Dear Jack: One Year, Six Months

Dear Jack,

From here on, you are closer to two years old than one year old. I can't believe it. You will always be my baby. Always.

We have just celebrated Christmas with you, your second Christmas but it has been one that seemed more "real" to you, I think. Of course, you didn't understand all the way what was going on, but you were pretty happy to dig into the presents and rip off the wrapping paper. For Christmas, we bought you all kinds of wooden toys with shapes, animals, and trains and barns for the creatures. You love animals, especially farm animals.

At 18 months, you are still the worst eater in the world, but you do like pizza.

Despite your bad eating, you make up for it with sleeping well. You usually sleep an easy, uninterrupted 12 hours a night and take one, reliable nap a day. That is pretty much a miracle for me.

Bathtime is your favorite ever. You love playing in water. As your language grows, so does your understanding of what we are saying. If we say "bath," you go running to the bathroom, ready to play in the tub.

For the longest time, I felt incredibly guilty about you, Jack. I felt like I did not read to you as much as I read to Eliot as a baby, so I worried that you wouldn't like books. However, I must have not messed up too badly because you just love books. We read Goodnight, Moon together and you put my finger on the fire for me to jump back and say, "Ow!" We pet the kitties together and put on the mittens.

It amazes me how different you can be from your brother. You have this independence that he just didn't exhibit. You wander off on your own. You play by yourself. You are brave. Of course, you love to interact with us and to have us read to you and give you attention too, but you don't mind being on your own either. Your independence gets you in trouble sometimes, though, as you go off to explore and scoot chairs all around the house to get exactly what you want.

Jack-bear, you keep on growing even though I can't comprehend how fast time is going. There is something to becoming a parent for the first time and experiencing everything for the first time with a new baby. It's scary and beautiful all at the same time. And then you have a second born, and you worry about making everything equal and whether you can show the same love to the second baby. Jack, you are our second boy and likely our last. So, there is also something (something I didn't expect) to experiencing everything for the last time. Each milestone you reach fills me with pride and also crushes my heart. You, our baby, are growing so fast. And it is so beautiful.