Wait. I have how many kids?

With Davis, our first child, I watched him like a hawk.  We celebrated every milestone, took pictures of everything he did and everywhere he went, talked to him and taught him the ABC song and animal sounds (his first word was moo, as in "What does a cow say?"), and everything else we were supposed to teach him.  Now, I am not saying any of it worked real well, because he was late on almost every milestone. Except talking.  That one he got down quickly and hasn't stopped since.  But at least we tried.

With Noah, our second child, it is a bit different.  Ok.  A lot different.  I still watch him and try to notice when he does cool or new things.  We still celebrate when he hits milestones, like his first solid food or . . . . see here is where the difference starts.  When Noah learned to sit up, it was kind of a gradual process and after a few days he could sit up by himself.  Darren came home from work one day and saw Noah sitting there and said something like, "Wow!  Look at you sitting up!"  And I said something like, "Yeah, he has been able to do that for a few days."  I feel like maybe we owe Noah a round of applause for that.  Maybe we will clap extra long when he learns to walk.  

A few weeks ago, I realized I rarely sung a song just for Noah.  Always for Davis and Noah just gets to listen in.  So I started doing patty cake, hoping to make up for lost time.  Whenever Davis is busy with something else, I will try to sing a little song just for Noah.  Last week Darren asked when we should start reading to Noah.  Um.  Now would be good.  With Davis we were reading him books very early on.  With Noah . . . Darren's question should tell you how good we have been doing on that front.  And forget about teaching him the sounds that animals make. Although, he probably already knows that dinosaurs and bears and lions growl.  Very loud.

Noah is such a good baby during the day.  He sits on the floor, happily playing with his toys, enjoying (and sometimes barely tolerating) being entertained by Davis.  Sometimes the day goes by and I realize I forgot to really pay attention to Noah.  Not that I actually forget I have a second child.  Just that I get him dressed and lug him around wherever we go and feed him and forget to really give him my undivided attention.  It's a good thing he's got Davis around to pass down all the important knowledge and skills he will need.  If he can survive all the attention Davis gives him.