I’m almost done with my paternity leave - I’ll be going back to work in less than a week. This time has been really great. I thought that I needed the month off mainly because I’d be sleep deprived and probably useless at work anyway.
Turns out I also needed this month off to hang out with Holden.
I’ve been spending a lot of afternoons with Holden, giving Heather a break and a chance to rest and focus on Milo. We’ve spent a lot of time at the grocery store, the playground, and playing with legos.
Here’s what I’ve learned: Holden is already way cooler and popular than Heather or I ever were. When we go to the playground, Holden points out all the kids he knows. “There’s Emma!” “There’s Albert!” “There’s Luca!” Now keep in mind that this kid is not even 2 years old. Like any typical 22 month old, he wears diapers and still struggles to orient the fork in his mouth.
But man is this kid chatty. Heather and I have, on more than one occasion, had a mom and child come up to us on the street elsewhere in Berkeley and say “Is that Holden? Hi Holden! Oh, you must be Holden’s mom and dad. We know Holden from the playground.” One day a few weeks ago, he even came home with a personal birthday invitation to a 2 year old’s birthday party - a kid (and family) we had never even heard of, let alone met! It’s really strange having a kid with a social life potentially wider than your own.. but at the same time it makes me feel really great that he’s out there meeting kids and being social, not to mention succeeding very well at it.
When Heather and I decided to share a nanny, it was a really difficult decision - I was concerned (up until a few weeks ago) that he wasn’t getting a chance to socialize with other kids, get their germs, and have deep conversations about the frivolity of the tire swing. But it turns out the playground is a pretty social place.
Turning back to Milo: so far this kid isn’t very social at all. He sleeps a lot, he doesn’t say a word, and only cries when we change his diaper or he’s hungry. Oh wait, I almost forgot that he’s not 22 months old. He’s going to have some pretty big shoes to fill! But this is one of the great things about being lucky enough to have more than one kid. To some extent, we really would have no idea how similar or different Holden is from any other kid his age. But Milo is a whole separate kid who is going to have his own set of perspectives and challenges, and I think that’s going to make appreciating each of them as individuals that much more rewarding…
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