See that neon green shirt at the very tippy top? Yes, that’s my three year old boy, proudly (and probably nervously) gripping highest of high ropes. My heart beats faster just looking at this photo. Did he ask for help getting down? Did he tell me once that he was scared? Nope. This kid didn’t so much as bat an eye on the way up, or on the way down. His mama, on the other hand, may not have taken a single breath until his feet were firmly planted back on the woodchips, though.

This was taken a couple of weeks ago, but I haven’t posted it anywhere else, and I hesitated to post it here, for the slight fear of someone calling CPS. I was standing and chatting with the father of another boy in his class as a few of us had gathered at the park for a playdate, and he clearly thought I was completely nuts for allowing this. Honestly, had I not had his brother strapped to the front of me I might have at least tried to climb with him as a spotter.

Here’s the thing, though: I know my kid. I watched every single move he made on that structure. He climbed carefully, looking for and testing each hand- and foot-hold. He didn’t pay attention to any of the other kids who were jostling the ropes around him–he was determined and focused. Once he was there, he looked just a little bit unsure of what to do next. I asked if he needed help, and he said no. He then very slowly started to back himself down. My heart stopped each time his little foot reached out behind him and found nothing but air, but every time that happened he adjusted his grip, shifted his weight, and patiently probed until his toe caught rope. And his look when he hit the ground? Priceless. That kid was so proud of himself. Beaming from ear to ear. I gave him a high-five and gently suggested that he try out some of the other equipment, giving my stomach a chance to un-knot.

No, not every kid will or should be allowed to do something like this. And there may be plenty of times that Monk won’t or shouldn’t be allowed to do something similar. But provided the conditions are right, I have to say that letting your kid take chances and exercise his abilities (by himself) is completely awesome.

Two weeks post-actual birthday, and nearly 1 week post-party, and I’m finally ready to document the completion of my baby boy’s first year of life. Unexpectedly, I’m finding that time passed during my 2nd boy’s first year much like it did for my 1st: at a simultaneous snail’s pace and breakneck speed. Knowing how quickly babyhood disappears, I did my best to stop, appreciate, and soak up Archie’s. But motherhood is tricky, and no matter how hard you try it all still feels like a blur.

Our little dude is getting bigger (stats to come after this Friday’s well-check), and more teeth are working their way through. He’s taken his first steps, and although he continues to practice daily, crawling is still his preferred mode of transportation. He’s ridiculously fast, and has energy for days. A friend recently asked me if Archie is more wiggly than Oscar was, and I responded that in terms of intensity and energy, Archie is more everything than Oscar was.

He’s still crazy happy, and wants to be with people all the time. He laughs constantly and at everything, especially his big brother. He LOVES to play peekaboo, and wants to be in control of whatever he’s doing. Reading books with him is a lesson in collaboration: he points at the pictures, ‘talks,’ wants to turn the pages himself (usually before you’re ready), and will try to grab the book out of your hand repeatedly. His docile, laid-back attitude has given way to a much more active, assertive, and outgoing personality. He knows what he wants, goes for it, and lets you know if you’re in the way. He’s also just as loving as his brother, and will speed crawl over to me when I enter a room, beaming from ear to ear, just to jump into my lap for hugs and snuggles.

We had his party at our house the Saturday afternoon following his birthday. Papa, Grandma Barbara, Aunt Molly, Uncle Jason, and cousin Leo all came down from Michigan. We also had our friend Anne and her twins Graham and Finn (Oscar’s buddies) join the fun. There were no planned activities aside from eating, opening presents, and visiting.

I made 2 cakes, just like I did for Oscar 2 years ago: a larger 2-layer cake for the guests, and a small version for the birthday boy (created using a biscuit cutter to remove a small circle from each layer to assemble into a miniature 2 layer cake). I used the same recipe for this cake as I did for Oscar’s 3rd birthday cupcakes, and–as always–added sprinkles to the batter to mimic funfetti. We went easy for the rest of the meal, ordering a couple pounds of pulled pork from an excellent nearby BBQ place, skewering veggies for the grill, and pairing with baked beans and homemade cornbread. Decorations were simple, too: sunflowers cut from the garden, the sparkly birthday banner, a photo garland using Archie’s monthly photos and mini clothespins, and a bunch of balloons.

A close-up of one of the photo garlands, showing Archie’s 1st 6 months:

After stuffing ourselves silly we took a break to digest, then came back for cake. Documentation of the obligatory cake-smash:

After cake comes presents, of course. (It should be noted that our invitations specifically said ‘No Presents,’ but we knew some folks would probably ignore this. We were correct.) Archie had a lot of help with this part…

After presents the adults visited some more, while the kids destroyed the play room (as one should following an influx of new toys).

So that’s it. Onward into our baby’s 2nd year…

Hi there. Not sure if anyone reads this anymore, but just in case I wanted to shoot out a quick update about how we’ve been doing.

Things are okay. This has been, by far, the crappiest summer (or couple of months) that I can remember, but there have also been some pretty awesome days in there, too. There’s been playing at the splash park, birthday parties, gardening, cooking with the kids, and visiting with family. I’m discovering quickly that when you have a period of time in which your life feels like it’s standing completely still, when you try to go back to your normal routine you have to operate on fast forward for a little while. Like you paused a TV show and then need to catch up to the programming in real time. So things have been a little crazy, between work, the boys’ school, obligatory visits back to Ann Arbor, dealing with the estate side of things, and right this minute I’m in California on a week-long business trip. The weekend following my return will be Joey’s turn to head to a conference. Then it’s our littlest dude’s VERY FIRST BIRTHDAY!

As you may have guessed, the whole pausing/fast-forwarding of life didn’t stop my baby boy from hitting the 11 month mark a couple of weeks ago. And we absolutely made time to take the usual photo, which is sitting on my camera. One of the many items on my multiple to-do lists (created to keep things in order as I prepared to leave for SF) was to get the photos edited and posted. Since that didn’t happen you can expect to see those after my return next week. Archie has been busy doing fun baby things, like sprouting teeth, practicing walking (with help), and being generally awesome. More on that later.

Hope everyone else’s summers have been generally enjoyable. Things should start to look up around here before too long…there are plenty of fun times ahead that should be deserving of more uplifting posts.