oh yeah, the other half

I need to clarify one point regarding my last post. When I refer to solo parenting, it means just that. I'm talking about the times when David is at work or at school and I am with both kids on my own. I need to add here that when David is home, the world (as in our house with two kids and a dog) is a very different place. I read somewhere that when a couple has their first child, the man becomes a father in the traditional sense of the word, sometimes not as hands on and involved in baby's early care as the mom is. But when they have their second child, the man becomes a super dad, an involved father (if he wasn't already) on par with the level of parenting that mom has to do. It's really a numbers game - dad has to step it up because now each parent is essentially responsible for at least one child almost all of the time.

David has always been a wonderful father to Miles, but I saw something happen when Lydia was born. It's like he went into parenting overdrive and really became my partner in parenting. It has been amazing to watch (and wonderful to be the other half of that partnership). On weekends, David will take the early wake-up shift with Miles so that I can sleep in with Lydia to make up for sleep lost to night time feedings. He'll juggle his schedule so that I can focus much of my time on Lydia if I feel like that's what I need. There are now times (quite frequently, actually) when Miles prefers to be with David over me, when he asks for his daddy instead of his mama. Because Lydia requires so much from me and Miles and David are spending so much more time together, the bond between them has grown. And I've had to learn to trust in this new relationship between them as well as tell myself that this time of Lydia being so needy of me will pass and eventually I'll be able to spend more equal time with each of the kids.

I mention all of this just to say that I couldn't ask for a better partner than David. We both have been able to watch each other grow as parents and as individuals. Perhaps most significantly just in the past couple of months. So when I talk about the challenges of transitioning to a family of four, it's not just my story, but David's too. And there is no way that any of this would be possible without him.

We'll be celebrating David's 31st birthday this coming weekend. On the agenda is a train ride and a family day. He also got a couple of pretty sweet birthday gifts...an iPhone and a new MacBook Pro laptop. Not too shabby.