marks of childhood
When Zion was born he looked a little spotted and pimply, but it took just a couple days for his skin to attain that baby-soft smoothness so beloved of the marketers of feminine skin-care products. Smooth, flawless, and rosy-pink. The same can't be said for Harvey. Cuts and scratches, bruises all up his shins, poison ivy, mosquito bites—right now he is marked with all those things. He was marked with a whole lot of dirt and grime too, until his bath this evening. The boy loves his outdoor time!
Since he's the most beautiful almost-two-year-old in the Greater Boston area (at the very least) we very well could have gotten him into modeling or advertising, but aside from the tedium of having to manage the millions of dollars in toil-free income that would bring us (what a drag!), we'd also have to keep Harvey from marking up his million-dollar face. It's nice not needing to worry about that. He heals pretty quick, which is enough for us the way things are now.
Although I really should do something about the poison ivy growing by the cellar door...
getting along
Dan ended his paternity leave today, and I survived my first day of solo parenting. I managed to keep my children fed, napped, and mildly entertained, although the trickiest part was the late afternoon when it caught up to Harvey that we hadn't left the house all day. By that time my whole body was shaking from the effort of going up and down the stairs while carrying one child or the other or both. Why oh why is all the food downstairs and all the diaper stuff upstairs? It didn't help that it was a day of non-stop poopy diapers for the big heavy child who could not keep his hands off the fruit basket. I appreciate the sentiments, Edible Arrangements, but not the digestive properties of your product combined with how irresistible it is to a toddler to eat food on a stick.
Fortunately for me Harvey is a good sweet boy, and he's taken to brotherhood remarkably well. He's amazingly patient with how long it takes to change Zion's diaper and nurse him, and he keeps bringing Zion toys and hats, each time saying "Baby want this?" This morning all he wanted to do was hold the baby. He said "uppy baby" and then held his arms up at about the level of his ears, adding "peeeeeese?"
getting to like you, getting to hope you like me
So I sat and read them my favorite story, pressed up next to Harvey with one hand on the book and the other supporting Zion's head as a back up measure. Harvey listened to the story and every minute or so leaned down to kiss Zion on his forehead. Rascal took notice and squeezed his way onto the couch on the other side of me. When I got to the point in the story where it says "All the world is everything, everything is you and me" it was all I could do to hold back big mama tears.
kisssy baby
During this pregnancy I prayed for a baby that would be the perfect fit for our family. So far Zion seems to be fitting in with Harvey like a puzzle piece, which is to say he's perfectly complementary while being perfectly opposite. He sleeps all the time, unlike constantly wakeful baby Harvey. He wants hugs and cuddles and to be held horizontal, unlike baby Harvey who just wanted to be put down in his basket or be held sitting upright like a big boy. It seems as if Harvey was made to be a big brother and Zion to be a devoted little. Or it could be the difference in their gestational ages, who knows. Either way it's exciting to see this whole new relationship forming. Makes all the stairs worth it.