Friblings

Social Simon has already created a circle of little people to keep him company. One of his contemporaries is Finn, who is younger than Simon by only 11 days. We are lucky that we get to see Finn regularly and you can see that the boys have it it off swimmingly. I like to say that Finn is Simon's fribling-- like a sibling, but from a friend. I hope he is able to form lifelong friendships, and so far, Finn seems like a nice boy from a good family. Finn is polite-- he says, "excuse me," after he burps-- and he's very considerate -- he only cries when Simon is finished crying.

Many of my friends have kids around Simon and Sadie's ages, which is great fun. We can all swap notes and texts about what is going on with our kids. Having just endured a mini-tantrum from Sadie at Costco, I was sort of relieved to get a message from a friend that her very mild-mannered son threw a bit of a fit when she picked him up to leave the toy store. You know, as Jeff, Sadie and Simon and I tool around the City living our lives, it's easy to think that our kid is the only kid who throws fits, or pinches, or won't sleep longer than 3 hours at a stretch, or spits up after every feeding. I can feel the relief wash over me on a cellular level when I hear from a parent whose child seems totally gentle and drama-free that the same little angel I know can also pull a flip-out in the produce aisle.

I actually got a funny parenting email that made me laugh outloud the other day. The subject line was "Your 21-month old toddler," and what followed was a description of what my dear Sadie is likely to be doing or saying at her stage of development. One line that made me laugh was "toddlers like things just so."

Really? I hadn't noticed. When Sadie screamed and banged her head on the floor because I had a slice of her orange (that actually was MY orange that she co-opted) or when she insists that I take her out of her car seat and NOT Jeff but then changes her mind 4 times in 2 seconds, I think I understand what that email is telling me. We can't always understand her, but we know when we've fucked up because she let's us know with her full lung capacity.

There's a funny line floating around from Tina Fey who was asked her impressions of toddlers. She purportedly said that toddlers are d-bags. When Jeff and I heard that on the radio, we looked at each other and laughed. Hard. You just have to have a toddler to understand that.

And Simon's not getting off scott-free either. Newborns are just toddlers in training. God forbid, if I forget to change his diaper within 3 minutes of one of his gargantuan poops (which he only does once he has a fresh diaper, thank you very much), he screams like I just dipped him in acid. And when he needs a nap? You better back his ass into a crib post haste because he can shriek like a howler monkey. He's a smiley and cuddley dude as long as we follow his simple rules.

As for his development, he's found his hands. He sucks them round the clock. It's pretty funny. I was a thumb sucker myself so I was sort of hoping to pass that little habit on to my offspring. I think Simon's going to be our little thumbsucker. He's not looking too interested in rolling onto his stomach or running a 5K, but give him time.