The Second Time Around

The first time around I had a Bible.  A Constant Companion.  A Shadow.

"What to Expect"...the whole series.

Throughout the pregnancy, What to Expect when you are Expecting lived on my bedside table.  It was opened nightly, dog-eared, quoted, and parts were even memorized.  For every bump, squirm, movement, upset stomach, mood swing, headache, muscle ache, or food craving I would grab for the book.  Was I normal?  Was it to be expected?  Am I OK?

Baby, baby, baby.  Time to move on to What to Expect in the First Year.  Focuses on an object? Check.  Rolls over?  Check.  Turns head to sound of Mom's voice?  Check.  Check, check, check.  All the milestones, dutifully tracked and recorded.  Any lack thereof a topic of discussion at playgroups.  She hasn't said Mama yet...could she be deaf?  Does she have an attachment problem?  Is she not quite normal??????

Then on to What to expect in the Toddler Years.  Such weighty topics including, To cry it out or not to cry it out?  Time outs...a good idea?  How to plan a perfect playgroup.  And so on.  And so on.  God bless the husbands of America who have suffered through far too many evenings of discussions based on these books.  I know I am forever grateful to mine.

Thanks to What to Expect...I made it through first time mommyhood.  Pretty well, I think.  The books were shelved but close at hand for kid number two, who would most certainly be coming soon.

And the books were shelved throughout the entire pregnancy.  Took it out when I started having contractions...couldn't quite remember the times per minute/per hour ratio thing.

And the books were shelved during the entire first year.  Yep, I would think.  Kid number 1 did something like that.  Yep, it was around the same time.  Guess we're good.

The toddler years are here.  The books are still shelved.

"Daddy home." 

17 months old, and this sounds a lot like a sentence.  I was shocked.  I don't know what the book would say.  I probably will get it out to check, but I learned the first time around that it doesn't really matter.  Ahead, behind, they are who they are.  I'm a good mom.  My kids are good kids.

"Daddy home."

It doesn't really matter...but I do think she just might be ahead of the game on this one.