-old? (Nor his mommy when reacting to the many challening things said sweet little 2-year-old does.) He's also learning to fight back a bit. Lainey stole a toy from him in the bathtub last week and he screamed and then slapped her across the face. While I really don't want another hitter on my hands, I had to cheer a little for my guy (internally, of course).

While I've been a little sad at how quickly time is passing with Nick, I have to admit, things are getting pretty fun. He's babbling and playing and learning new stuff every day! Love this little guy!

He's still comfortable enough to doze

He is such a happy boy!

Will Someone PLEASE Stop the Clock?

I just scheduled Nick's one-year check-up and am all kinds of emotional now. I know it's two months away, but the last 10 months feel as if they went by in 10 weeks. I need more time! But, alas, no matter how I cry or stomp my feet, his birthday will be here all too soon and my sweet baby boy with be a toddler. **Sigh**

I can still smell his newborn head...