So here we are. Almost one year into my babies' lives and I'm posting for like, the fifth time. Maybe in their second year I'll make it a point to blog more. Or maybe I'll use all my free time to sit on my ass watching Gossip Girl and Dawson's Creek on Netflix. There's always that shiny new year excitement before Auld Lang Syne slowly fades way to a more crowded workout establishment and shorter lines at my local Krispy Kreme. Luckily I have almost a month until I have to make my new year's resolutions or the resolution to make no resolutions. Obviously I have a lot to think about. Without further ado... the hubs.
Month 11
Austin and Summer,
When I was growing up, and for most of my life, I’ve been
full of ambition. As a very young
kid, I went to work for your Papa in the Variety Sales warehouse during the
summers, pulling orders off the shelves in 100 degree heat because I loved the
idea of getting paid at the end of the week. A few years later, I started going to sleepaway camp during
the summers, but that didn’t limit my entrepreneurial spirit. I used to borrow a few comic books from
a friend at the beginning of the summer, play poker for comics with my fellow
campers, accumulate hundreds of comic books, and then sell them back to the
other kids when their stashes were getting low. In high school, I always had a job or other gig that was
bringing in some money. College
was mostly the same, typically through the stock market, which was exploding at
the time (though you should know that the stock market doesn’t always go up,
and I wasn’t always a winner). And
then after college, I took about the most ambitious job I could possibly find,
becoming an investment banker and working over a hundred hours a week most
weeks. Then about a year ago, I
joined a startup company because I loved the idea of participating in something
entrepreneurial and the thought of hard work trying to build something from the
ground up was always exciting to me.
I did all of those things because they either furthered my
career, or because I liked money, or both. And the truth is, I still want to further my career and I
still like money, but since you guys came around, I’ve found myself wanting to
be with you and your mommy more than anything else. Even with my flexible hours, I’m still gone from the house
most days from about 7-5. You go
to sleep at 7, so that only leaves about 2 hours that we get to spend together. Some days it’s even less if traffic is
bad or I have a conference call that starts late or some other similarly lame
excuse. My best salvation those
days is the texts from mommy of photos or videos of you guys that at least give
me some pseudo-interaction with you while I’m gone. But that severely pales in comparison to when I get home at
the end of the day and open the garage door and mommy says “Daddy’s home” and I
hear both of your little hands pounding on the floor as your crawl your way
over to me with those huge smiles on your face.
This month, we got to spend lots of extra time together when
your mommy took her first trip out of town since you were born, heading up to
New York City for a long weekend with NaNa and Aunt Aimee. Being home alone with two 11 month olds probably would have made
a lot of dads in my situation a little bit nervous, but honestly, the thing
that I was most concerned about was picking out your clothes (that is strictly
a mommy job unless it’s a Saturday during football season). Knowing that was my biggest fear, mommy
laid out your clothes before she went and left the rest up to me. It turned out to be such a fun few days
for us. We had some great help
from your Nana, Aunt Aurora, and the first visit from your Uncle Greg. But for the most part, we just spent
the weekend together hanging out. We
played together in the playroom, ate tons of your favorite foods, took some
long walks together in your stroller, and even did bath time every night (though
you bathed separately instead of together). And as much as you guys became even more attached to me
during those few days (Austin, you are definitely going through a major “daddy”
phase right now), the reality is that I also became so much more attached to
both of you. I didn’t even think
that was physically possible, but somehow it was.
We had lots of other fun stuff happen this month, too. You turned 11 months on Thanksgiving
Day, which brought with it a bunch of visitors to Atlanta. In addition to the whole in-town crew,
you got to spend a lot of time with your Sabba, Aunt Shira, Uncle Ari and his
girlfriend Lindsay, who all stayed with us, and your NaNa and Papa were back in
town, too.
Summer, I think Thanksgiving was probably the best day of your
life so far. To say that you are a
good eater is the biggest understatement of all time. You literally grab your food by the handful and shove it
into your mouth. It doesn’t matter
the food or the combination, you just love to eat. It’s extremely adorable, especially since you’re such a dainty
little princess. Austin, the gruff
linebacker, likes to eat his meals bite by bite, making sure he knows exactly
what is going in his mouth, but Summer just piles it in without any regard for,
well, anything.
Other newsworthy items from the month:
·
You’re both sort of saying words. Austin, you’ve definitely said “ball”
quite a few times and you even occasionally say “hi” as you wave hello. Summy, every morning coming down the
stairs, you try to say “cat” when you see Eden. Your pronunciation isn’t perfect, but it’s the effort that
counts.
·
Speaking of the cat, you’re both pretty obsessed
with her. You crawl around the
house following her wherever she goes.
It’s pretty cute, and mommy and I are glad that at least someone loves
her.
·
Summy, you absolutely love books. When mommy picks out a book and asks
you guys if you want to read, you coming crawling right over with a big smile
on your face and sit and listen for a really long time.
·
Austin, you got your first ear infection. You were pretty unhappy for a couple of
days but once you went to the doctor and got on medicine, you went right back
to being yourself.
·
You both have your bottom two teeth, with
Austin’s top two really starting to come in and Summy’s just peeking through.
A few other things to document, just so we make sure to
remember them and see how you change over time:
•
Austin, you have the sweetest, most pleasant
demeanor. You have this incredible
smile and way of lifting your eyebrows that makes it seem like you’re always in
on the joke, if not the one making it.
•
Summy, your demeanor can depend on the day. You’re definitely a bit easier to
please than Austin. But when we
get you going with a tickle attack, you have the most incredible giggle fits of
all time. And even when you’re not
being tickled, your smile with those two bottom teeth is as great as it gets.
•
Austin, you’re also an extremely sensitive
sleeper. When mommy and I come to
check on you guys before we go to sleep, Summy barely ever even stirs. You, on the other hand, almost always
let out a big breath, sometimes rolling over and even opening your eyes at
us. It’s really cute, but most of
the time it leads to mommy and I running out of the room before you really wake
up.
•
Summy, you are the best 11 month old eater of
all time, but your manners could use some work. You pretty much love anything we put in front of you, to the
point of grabbing a huge handful all at once and stuffing it all into your
mouth. You rarely swallow before
stuffing more in. Austin eats very
neatly, always picking up a very specific piece of food before gently dropping
it into his mouth. At the end of
most meals, Summy looks like she just finishing rolling around in garbage while
Austin looks like he just came out of the bath.
It’s hard to believe that this time next month I’ll be
writing about your FIRST BIRTHDAY, but amazingly that is the truth. Time really does fly.
Love,
Daddy
