Why I Like the Dreary Month of February

It's the last day of February, a typically dreary month, some of the reasons for which my dad explains here. I agree with him for the most part, except that our Februarys get a lift midway through, when we get to celebrate two birthdays - and on the same day! So we have two reaons not only for celebrating this month, but even for looking forward to it.


I have to say that when I was pregnant with my third baby and looking ahead to my first February due date, it wasn't, at least at first, with joyous anticipation. We weren't in a great financial situation, and our house was hardly big enough to accomodate our family as it was. I wondered how we would be able to care for another baby. Certainly no financial advisor (or hardly anyone, for that matter) would have suggested we have a baby at that time in our lives. But from the moment I held him in my arms (after my first natural birth, which was a story in itself), I knew that the truth was there was no way we could afford to live without him. And not only was there room for him, but there would an emptiness without him! I know money is a reality we all deal with, but from the start Ryan was such a good reminder for me that people are what matter.

From the beginning, he was an alert, sensitive little soul, with such "knowing" eyes ( which you could see if I could make the image larger, but since I can't and you can't, you'll just have to take my word for it!). I had assumed (never do this when it comes to children) that since he was my third, he would be the easiest. That wasn't the case. If you've ever read anything about high-need, spirited children, then you'll know what life with Ryan has been like. But you'll also know that "high need" also yields high reward, and that's true of Ryan, too.

Then when he was still just a baby, at least as far as I was concerned, we had a surprise. A deja vu kind of surprise, since the dates were almost exact. And in the wee hours of Ryan's second birthday, he was gifted with a brother, who came into this world after a rather long labor at a birth center (my first birth with a licensed midwife, yet another story in itself!). It was a tumultuous time in our extended family when Jeffrey Chase was born, but we gave him a name that means "peaceful." It's such an ironic choice for him, since it's a word that doesn't generally come to mind when we think of him now (but maybe one day...we hope!)I had an incredible bonding experience with him after his birth - all ecstatic feelings that typically accompany a natural birth, and in large doses. It had been a long but rewarding birth, and he was quite a gorgeous baby, after all.

And I think that experience served to store up all the warm and fuzzy feelings so that I would be prepared for the wild ride that is Chase. So that in the years to come, when he was being so very, very...challenging, I could draw on those feelings and remember.

The thing about Chase is, though, that he can be so...ahem...challenging one minute, and be a perfect darling the next, reminding us himself how wonderful he is.

And with his newest sibling, he's always sweet and loving. There's a tender heart under that rough-and-tumble exterior. Truth be told, I love even the rough-and-tumble part of him, too.

So Happy (late) Birthday, my dear boys!