November 4, 2001 - Sunday
I can already see that we will fail in trying to "do the same" for Jeremy as we did for Harry. Jeremy won't capture the same fascination, even if he does looks more like me than Harry did. It won't matter how Jeremy might compare with Harry in terms of eating, sleeping, crying, or even how cute he is or is not. Already our interaction with him is far more utilitarian. After spending the entire day with Harry, I've learned today that second children get the short end of things simply because the first one is around and is louder.

Today was Jeremy's second day and it seems like I've hardly gotten an impression of him other than this little thing he was doing with his tongue last night waiting for his first drink. This morning, I woke up at home with Harry and it was Harry all day. Admittedly, a second day in a hospital room is a lot to ask of a sub-two year old boy, but Harry was not at his best most of the day. I'd like to think that it was simply that he was tired, rather than his getting right into some jealousy thing with the new baby, but there's no way to know. What I do know is that Harry was really pretty good when I got him away from the small confines of the maternity hall and room. In fact, we had an absolutely wonderful time at a small playground outside the hospital.

This playground had two slides: a full size one and a smaller one that was more appropriate for Harry. I was a bit surprised that Harry even tried the BIG slide. He's shown little interest in the slides at our local playground since he broke his leg this past spring and I've thought he might have a hang-up or something. He had no trouble climbing up this big slide, but going down he was visibly surprised at the speed and soon headed for the smaller slide after that. Yet, after some time there and at a few of the other amusements, Harry surprised me by climbing back on the big slide. Again he looked a bit leery as he came down, but I have to give him credit for trying a second time. I think that took courage for a little boy who has some sense of limits and consequences. The playground also had swings like the ones Harry used to used when we still lived in the city and I thought he'd like to play on them again. I asked him as soon as we got to the playground and then several times as we moved around the place, but each time Harry refused, for what reason I don't know. Finally, he acquiesced and let me put him on the swing. Almost immediately, a smile came to his face and he giggled like he use to months ago when we used to visit the playground in the city before we moved. And shown that precious little toothless smile I saw so many times on the swings before Harry could walk. Only this time, Harry's smile had teeth. But, it was still the same wonderful, happy smile.


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