WordPress just told informed me that this is my 100th blog post. Though that’s not a feat worthy of much celebration, I realize, I thought I’d take the opportunity to reflect a bit on the past 18 months of blog-life.
If anyone remembers my lofty aspirations upon starting this little blog, then you’ll remember my goal of posting three times a week. Oh, Danielle. Your pre-baby naivety was charming.
The reality is that, most weeks, we can barely keep up with the basic day-to-day responsibilities that accompany running a house, raising a toddler, maintaining a semi-functional marriage, having full-time jobs, a photography business, rabbits, cats–well, you get the idea. This is all to say that, often, blogging falls at the bottom of my priority list. And I’m okay with that. I’ve got to live my life, first, and then I can write about it.
“Self care” is all the rage, these days, what with most of the country wanting to jump off of the proverbial bridge and all. And when I’m lucky enough to get a little time to myself during the week–which happens pretty infrequently–sometimes I just want to binge watch episodes of The Chew and eat a bag of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. (Not that’d I’d ever do those things. I swear.)
Still, this blog is still important to me–and for much the same reasons as it was when I first began this project. Here’s why:
- I still want to connect with other parents, especially LGBT parents, as they are vastly underrepresented in the blog-o-sphere.
- I’m (kind of) a writer. At least, that’s been a large part of my identity for most of my life. And, even if I don’t do it often, blogging exercises a muscle that craves exercising.
- At least once a week, Finn pulls his (completely empty) baby book off of his bookshelf and hands it to me to read. Sorry, kid. A baby book is not in the cards for you. But, hopefully, he’ll be able to look back on this blog, one day, and read all about how fiercely we loved him–even when it was maddening.
Now, speaking of Finn, I’ve been meaning to catalog some random tidbits. (That was a clunky pivot. Sorry, folks.)
Way, way back when I was doing monthly photos and updates of Finn–before I got super lazy–I was doing a pretty good job of keeping track of his various milestones and developments. I’ve been kind of slacking on that, lately, but there are lots of tiny little things–things that are likely of little or no consequence to anyone but his mommas–that I want to remember.
Here are some of the things that I want to remember about 17-month-old Finnster:
- He currently has 10 teeth: 4 on top, 4 on bottom, and 2 molars. Also, as an aside: SCREW YOU, molars.
- Our pediatrician said that 18-22 months is when his vocabulary should explode. He was a little behind schedule with his first words, but he is saying about ten words pretty regularly: cat, momma, ball, truck, tree, car, baba (bottle), cheese, uh oh, and more. “More” is his favorite, of course. He also says “bye” when we leave his bedroom at bedtime. And he may or may not say “oh, shiiiiiiiiit” pretty regularly. (Don’t blame me for that one.)
- He has a fairly new obsession with his rocking chair, and he climbs in and out of it–and rocks himself–fairly often.
- He’s still obsessed with his lovies. He has a home monkey and a school monkey, which never leave his side. He also loves a few stuffed animals, now–his penguin and his whale.
- He uses a fork or spoon with all meals, and he drinks from big kid cups at school.
- He reallllly loves to “help.” He’ll do pretty much any task you ask, but he especially loves throwing things in the garbage, putting clothes in his hamper, and putting away groceries. He will also bring you a tissue, if you ask. But only after he’s emptied the tissue box completely.
- He finally “gets” TV, and he watches it probably more than he should. His favorite shows are Daniel the Tiger and Mickey Mouse Club. But really, all he wants to watch are The Grinch and Rio. We watch at least a little bit of Rio every single day of our lives. I’m guessing we have about 17 more days before the Rio DVD goes “oops.”
- He’s as willful and stubborn as ever, and he wants to do everything for himself. Good luck trying to get this kid to hold your hand as he walks down stairs.
- He loves school. He’s almost always happy to be there, and his teachers are convinced he’s an “angel at home.” We just smile and nod.
- He really only plays with toys that allow him put things together–or tear things apart. His Duplos, stacking cups, and stackable robots (“bot bots”) are his favorite.
- He also loves balls. Do with that what you must.
