A Month of Pippin

Today marks one month since Peregrine came to join us. The days have flown by. As I suspected, mothering a second child is different than mothering the first; your love is more spread out, but without being less potent. I can't devote as much time to talking to him, to holding him, to trying to see if I can tempt him to give away his first real smile. He doesn't singlehandedly monopolize my days. There's a bit of sadness in that, a wishing that there was more of me to give solely to him. But stronger still is the joy I get in watching Tadhg with him and knowing that just as Tadhg experienced my mothering a bit differently than Peregrine can, Peregrine gets to experience having a sibling in a way Tadhg never could. And if God gives us more children, the relationships between us all will continue to evolve in ways I can't see yet. As the youngest child in my [large] family, I have firsthand experience with this. But also because I'm the youngest child, I want to try to keep up whatever traditions I can from child to child so that when the youngest one comes along they aren't tempted to think they were just one more kid. So, I'm sticking with the faddish monthiversary trend with Peregrine, too, so they both know what it's like to be part of a monthiversary fad...

There aren't really any exciting milestones one can share about a newborn ("he eats, he sleeps, he fills his diaper"). But there are a lot of gut-level feelings, and just as many this time around as there were with Tadhg. I still marvel at the sustaining of Peregrine's life when so much could have gone differently. He is precious in a way I never knew he would be when I was carrying him inside. He is such a sweet baby--quiet, content, and so easily soothed (so far) when he gets to snuggle up tight on your chest. He still startles like a deer at just about anything. Overall, he seems to be a better sleeper than Tadhg was. No conscious smiles yet, but they'll come.

One of the greatest things about a second child is that you know how much fun is in store as you get to know this little person.

We can't wait to know you, Pippin.

** Note: (Disclaimer: I'm the only one who cares about the note.) (Disclaimer to the disclaimer: Really. I'm serious.) We had Pippin's one month appointment with his pediatrician today. The last one was two and a half weeks ago, and he weighed 8 pounds, 1 ounce. Today? Today he weighed 10 POUNDS, 12 OUNCES (I obviously find this very gratifying as his mother, in case you couldn't tell by the capital letters). The nurse and the doctor were both quite impressed with his obviously gluttonous nature. His weight percentiles (which don't matter in real life in the least but give mothers reasons to rejoice, lament, compare, etc., etc.--all clearly healthy things) are impacted by him coming so early since most other babies in his age bracket have an extra few weeks of growing on him. As a result, he started out in the 24th percentile at his first appointment. All that eating now has him in the 60th percentile, though, notwithstanding the handicap he started with. Pretty sure that if he'd made it to his due date he'd have been bigger than Tadhg, considering he should only be a week old today.