My mom has stated on many occasions that she always feels sorry for the big brother/big sister when a new baby comes. They have to share the attention, etc. Mom and I have differing opinions on occasion, and this happens to be one of those occasions. In most cases, it is the second baby I feel bad for because in most cases, that first one is a tough act to follow. This was the case in our house.
Number One had been around for five years when Number Two was born. His spot was well established. He was our first child, the hubby's parents' first grandchild, his sister's first niece/nephew and was center of attention with my parents a lot of the time. Number One was not an easily entertained baby that grinned at the drop of a hat at anyone passing. He was a tough sell. One of my favorite lines from the movie Tombstone was said about Wyatt Earp by his brother, Virgil, "Mama always doted on the frowner." I've said that about Number One on many occasions. Oddly, this feature made him very endearing and a very popular member of our church. And he was adorable. That's just how it was. It was agreed upon by many, and not just his biased family, that he was an absolutely beautiful baby. Announcement of our pregnancy with him was celebrated and rejoiced over and huge, huge news. All this to say, Number One was something, and all of us thought it.
It was tough to get pregnant with Number Two and required the help of some fertility drugs. When it was confirmed I was pregnant, I was cautiously happy but scared to be thrilled. I didn't tell the hubby within ten minutes like I did the first time. I waited a few days until I had further blood tests to make sure all my hormone levels were rising like they were supposed to. I waited even longer to tell our families until I had an ultrasound and could see his little spine and a flicker of heartbeat. With Number One, we told the same night I did the pregnancy test. It was just an entirely different situation.
When we told that I was expecting again, everyone was happy, of course. My family is just not normal over babies. We love them...all of them, ours, yours, theirs. We are not normal over babies, so they were tickled but a little surprised. They weren't so sure if we were having more or not. The hubby's family was happy too. It was just different from the first time. I've talked to friends. It's just how it is, and they've felt the same way about their not first pregnancies. But it worried me a little for the little one inside me. I was worried he/she was getting gypped.
He was born and didn't have quite the crowd at the hospital that Number One did, mainly because Number Two was a scheduled C-section and was born at the crack of dawn. Of course, Number One had an insane amount of people there, so it really wasn't fair to compare. He didn't look like his brother and ended up have really bad jaundice and had to be in the bili blanket. He just had a whole different start.
I say all this to say, at the beginning of his little life, I kind of thought that Number Two got a little gypped, and it made me feel bad. But I quickly learned something about number two kids, at least my Number Two. Well, to be honest, I've seen it in a lot of number two kids. God makes them a lot different from number one and from what I've seen, usually a little crazy. I think He does that so they establish their own spot in our families.
I found out in a hurry that our Number Two was God's gift TO ME. My hubby, the Original Frowner, and his identical twin firstborn, Frowner Junior, spent a lot of their days frowning at me. I do some weird stuff, talk to random people and can have some off the wall ideas of what I think would constitute some fun. Not only did they usually not buy in, they usually stood side by side and frowned, and they frowned at me. But Number Two came into this world gung-ho. He was a ball of fun just looking for a good time. He had his Grandma's name, and he looked bizarrely like my dad. Grandpa was A-OK with that.
As a baby, not even a year old, he was a performer. If it would make people laugh, he'd do it gladly again and again then laugh with them. We spent lots of time in the middle of our Fellowship Hall at church doing the routine. "Are you scared?" "Are you excited?" Multiple acts for an admiring crowd. He'd do the faces and motions that went with the questions. He got a little older and some of the youth would have him saying all kinds of crazy stuff. He was the baby of my family. His cousins loved him and squeezed on him, and he and his brother were each others biggest fans. He was something else.
As he got older, he got crazier and funnier. His Mimama has stated on many occasions that "he is crazy" while laughing her head off and looking at me. I'm not sure where she thinks he gets it. His granddaddy just sits and looks at him a little perplexed on a regular basis but very, very amused.
He tended to and still tends to make a scene unintentionally a lot of the time, namely whenever there is a crowd pointed his direction for any reason. He has announced during the children's message that he, "Wikes his shoes" to Brother Bob while he was trying to tell them the plan of salvation. He's announced that to be free means to "Not be in jail" during the children's message on Memorial Day. To yell, "This show stinks, I wanna go to my class" during the very reverent Christmas Eve service when he was 3 didn't bother him at all. Posing like a statue from Night At the Museum on the front row of a program for VBS instead of doing the actual motions that went with the little songs seems like a good idea to him. Well, to him and apparently our friend, Ben.
This Number Two kid is creative too- not only in his crazy ideas but artistically as well. His ability to draw and love of it has amazed us all for years now. He spent his fourth year of life literally drawing almost everything that happened to him and drawing it well. When the hubby's Montero wouldn't go up the hill to my mom's in the snow one morning, Number Two drew it. The list goes on and on. I've saved the drawings because it honestly sort of journals his life. Sometimes, the drawings are inventions he's thought up. Truly, he has some talent. He can also make almost anything out of a Trio block which is sort of like a Lego. Rockets, boats, cannons, guns, guns, guns of all sorts. Even his brother who is five years older will say, "Mom, did you see what he made?" He can't even believe it sometimes. One of the biggest fits he's ever thrown was when I picked him up early from school one day last year to take them to Dollywood. He was ticked because he had just gotten into art class, and now he had to miss it. Evil Mommy- taking him to Dollywood.
He knows some Bible stories too- lots of them. Sometimes we're not so sure he's listening, but then he'll tell us something out of the blue that makes us know differently. One morning, he sat up in bed and said, "I had the weirdest dream last night. There were 7 fat cows and 7 skinny cows and the skinny cows started eating the fat cows..." Um, either he listened well in Sunday School or he is a Pharaoh. We're not sure. My sister swears he'll be a crazy youth director some day because he has wild ideas and knows a lot of Bible. That is the ultimate youth director combination.
So do I think number two kids get gypped when they're born? Maybe a little. I think it's just how things are. It may just take a little longer to establish their spot with that first one always flipping and flopping around. But here's one thing for sure, once that number two kid gets going, there is no stopping them, at least at my house. Our first grader makes us laugh every single day. He's the first to jump at any suggestion of anything that might be remotely fun or usually even if it might not. He still wants to love on his mama lots and likes to be laid down with at night to snuggle. He can certainly battle with his brother now but spends a whole lot of the time belly laughing at all their crazy antics. We're not sure he's ever going to get top teeth back in which we notice lots since he's grinning about half the time. Both of my kids are the light of my life, but I guess if I had to sum it up, it would go like this. Number One came into this world and brought pride and jubilation. Number Two came into this world and brought love and laughter and fun. And nothing makes me happier than getting to be their mom.
Number One had been around for five years when Number Two was born. His spot was well established. He was our first child, the hubby's parents' first grandchild, his sister's first niece/nephew and was center of attention with my parents a lot of the time. Number One was not an easily entertained baby that grinned at the drop of a hat at anyone passing. He was a tough sell. One of my favorite lines from the movie Tombstone was said about Wyatt Earp by his brother, Virgil, "Mama always doted on the frowner." I've said that about Number One on many occasions. Oddly, this feature made him very endearing and a very popular member of our church. And he was adorable. That's just how it was. It was agreed upon by many, and not just his biased family, that he was an absolutely beautiful baby. Announcement of our pregnancy with him was celebrated and rejoiced over and huge, huge news. All this to say, Number One was something, and all of us thought it.
It was tough to get pregnant with Number Two and required the help of some fertility drugs. When it was confirmed I was pregnant, I was cautiously happy but scared to be thrilled. I didn't tell the hubby within ten minutes like I did the first time. I waited a few days until I had further blood tests to make sure all my hormone levels were rising like they were supposed to. I waited even longer to tell our families until I had an ultrasound and could see his little spine and a flicker of heartbeat. With Number One, we told the same night I did the pregnancy test. It was just an entirely different situation.
When we told that I was expecting again, everyone was happy, of course. My family is just not normal over babies. We love them...all of them, ours, yours, theirs. We are not normal over babies, so they were tickled but a little surprised. They weren't so sure if we were having more or not. The hubby's family was happy too. It was just different from the first time. I've talked to friends. It's just how it is, and they've felt the same way about their not first pregnancies. But it worried me a little for the little one inside me. I was worried he/she was getting gypped.
He was born and didn't have quite the crowd at the hospital that Number One did, mainly because Number Two was a scheduled C-section and was born at the crack of dawn. Of course, Number One had an insane amount of people there, so it really wasn't fair to compare. He didn't look like his brother and ended up have really bad jaundice and had to be in the bili blanket. He just had a whole different start.
I say all this to say, at the beginning of his little life, I kind of thought that Number Two got a little gypped, and it made me feel bad. But I quickly learned something about number two kids, at least my Number Two. Well, to be honest, I've seen it in a lot of number two kids. God makes them a lot different from number one and from what I've seen, usually a little crazy. I think He does that so they establish their own spot in our families.
I found out in a hurry that our Number Two was God's gift TO ME. My hubby, the Original Frowner, and his identical twin firstborn, Frowner Junior, spent a lot of their days frowning at me. I do some weird stuff, talk to random people and can have some off the wall ideas of what I think would constitute some fun. Not only did they usually not buy in, they usually stood side by side and frowned, and they frowned at me. But Number Two came into this world gung-ho. He was a ball of fun just looking for a good time. He had his Grandma's name, and he looked bizarrely like my dad. Grandpa was A-OK with that.
As a baby, not even a year old, he was a performer. If it would make people laugh, he'd do it gladly again and again then laugh with them. We spent lots of time in the middle of our Fellowship Hall at church doing the routine. "Are you scared?" "Are you excited?" Multiple acts for an admiring crowd. He'd do the faces and motions that went with the questions. He got a little older and some of the youth would have him saying all kinds of crazy stuff. He was the baby of my family. His cousins loved him and squeezed on him, and he and his brother were each others biggest fans. He was something else.
As he got older, he got crazier and funnier. His Mimama has stated on many occasions that "he is crazy" while laughing her head off and looking at me. I'm not sure where she thinks he gets it. His granddaddy just sits and looks at him a little perplexed on a regular basis but very, very amused.
He tended to and still tends to make a scene unintentionally a lot of the time, namely whenever there is a crowd pointed his direction for any reason. He has announced during the children's message that he, "Wikes his shoes" to Brother Bob while he was trying to tell them the plan of salvation. He's announced that to be free means to "Not be in jail" during the children's message on Memorial Day. To yell, "This show stinks, I wanna go to my class" during the very reverent Christmas Eve service when he was 3 didn't bother him at all. Posing like a statue from Night At the Museum on the front row of a program for VBS instead of doing the actual motions that went with the little songs seems like a good idea to him. Well, to him and apparently our friend, Ben.
This Number Two kid is creative too- not only in his crazy ideas but artistically as well. His ability to draw and love of it has amazed us all for years now. He spent his fourth year of life literally drawing almost everything that happened to him and drawing it well. When the hubby's Montero wouldn't go up the hill to my mom's in the snow one morning, Number Two drew it. The list goes on and on. I've saved the drawings because it honestly sort of journals his life. Sometimes, the drawings are inventions he's thought up. Truly, he has some talent. He can also make almost anything out of a Trio block which is sort of like a Lego. Rockets, boats, cannons, guns, guns, guns of all sorts. Even his brother who is five years older will say, "Mom, did you see what he made?" He can't even believe it sometimes. One of the biggest fits he's ever thrown was when I picked him up early from school one day last year to take them to Dollywood. He was ticked because he had just gotten into art class, and now he had to miss it. Evil Mommy- taking him to Dollywood.
He knows some Bible stories too- lots of them. Sometimes we're not so sure he's listening, but then he'll tell us something out of the blue that makes us know differently. One morning, he sat up in bed and said, "I had the weirdest dream last night. There were 7 fat cows and 7 skinny cows and the skinny cows started eating the fat cows..." Um, either he listened well in Sunday School or he is a Pharaoh. We're not sure. My sister swears he'll be a crazy youth director some day because he has wild ideas and knows a lot of Bible. That is the ultimate youth director combination.
So do I think number two kids get gypped when they're born? Maybe a little. I think it's just how things are. It may just take a little longer to establish their spot with that first one always flipping and flopping around. But here's one thing for sure, once that number two kid gets going, there is no stopping them, at least at my house. Our first grader makes us laugh every single day. He's the first to jump at any suggestion of anything that might be remotely fun or usually even if it might not. He still wants to love on his mama lots and likes to be laid down with at night to snuggle. He can certainly battle with his brother now but spends a whole lot of the time belly laughing at all their crazy antics. We're not sure he's ever going to get top teeth back in which we notice lots since he's grinning about half the time. Both of my kids are the light of my life, but I guess if I had to sum it up, it would go like this. Number One came into this world and brought pride and jubilation. Number Two came into this world and brought love and laughter and fun. And nothing makes me happier than getting to be their mom.
DISCLAIMER: I think the term "gypped" is politically incorrect referring to gypsies. There are two things here. I never claimed to be politically correct and I know no gypsies, so I decided I would leave it in. If I ever run for president, you may use it against me at that time.
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