Oh dear second child. My sweet, sweet littlest love…

Where do I even begin? You have been an angel from day 1. I heard from the beginning that a second child will come fast. But never did I think it would actually happen to me, since I went overdue with your brother. You came fast and furiously, two weeks before your due date and gave your mama the ‘dream’ labor and delivery (as far as childbirth can be dreamy.) You literally came flying out, thirty minutes after I was admitted into the hospital, just in time for my OB to walk in and say “hey you had the baby!” And I was only there reluctantly at your daddy’s insistence, since it was my first time with my waters being broken spontaneously at home. You were my baby that made me say, “did I just give birth, like really babe, did I just have our second baby?”

Even though I started this post initially as a love letter for you, I think it’s just turned into a list of things that I am so very sorry that you’ve had to endure in your almost 11 months of life. But such is life with being a second child. The struggle is real. And I get it, you’ve got a lifetime of #secondchildprobs coming your way.

I’m sorry that being my second child…

• that you’ve had to sleep all over the place and at all different times of the day, because you were born in July, your mama gets stir crazy, and your almost 3 yo brother at the time needed to burn his energy somewhere outside of the house. Thank you for being a good sleeper despite this chaotic regiment in your early months.
• that when you grab a toy, it suddenly becomes your big bro’s most prized possession and he snatches it out of your hand, saying “hey that’s mine!” even though half the time, it actually is a baby toy that belongs to you.

• that you’ve probably had more dog hairs in your mouth from my carelessness at letting you grab whatever or crawl through whatever, as long as it gives me time to do another task like making dinner or chasing after your brother.

• that you’ve been left to cry longer than we ever let your brother fuss because mama learned early on that when you have two or more crying kids, that I should tend to the one with the memory, so that they don’t hold onto any resentment for not being taken care of first, all the time. (Best advice I received by the way as a second time mom).
• that you get the least amount of time with daddy because he has to do bedtime with your brother and mama gets her time after you go to sleep, but you need me to nurse you before bedtime and he’s often gone to work when you wake up in the morning. He misses you hard a lot of days.
• that strangers call you a girl because of your beautiful hair and adorable face and assume you’re a girl because your brother is a boy. And apparently it’s a given that every family has one of each gender.
• that you’ve gotten hand me downs of pretty much everything, but being our second boy, it only made sense for us to reuse a lot of things from the oodles and oodles of things from our shower for your brother.
• that I am so tired of nursing that I may just wean after this trip away from you next week because I don’t think I can handle any more bites or distracted nursing sessions.
• that I haven’t kept track of your milestones or used a baby log app because as long as your happy and healthy, that’s all mama has time to remember these days. (Hello, your 10 month pics will be done at 11 months).
• that you’ve endured more hospital procedures than I have in my almost 33 years on the planet, but I am so, so happy that you’re healthy and that at the end of it all, you are one healthy and strong baby boy.
• that you aren’t as spoiled with attention by your grandparents because your brother was “the first” on both sides, I secretly think that you’re their favorite these days (of the threenager) though.
• that you eat more pouches than your brother ever did, (you do love them more than he ever did), but everything is around time saving and convenience to get you both fed at mealtimes.
• that we call you our baby dinosaur, but OMG you are a loud, feisty one! You shriek like a pterodactyl according to your daddy and dino-obsessed big bro. (Yes, spell-check auto-corrected that dino name for me).

But despite all of these apologies, one thing that I know for certain, is how very fiercely you are loved by each one of us; your umma, daddy, and ‘hyung-ah’ (big bro). You’ve changed our lives for the better and our hearts have grown leaps and bounds over what we ever thought possible. And hey, unlike your big bro, you wound up with two (more) relaxed and easy going parents who are more confident in themselves and a big bro who looks out for you (most) days and tells everyone how you’re his best friend.

You are our happy baby. You are our chill baby. You are our littlest baby. And we are so lucky to call you ours, forever and ever.

We love you so much, Camden Michael. And we can’t wait to celebrate your first birthday with you next month!

Parents of two or more, you feel me? Anything you’d like to say to your second child or youngest?