The Baby of the Family

I’ve been really busy lately. I’ve been organizing clothes, shoes, toys, papers and all kinds of random items in my house. It’s been about a week of spurts of focused activity, and the place is looking amazing. I’m happy to be free of clutter!

I’ve also been really busy trying to cherish my kids, to worry less about money and more about the woman they’ll remember as their mother when they are adults. And I’ve been trying to savor my baby, Colby Levi. The baby outside of my womb, the one who will only have had 20 months to be “the baby of the family,” as opposed to the 31 months and 35 months his older siblings had.

This is a big deal. I really think it is, even though Colby is so unaware. It will be natural to him to defer to his younger brother at such an early age, to settle for dad instead of mom because she has that crying thing to take care of, to become more independent than other kids, especially those who will get to be “the baby of the family” forever. While he may be a little rushed into growing up, I believe it’s going to make him a better, stronger, more sensitive human being. He’ll be enviably intuitive, and he’ll know he’s a part of the world instead of the center of the world.

And so here he is, my Colby Levi, in photos tonight.

Hiding behind the coat rack and in the disarray as Mommy sorts.
Spinning some tunes on a record player just like Mommy used to have!
Borrowing Daddy’s rad shoes.
And catching some zzz’s while Baby Neptune reruns, again.