Dear Z, Last night we were given our second date night since J was born. Your mom was in town and she insisted that we leave for a little while and take advantage of this opportunity for uninterrupted time together. She couldn’t have given us a greater gift. We thought through the options: go for a walk in our neighborhood, see a movie at the nearby theater, use the rock climbing gym gift certificate you gave to me for my…
Dear J, “Can I have a kiss? Can I have a kiss?” she asks you again and again and I’m not sure whether you’re leaning in or just off-balance, but your lips press hard into her face and she laughs in delight. Your fingers yank on her hair and touch her mouth. She gives you kisses in return. As you lock your knees and stick your little butt into the air, we marvel at the seeming confidence with which you…
Dear Z, When we moved into this house, I couldn’t believe that we had stairs. It felt like a real home to have two separate spaces that we could theoretically each inhabit, taking little breaks for alone time. Rarely do we desire it, but it’s nice to know it’s there. When we started getting water bugs, a glorious euphemism for family size cockroaches, the honeymoon was over. We saw one on our ceiling, then in our dog’s food bowl, and…
Dear J, As we travel the great circuit of the downstairs area of our home, you lay across my arms. Your feet are draped across my left arm, your head rests on my right arm, and the middle of you sinks down a bit where there isn’t any more of me to catch you. This reminds me of my two older brothers when we would all three sit in the back of our parents’ car. I would sit in the…
Talking to our friends, I told them I didn’t mind having our son sleep in bed with us. “He needs to be close to another human. Besides, he’s really cute.” The husband pointed at me and said, “but you get to go to work in the morning.” This weekend, I was so excited for a day off together. Sleeping in, making coffee, maybe even having sex if our son took a long enough nap. Besides, we were going to go…