Honestly, I didn’t care if our second child was a boy or a girl. I just wanted our fantastic daughter to have a playmate for life and someone to share things with in this crazy world of ours.

It’s only been since L has been here that I’ve actually started to think about what having a son actually means. None of these things are things that E won’t get to experience with me. Just the father/son dynamic will probably be a little different than the father/daughter one.

• The world will have 1 more Cubs fan.
• SItting on the glass at hockey games
• Throwing footballs in the yard and dunking basketballs
• Collecting Sports cards

I mean, how awesome is this little dude?

I’m so excited to watch L and E grow up together.

E is a big sister like I am a big brother. Instead of the almost 6 year difference between my sister and I, E will only have about 2.5 years between them. My sister and I never shared the same school or ride the same bus. My children will. This is all so fascinating to think about as I’ve never known anything except my own experience.

It has been fascinating to see the gentle care my 2 year old has for her brother. This crazy kid, who gets mad and will smack me and her mother and throw tantrums that would make a dictator mad, turns into a softie when she “speaks” to and about her brother. She’ll shoosh you if you are too loud or tell you that he’s sleeping. I don’t know where she got this from – it’s like an innate part of their being offspring of the same parents.

Now onto my own sister…travel is going to be difficult for Becky and I the next few years. Heck, even a trip to Target takes twice as long as it used to. This weekend, K came to visit with her husband to meet her new nephew. She’s now got a niece and a nephew! My 30 year old sister is an AUNT. Anyway, seeing them together is just…beyond words. And E saying their names in her little voice was just the pay off of so many books read, picture albums looked at and just….time. Time together.

I so look forward to watching all these bonds grow – for the rest of my life.

In the summer filled with superheroes at the movie theater, sometimes think about the ones in your every day life. St. Thomas Midtown hospital has some of the most amazing nurses in their baby unit- pre and post. I honestly don’t know how they hire such perfect people for this job. I mean, grace and humor at 3 am?

We had repeat encounters with a few people in anesthesiology but also and met the wonderful Ashley, Kristin, Paige and Karen who all made our worries less and our second birthing experience a marvel. I can’t imagine two more different visits. It’s weird that we may never see them again but they had such a huge influence on this important time in our lives. 

Thank you to all my nurse friends, no matter what you practice. You deserve to be on the big screen….
Update: gotta add Leslie to the list

PS. This is a draft from almost 2 months ago that I just found…..enjoy 🙂

Our house is usually only quiet for about 6 hours a day. Emerson goes to bed between 7 and 8 PM and gets up around 6 PM (unless we are lucky OR unlucky). My lovely wife is not a morning person or a night person, especially during pregnancy. I really think she’d be ok getting up at 9 AM every day and going to bed at 8 PM. But she would fill those 11 hours.

Now myself..if I could, I would never sleep (this drives Becky crazy). I get these mini insomnia episodes every few months – they used to happen more frequently – where I get up at 4:30 in the morning and am just READY TO GO. Like that “Honey Do” list or whatever crazy idea I have in my head just motivates my brain and body in a way that energizes me. It normally lasts for a week to 10 days and it’s kinda what I imagine crack or a large amount of Starbucks would do to you. The thing is….I never crash. It passes eventually but I go back to my (in bed at midnight and up by 6:30 self).

All that to say…the house is full of energy and our schedule is constantly changing. Becky or I take Emerson to daycare in the morning (duh). Well, we don’t have set days. Sometimes Becky has an early meeting or E is just sleeping so sweet that we don’t want to wake her up.

This morning, E slept in about 10 extra minutes but we still got her ready in time for Becky to take her (miraculously). Becky and I (ALMOST) always kiss out of her driver side window after we’ve got E all buckled in.

Well on to the heart of the story…today I kissed Becky and Emerson said “I want kiss”.

Love-

B