first steps

My buddy took his first step!!!!!!  Granted, it was entirely accidental and he hasn’t done it since, but I saw it with my own eyes.  Of course, he was walking to me.  The only other person around was monkey bear.  She worked up a bit of enthusiasm, but not the response I was looking for.

My buddy has been standing unassisted over and over again.  He will stand up, hold it for a few seconds, plop down, and look around for applause.  Monkey bear is a pro at this.  She calls me out from the kitchen every time he stands up.  I can sit and just watch him.  I never thought that at 15 months he would be standing on his own - with walking only a step away.

It’s funny.  I hoped for walking by 2 years old.  I am fully confident that milestone will be reached before my secret goal.  I never had a thought about being able to drink from cups.  And here we are … only able to use a bottle and only if leaning back.   As they say, the highs are higher but the lows are lower.  The therapeutic straw cup just came in the mail today, so off we go to reach another goal - even if we didn’t know it was there.

But man, how that boy loves to move.  He can commando crawl faster than I can walk.  He has mastered crawling up the stairs.  He can pop up into sitting in the blink of an eye.  He’s up on his feet pulling things off a table top before you even notice.  Perhaps we have an athlete on our hands.

go forth and multiply?

Lately the question has been on my mind - is our family complete?  I feel quite happy with two children.  I think the number is easy to handle and it’s what I always imagined my family to be.  I don’t want to go through pregnancy or the newborn stage again.  Personally, I am complete.

But does that mean that my family is as well?

I know my buddy will learn more from siblings than any other source.  Does he need more?

I think about monkey bear years from now with the task of caring for aging parents and keeping an eye on my buddy.  Is it fair to have that burden be solely on her?

I want grandchildren.  OK, so it’s a little premature for those thoughts, but all my eggs are in one basket (so to speak).

And lets face the facts.  As my mother-in-law liked to say before I had kids, “You’re not getting any younger.”

How do people make that kind of a decision?  I can barely decide what book to choose for the book club.  Is it worth messing with my sanity now just to possibly improve the long term future?  And there is no guarantee that any child will grow up to be responsible and helpful.

Perhaps I’ll start believing in a higher being and leave the decision to them.