October 24, 2001 - Wednesday
It's got to be quite common, but for almost nine months now Jeremy has suffered the fate of second babies: I haven't thought about him all that much. It's easy to understand why, too. Aside from his physical appearance inside his mother's belly and the side effects that has caused, he hasn't been terribly prominent compared to Harry's continual presence over the last few months. Harry is growing mentally and physically every day and it takes a lot of energy to stay on his level for extended periods of time. It's Harry's, not Jeremy's, needs - sleeping, eating, etc. - that are often paramount when we're planning an excursion, however brief, and that reality means Jeremy doesn't get much mind share. As his arrival approaches, I am finding I spend more time thinking about Jeremy. Yet, so far, that has more to do with the logistics of getting Harry to Grandpa's and getting his mother to the hospital, which is an hour away rather than the five minutes it was when Harry was born.

Harry's mother says that it's even common to think that there's no way a second baby can match the perfection of the first; that parents worry that they won't love the second as much, and that has occurred to me. But, as a second child myself, albeit of three rather than two, I'm committed to doing the same for Jeremy as we did for Harry; teaching him the same and giving him the same attention. Whether that vision can actually reconcile with the reality of two small children is something we shall, before too long, start to learn.


Comments, opinions?