Our son Jack turned two. I can barely believe it.
It doesn't, by any means, feel like we brought him home yesterday. I was still working and things were pretty different then. While my wife was on maternity leave, I interviewed for a job back in Minnesota and I wonder how our life would look if we'd made the other choice. Instead I got laid off a few months later. After a brief unsuccessful job search, I decided to stay home and became the primary caregiver for a nine month old.
That, btw, was hard to do. At the time I felt like I'd failed. It saddened me to pull him out of his school and away from the teachers that clearly liked him. Would I be able to handle it and help him develop as well as possible? I wasn't entirely confident. But it made sense to do it financially and things have worked out well so far. Before the VID, both his old teachers babysat on the rare occasion we had a date night, and hopefully will again.
In retrospect nine months was a pretty good age to start. Much of the first year is difficult because little ones are so helpless. As a man I can't sustain and sooth an infant (and get him down to sleep at night) quite like a mother can. From then he only needed breast milk three more months and was not very mobile as yet. In those ways I got to ease in. Then he started to walk and eat mostly real foods and act increasingly like a kid instead of a baby. It's a whole new ballgame when they're fully able to move.
Still my favorite early video. 10 months, one of the first times he walked. With a marker, yikes.
(I can't figure out how to format this better. Oh well.)
Anyway, it's the time from taking him out of school to now that's absolutely flown by. 15 months already? Our basic day and week is pretty simple. I enrolled him in the 'Little Gym' which teaches a variety of physical and social skills, since he wasn't getting that at school anymore. Being slightly below the minimum age of the class must've pushed him, because within two weeks he started walking. We enjoyed going before everything shut down and I definitely think he got something from it. I also signed our family up for the YMCA and dropped him off in their childcare area once a week while working out. We went through a few swimming classes too. He really didn't enjoy the water right away, but we got there. Otherwise we always spend a lot of time playing at home and in the neighborhood. Our family has traveled a little too (Alaska, Maine, Minnesota, Hawaii...), and counting down to the next trip seems to move time along.
I, with all things, really keep my head down and focus on the here and now. What do I need to get done today? This week? I know I can always come up with more things that help Jack's development. And I should probably be spending a bit more time adding professional skills and keeping my eyes open for career opportunities. These are areas where I can improve in life and this manner of functioning can be saved for its own post. The point is this, I think things are overall going well and yet I know I can do better.
Things have really changed in some aspects since I first started staying home with Jack. For one, now I'm the one that puts him down every night (though it appears to being going okay when I'm gone golfing). And I'm the only one that understands most of what he's saying. I've needed to become a lot more patient in the mean time. Even though he's at heart a good kid, trying to do anything quickly only causes frustration for one or both of us. Also seriously, 'the terrible twos' are real. Just recently sometimes he gets this look and openly defies you. That's only going to increase too. Fun stuff.
I should wrap this up. How kids grow is completely blowing me away. I see Jack every single day, all day long, and when I stop and take a step back, it's crazy how big he's gotten. He used to stand in his crib and bite the railing because it was right at his teeth. Today he towers over it and I'm honesty shocked he hasn't climbed out. A little chunk for so long, he's really stretching out. Enjoy every moment, because time keeps on moving.
I feel like I've said this a bunch of times already, but it remains true. Life really isn't what you expect. I still think it's weird I'm a stay at home dad. But I'm really glad I get to spend so much time with our kid and watch him grow. Happy birthday Jack!
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