Since Roman is the whole reason I have so much to say about motherhood and babies, I thought he deserved his own introduction! Born in July 2013 (three weeks early after my water broke on the toilet at Tryst Cafe in Adams Morgan), he is now 14 months old and loving life!

As a newborn I would not have described him as “loving love.” We typically referred to him as “a baby who didn’t like being a baby.” He was an only sleeps while held infant who turned me into what I called an accidental attachment parent. He struggled with breastfeeding in a way even our lactation consultant could not understand, frantically flailing at the breast as if the whole process was pure torture. After a couple months of futile attempts I ended up exclusively pumping until my supply dropped around 10 months. He spent his first 6 months mostly frustrated, but the older he got and the more he could do, the happier he was.

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I must have been warned a hundred times to, “just wait until he starts walking, watch out!” Honestly, in the case of this baby, life has been much easier since he started up on two feet. He’s now a happy-go-lucky little explorer who gets into everything, climbs on everything and wants to do everything we do. From cooking to vacuuming to brushing his teeth, the kid is on a mission. Musical toys have been a long time favorite and as soon as he hears a tune, he breaks out his dance moves and starts clapping (we’ve become obsessed with this). Water, puppies, balls and bubbles are a few of his favorite things. Also, he could read The Little Blue Truck Leads The Way five times in a row at any given moment.

His interests also include: putting stuff into stuff, and then taking it out again. And most recently: balancing stuff on top of stuff, and putting lids on things. He’s quite socially curious and loves to laugh along with the group, or break into laughter on his own because, gosh isn’t life great!

His ultimate nemesis is bedtime, but I’ll save his sleeping habits for another time.

It never ceases to amaze me how different babies can be, because of course, they’re individual humans just like us. Before I became a mother I was so eager to know how it would feel to be someone’s parent, to love a child of my own. Having Roman taught me how motherhood, like all relationships, is a two way deal. The kind of mother I am is in many ways a response to him, and there are very many ways to be a good one.

So with this next baby I am still so curious. Who will she be and how will it feel to be her mother? And will she nap in the mamaRoo and breastfeed with ease and make it through a car ride to NJ without screaming and crying for four hours straight?!