October 2009, 38w3d pregnant (9 days before Andrew was born):
October 2010, the four of us at the same park:
Every October is beautiful in its own way, and each one has been better than the last. Who knows what next October will bring?
Happy birthday, George. 
Watching our sons together, we just shake our heads.
They are total opposites in every way.
“I hope they’ll be best friends someday,” said George.
“They probably will be,” I said. “Oliver’s like me and Andrew’s like you, and we’re best friends.”
George smiled. “True.”
Someday. I hope.
Last week’s You Capture theme was “in the kitchen,” which was easy because I feel like I’m ALWAYS in the kitchen! So I took tons of photos, but these were my favorites:
waiting to be washed
cleaning carrots for a cake
stripes
my littlest helper with his spatula
I feel like I never write about Andrew.
Which is a shame, because Lordy, do I ever love this little guy.
It’s not because things are any less special with a second child. This isn’t just Another Boy, or Oliver II. Oh no. This is a completely different person. He is a 180 from Oliver, a 180 from everything I knew, a 180 from myself. He is Andrew, and he is loved as Andrew.
So it’s ok that I’m not documenting every moment, every milestone, every first bite of every different kind of food. It’s ok because this time around, I’m different as a mother, and I’m not caught up in day-to-day details. All I want to do is enjoy him.
I mean, seriously. This kid? Is GOLD.
It was easier to write about Oliver’s Terrible Threes and getting ready for him to start preschool. It was easier to write about trying to lose the rest of the baby weight and my indecision about being “done” having kids. It helps, putting those things into words.
But when it comes to Andrew, the cursor keeps blinking, stationary. How can I possibly describe how much he has changed my life? How can I share this second round of catch-my-breath love in a way that would do it justice?
It’s simplest to say: I’m so grateful for him. I can’t get enough of holding him, kissing him, making him laugh. I delight in him.
The details are in his smiles.
Melissa, 33, Ohio. Wife, mother, former RN, picture taker, bookworm. Counting down until I can drink coffee again.
