Second Child Syndrome

It has already begun.  There are perhaps a thousand pictures of Harry's first year home.  He is posed with each new person he met, grandparents, great-grandparents, our friends, other babies we know, etc.  Emma?  Not so much.

The problem with taking pictures of a second child, I think, is that your hands are still full of the first child.  I don't have enough hands to make it all happen.  I have lots of pictures of her during Harry's naptimes, when it is just the two of us playing on the floor, and I have lots of blurry pictures of the two of them together.  But I have not taken a single picture of her meeting anyone.  Bad mommy.

What I do have are movies.  It took me until Harry was more than a year old to remember that our digital camera could take short movies, and I never really took many of him even when I did remember.  Emma, however, has movies of using her walker, tearing around the room and screeching at the dogs.  We have video of her learning to crawl, eating, and "talking" to Harry.

And what I lack in photographic evidence, I have written here.

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For all of you, a little update on our beloved Second Child:

She loves all fruits.  Green vegetables are not acceptable, but yellow and orange will be dealt with on a case by case basis.  Rice cereal will not make her gag if you mix in apple juice.  When she rules the world, blueberries will be served at every meal.  She likes her formula thick and warm - no cold bottles for her delicate system, and don't try to sneak a cold one in because she'll take a bunch in and then spit it all over you.  Eww.

She thinks she can walk and she is probably not too far from learning how.  She doesn't care very much about crawling, but can inchworm just fine when something drool-worthy is within a few feet of her.  In her walker she is a danger to our feet, and scares Harry.  And the dogs.  And us, a little.  This must be where the term "ankle biter" stems from, because when that plastic rim hits your foot or ankle it hurts like...you get the idea.

She can roll over, touch her toes to the top of her head, and sit up steadily if you leave her in a seated position.  She cannot yet get into a seated position by herself, but she tries all of the time and I don't think it will be long before she can.  She loves to stand up.  She will gladly hold the side of her crib or pack'n'play for a very long time, peering out over the rim at the world contained within our walls.  While standing she smiles and chatters at us.

She is working on her pincher grasp.  She can pick up Cheerios that way (occasionally...usually she she picks them up with her fist) and bring them to her mouth, but she doesn't yet understand that she has to let them go in order to eat.  We are working on this with her.  She eats baby crackers just fine by herself.

She is sleeping really well in her crib at night and for naps.  She infrequently needs me to sleep with her, which is completely normal, and I just tuck us both into the twin bed in her room.  She ALWAYS wakes up with a smile on her face.  Always.  The happiest baby ever, she is.  She also likes to catnap in the Mei tai carrier I made.  I call it the "instant baby sleep maker" because she nods off within seconds of being strapped to me.

Her hair cannot be kept down.  Oh, you can try to squash it with a hat, but the minute she sweats just a little bit (and she has a very sweaty head) the hair rises all on its own, one strand at a time, until it is all sticking up in the finest display of baby chick fuzz you ever did see.  I love it!  She looks funny to me when her hair isn't sticking up, so much so that I think I will be a little sad when it grows out and starts hanging down.

Her fingernails grow like crazy.  I have cut them no fewer than four times in the four weeks we have been home, and I should cut them today.  Her toenails grow slower, but still faster than I would have expected.

She could care less about the TV.  It is of no interest to her and is, in fact, quite beneath her.  Do not bother to try and let her watch Baby Einstein videos, as she will turn in the other direction and pretend there is nothing going on behind her back.  This is not  sight or hearing issue, as she wakes up at the very slightest noise made by her exuberant brother, and she can spot her bottle from half a house away.  No, she just has no use for brain rotting light boxes.  Good for her.  Except the computer, which she adores with an unexplained passion.

Teeth.  She has three, all on the bottom, and number four is well on its way to making an appearance.  The drool is out of control.  We average three outfits a day because of the drool.  Formula drool smells bad.  Not as bad as formula spit-up, but still not good.  I know you don't want to read about it, so moving right along...

You may not run water in the house without sharing it with Emma.  This includes dish washing and laundry.  Water must be watched, touched, and played with.  If you dare to give someone a bath without her she will work her way into the bathroom and yell at you, no joke.  it is easier to just share and clean up the splashy mess later, in my opinion.

Our girl, she appreciates good scheduling.  Naps are at 9:00am and 2:00pm, precisely.  Bedtime is slightly more flexible, but only by 15 minutes or so: between 7:45 and 8:00pm.  If you try for an early nap you will spend the extra time settling her down for the nap, so you might as well wait until she wants to go down.  If you are late, well, good luck to you.  One crabby baby is what you'll have, and crabby babies don't fall asleep easily in my experience.  She is equally demanding about eating.  Solid foods are expected at 8am, noon, and 5pm.  Bottles are more flexible, but she asks for them so that makes things simpler.  I am unused to such rigidity, but I am adjusting.  I just don't know how I'll ever grocery shop again.

She has two words in Korean, Omma and mama, mom and bottle respectively.  She also babbles a great deal, and excels at yelling and screeching with her brother.  They adore each other, until she touches something of Harry's and he says "no no no, bad girl" (which he gets from us telling the dogs 'bad girl', not the baby, BTW).  He is getting better every day, and we know they'll be thick as thieves before long.

We're all well, happy, and getting adjusted to this new version of our family.  We are accepting visitors and dinner invitations.  We are looking forward to the delivery of our pool next week (did I not mention the pool?  Oh, it comes on Friday, Casey's 16th birthday!), and we are also accepting help with yard work.  Yes, I know full well that we won't get offers on that last one, but you can't blame a girl for trying, right?