2012 in review

I'm a middle of the road kind of girl.  I like a lot of stuff, but don't really have favorites.  DH is that way too.  It works out well for us, I guess.  It's tough then for me to come up with "Best of" lists and "Top Tens."  I have thought for a while, though, about trying to capture how our little family is ending 2012 thinking it will be neat to remember next year.  So here's a little review, for better, worse, or in the middle of the Land of Nages in 2012...(and Amy, if you're reading, I so wish I could do this with a rhyming little ditty.)

NB officially joined the Land of Nages a third of the way through the year.  He has been busy his first almost-nine months trying to make up for the first four he missed.  Being born, growing, learning to roll, sit, babble, and crawl were all big accomplishments for our littlest guy.  I wish I had a video of his crawl to post...he crosses his right foot over his left at the ankle and pushes off with one leg while he drags his body using his palms or forearms.  It reminds me of "the worm."  It is no secret that our biggest challenge with him was sleeping through the night.  I'm still not sure if he is consistently, but we've all adjusted to whatever he's doing, and we're happy to move on.  At 8 months and 3 weeks he is the happiest, easiest going little guy.  He loves his Da and brother.  He laughs when mommy shakes her hair over him, tickles up his belly or under his chin.  He still coos on occasion when he sneezes.  He says "ma ma ma, da da da, nya nya nya, and ssssss a lot.  He loves to bounce, rock himself on the ottoman, and hang over backwards. He'd rather watch LO do anything than nurse.  Like LO at this age, he enjoys pulling the one remaining doorstop and playing in the curtains. He still prefers to stand rather than sit, so we let him do that as much as we can.  He requires a lot of support, so I think it will be awhile before he is standing on his own.  I initially thought he'd be earlier with his gross motor milestones than his big brother, but I now don't think he will be by much. In any case, he is poised to tackle the big milestones in 2013...it's pretty safe to predict first steps, first teeth, first birthday, and first real words it's just a matter of what the order will be.

LO had his little world rocked in 2012.  He got pretty easy to handle in the early months of the year.  He learned to crawl in and out of his car seat himself, and suddenly taking him places was a piece of cake.  He also napped pretty consistently early on and really didn't act much like the proverbial toddler. We coasted along really well until about April 10th.  LO was the hardest thing about NB arriving.  I can't imagine how NB's arrival must have seemed to him.  As much as we tried to prepare him, there was only so much we could do.  In the midst of that LO made his great escape.  Suddenly none of us were sleeping, at all, ever.  No sleep meant toddler behavior on steroids and cranky parents on their last nerve.  We entered fall running on empty, and gradually, oh so gradually, things began to turn around. Each of us in our own way found sleep, patience, energy, and new ways of being together.  Shortly thereafter we found laughter, joy, and amazement in the bonds between brothers. LO came into his own as a big brother and I continue to be impressed at the ways he connects with NB.  He pays some lip service to not liking NB at times.  It is hard for him to share my attention and it stresses him greatly for NB to cry.  His actions speak volumes though.  LO can entertain and fascinates NB like no one else, and that seems to make him feel pretty good.  LO is also the first one to provide a toy to NB if he's upset.  He often dances, jumps, or plays for NB to keep him happy while I cut his nails or run to get something.  The sweetest though, is when LO sings "Bye, Oh Baby" to NB to soothe him.  Let me make the point here that, while becoming a big brother was LO's most dramatic change in 2012, it wasn't his only accomplishment.   I'm not sure I can remember all the new skills he found this year, but here's a shot: knows most of his capital letters by site and many of his lower case ones, can count to 15 (most of the time), can coast very briefly on his balance bike (a huge accomplishment given that he's probably only been on it half a dozen times), had begun to dance, pretend play, make friends, has a sense of rhythm and pitch, runs, jumps, climbs, balances on one foot, gallops, uses learning chopsticks to pick up all sorts of things, speaks a little Spanish, and...there's a whole post coming for his latest accomplishment.  He is not a middle of the road guy.  He has big emotions and is getting better at describing them.  He's also getting better at a little self control.  We are working together on finding his "happy heart" when he gets sad, whiny, or frustrated, and he is learning to find it and join the family faster.  We still have work to do there, but having a happy heart is something we all struggle with sometimes, isn't it?  Anyway, LO does have favorites, so here goes: favorite toy-Garbage truck, favorite song- Old MacDonald?, favorite activity-watching the big garbage truck pass by the house (two on Mondays, three on Thursdays...he seriously sits by the window for an hour or so doing nothing because he hears it one neighborhood over and is afraid to miss it), other favorite activity- eating (probably more of a fav than watching the garbage truck, but hard to say), favorite color-blue or orange, best buddy at school- Maddox (not sure if Maddox is aware.  They do race garbage trucks though...see the theme?), best buddy away from school- Sam and NB, hero- his dad.  He also loves painting, spinning in circles, going to the pet store, going to the pool, going to the zoo...going. I think 2013 holds more independence for him.  I bet he'll balance well on his bike (given the opportunity), play more with friends, speak more Spanish, catch and throw a ball better, learn to recognize numbers and lower case letters, and maybe learn to swim.  I hope confidence will replace his anxiety, and kindness will replace his jealousy.

DH has always been one hard-working, family-serving kind of guy.  2012 closed with him working and serving harder than ever.  It hasn't been glamorous and there's not much to write about here, but we have tried to be grateful and understanding.  I wish we knew what 2013 had in store on those fronts for him.  Knowing would make it easier to him to endure his current work demands.  We don't know though.  I look forward to reflecting on the year and finding that it all worked out in the end.  Around the house, LO has begun to look up to DH more and more.  Two years ago when LO was attached at my hip, I promised DH there would come a day when I would be chopped liver and he could do no wrong.  That day has arrived and it warms my heart to see.  I know DH enjoys it even more than I.  I hope this season lasts a while for them.  The next one, I think, is the one where LO thinks we're both dumb as dirt.

This is the part of the post that calls for a little self-reflection.  Is it a cop-out to say that my 2012 is already written in the sections of my guys?  They are so much of who I am and what I do. I hope 2013 brings more growth for me as a parent and spouse.  Hmm, that growth will probably come the hard way, but I hope for it anyway.

I feel like the fifth player in our family is our little house.  DH bought it almost 12 years ago while we were dating.  I thought it too big for him.  Then I married him (and it), and it seemed a good size.  Then we added LO and it felt a little small.  Now we trip over each other and the boys' things all day long.  We promise ourselves xx more years until we can buy a grown-up house, have space for a play room, a yard for our boys, and maybe a dog.  Until then tripping over each other and toys is the thing we hate, but will probably become the thing we laugh about later.  I'm pretty sure 2013 will end with us still longing for more space and yard, just tripping over different stuff.

Look out 2013.  Ready or not, here we come!