Seven Months Later...

So where was I?  Oh, yes: February.  Has it been that long already?  Once again, I find myself falling behind, not living up to the lofty goals I set for myself before Adam was born.  Back then, I thought I'd be able to write two blogs on a regular basis, just as I did during Kyle's first few years.  I was completely delusional, to say the least.  I had some minor success at first, but in the end I couldn't overcome the obstacle that somehow I overlooked: the actual parenting.  It's not easy, as many of you know, and having a second child doesn't mean you can just give up on the first and hope he can take care of himself (believe me, I've tried).  So it's twice as much fun and still 24 hours in a day.  And, yes, I've had a few other things come my way, like a little bit of paying work (real money!  I no longer have to barter for beer with diapers!) and a busy summer vacation.  I've had my hands full.  Yet now Kyle's back in school, having started pre-K earlier this month, and Adam's back on a regular nap schedule.  It's time to play catch-up. 

Quite a few things have changed since I wrote my last post on this blog.  This video shows how Kyle and Adam played together back then:

This is how they play now:

You may have noticed a few differences.  Adam's taller.  Our home is more noisy.  And there's no bouncy seat.  I had planned to write a tribute to our beloved bouncy seat back when we trashed it in February, but I became too teary-eyed to see the computer screen.  It was sad to see the thing go.  Kyle and Adam spent many, many good hours on it (before they took up their current favorite exercise: grabbing my legs as I try to walk with hot coffee).  I'm sure some raccoon is enjoying the bouncy seat now at the city dump.

Of course, the big thing you may have noticed is that Adam is no longer a quadruped.  The little guy started taking steps here and there over the summer, and by August he was moving through rooms on his own.  Kyle took a little longer to start walking, but he was making certain that he had his balance mastered first.  Adam, on the other hand, was more eager to just get going, so he has had no qualms with falling on the floor, or whacking his head against the table or stairwell.  He just figures Daddy will catch him first, even though he has very little evidence to back up this assertion.  Usually I get there too late. 

In July, on the night we returned from our Florida vacation (which did not get off to the best start: see here), Adam decided to get all reckless on us.  I had just carried all our 200-pound bags up to the third floor from our car, and Jennifer was starting to unpack.  With no parent within ten yards, Adam felt it was time to stop playing quietly and to start preparing for the 2028 Olympics in our living room.  He'd practice a back flip first, followed by a few somersaults and then a leap onto the coffee table, which would surely earn him gold if he stuck the landing.  Unfortunately, halfway through the back flip, he remembered that he is just a one-year-old and knows nothing about gymnastics, so he went limp and fell backwards, banging his head on the floor and chomping down on his tongue.  There was blood.  Lots of it.  Adam struck red oil on his tongue, and it gushed out and poured all over Jennifer's shoulder as she consoled him.  We were afraid we'd have to go to the emergency room, but when we called the pediatrician, we were told that these things happen and the best we could do is let the tongue heal itself.  Sure enough, after about a half-hour and a roll of paper towels, the bleeding stopped.  In no time, Adam was back on his feet, and tumbling off them a short while later.

Plenty of other things happened this past summer, and most did not require calls to the doctor.  I put together a slideshow, which I had posted on Facebook.  Here it is, for those of you who haven't seen it yet:

Summer 2012

It was a fun and busy summer.  I had very little time to myself with both boys home, but we seemed to plan things right.  There were plenty of things to do, and I had some help during vacations and the week my mom was with us.  At the beginning of summer, I did manage to find a little bit of time to answer some questions for my good friend Jessica Smith, who featured me on the "That's IT! Mommy" blog.  You can read the article by clicking here. 

You might also be interested in what happened before summer break.  I put together another album, spanning the gap from the pictures I posted in February to the above summer pictures.  Here's that album:

Adam: 8-12 Months

And, of course, there are those photos of Adam on the chair.  Normally I'd post the entire backlog, but since there are so many, I figure I'll just close this post with the most recent session (which Adam did not particularly enjoy).  Click it, and you'll be able to see all the chair photos, including all the ones since February.  Enjoy, and hopefully I'll be back next month with more.