Year 2

With your first kid, you tend to focus on the Firsts for that child.  First tooth.  First time eating cereal.  First friend.  First steps.  First time sitting on the potty.  There are tons of Firsts that are celebrated, recorded & cherished.  The second child also has the same Firsts.  I've learned that they aren't recorded as often, but they are celebrated all the same.  But I've discovered that the second kid (more important, the last kid) gets a category that the first kid will never get.  He gets Lasts.  And it isn't about him.  It's more about the parent.  It's the Last time we get to witness certain aspects of childhood.  I'm sure that the Lasts could get sad & sappy, but I'm not looking at it that way.  The Last category is about the slow climb towards independence & growth.  And isn't that the goal of parenting?  Last nursing jag.  Last diaper changed (God willing it will happen).  Last night in a crib.  Last high chair meal.    Last time doing a bunch of baby things.  This will be the last time you get to see me as a mother to a two-year-old.

And this will be the last time you get to see my two year-old son.  He's looking forward to three.  We all are because it's going to be full exciting Firsts & Lasts for the entire house.

-Erika

Here's his year 2 in pictures!