One

I finally took Marko to his well baby check up today. Nineteen pounds, 28 inches long. He's really into this book, Bear in the Square, right now. He walks, pretty steadily now, but sort of a side shuffle. When he gets close to me, he flings himself into my arms and giggles.

Laurel is pretty rough with him, but he doesn't seem to mind, for the most part. He likes going to daycare and being around other kids. I'm still his favorite person by far, but I can see that time coming to a close. He eats like crazy...grilled cheese sandwiches are his favorite.

He can say "that's good," "mmmm good," and "daddy".

I wrote a lot about Laurel in her first year. Part of it was the newness of having a baby in the house, but part of it is her charisma. She's got to be center stage.

Marko isn't like that. He's very mellow compared to her. He's the baby on my hip while I go about my day. He orbits around us in the morning, toddling into the bathroom and out while we are getting dressed, poking around in drawers. He's pretty good at staying just under the radar. I think about all the stressing over bedtime and sleep schedules I did with Laurel and he just goes to sleep, pretty much at the same time each night. He wakes up happy every morning. I'm not really that much better of a mother.

I wonder what we would be like if he was born first and we were just finishing her first year.