Top 6 Ways Year Two Was So Much Better Than Year One

Top 6 Ways Year Two Was So Much Better Than Year One

A Girl and Her Croissant Meet the Flamingoes

A Girl and Her Croissant Meet the Flamingoes

Two years and Mabel is still alive! It was a little touch and go there for Year One, but if I’m being honest, she did a lot of the heavy lifting herself in Year Two. This is how being a dad is supposed to be. None of that panicky, Year One what-the-hell-did-you-just-put-in-your-mouth nonsense. Year Two has helped me regain my sanity and may motivate me to get through the already-peeking-from-behind-the-curtain Terribles. Here are the top 6 ways Year Two was better than Year One:

  1. Napping: Once Mabel consolidated her naps down to one a day, I had more than two hours to do stuff with her. During Year One, by the time I had gotten her up, changed her diaper, fed her, and got her in the car, I had 45 minutes before I had to get her back to sleep again. There were many times I would go to the park or the Arboretum for seven minutes, only to turn right around and go back home. And it takes me usually at least an hour to get to sleep myself, so I couldn’t even reap the benefits of all these naps. Now, we can go to the zoo or the pool and not have to worry about pediatrician-mandated blocks of sleep. And daddy also gets to sleep a bit.
  2. Walking: OK, this opened up a whole new world of stuff to do. Like everything, as compared to nothing. We can literally go anywhere now. Sure, she’s now often not where I left her, but it’s worth the trade-off.
  3. Talking: Crap! Mabel is crying. What should I do? Feed her? Lay her down? Give her a blanket? Take away a blanket? Where’s Mr. Puffkin? Do you need a passy? Are your shoes on the right feet? Did all your fingers make it out of your sleeve this time? That was Year One. NOW, her cries often come with solutions. What’s wrong honey?  “Cheese.” Cheese is apparently the solution to most of her problems. Communication is the solution to most of mine.
  4. Food: Speaking of cheese, Mabel eats food now. No more mixing ounces of water with powder, worrying about whether it’s been sitting out for an hour yet, pumping breast milk at work (mostly Jenn’s job) and worrying about if we have enough and how to store it. Now, Mabel eats food. Like a person. We go to restaurants and order her the food. And she eats it. Like a person. So much freakin easier.
  5. Sleep: Mabel has always been a good sleeper, but now she does it in her own room for 10 hours straight without parental assistance. Which means I can sleep through the night on those rare occasions when my body decides to allow me that luxury. At least I can’t blame her anymore. Damn you, American Ninja Warrior-induced insomnia.
  6. Baby-proofing: This may not be the norm, because most toddlers are much more of a danger to themselves than infants. But Mabel’s brains seem to trump her mobility. There’s still a chance Mabel would like to find out what happens if you stick one of these shiny metal forks into this socket seemingly designed for them, but those are easy enough to cover up. But because she can get up and down the stairs on her own, we don’t need to worry about disallowing her from doing it. We just need to move everything poisonous, sharp, or heavy above the Mabel line. Sure, there may be a day when she falls off the kitchen table or figures out how to move the bar chairs to the counter, thus moving the Mabel line up another three feet, but those are issues for Year Three daddy to worry about.

Basically, in almost every way, Year Two of parenting has been SO MUCH easier.  Mabel is just now starting to throw her temper tantrums, but that’s a story for another day. And because we expect them, we can pretty much ignore them, which is a nice change of pace from the abject panic we went through any time she cried in Year One.

Higher and Higher

Higher and Higher

8 thoughts on “Top 6 Ways Year Two Was So Much Better Than Year One

  1. I definitely agree on all fronts;however, these last 6 months of 2 have been very interesting. Listens a lot less, constantly putting herself in danger. Even been the recipient of 2 time outs. Not even sure she understood, but she cried like she did. Have a feeling your blogs may change. Will say, I remember how easy it was when she was a baby..she couldn’t do anything wrong 🙂

    • I can handle the listening less and the putting herself in danger element a little better now that I have a little play companion. And we have put her in time out a couple times with varied success. Once, she cried and went right back over to pick up what Jenn had asked her to pick up before. Then next time, she laughed and talked the entire time Jenn was trying to explain to her what she did wrong. I’m not looking forward to this discipline thing, that’s for sure.

  2. Brilliant post, my youngest is now 15 months and there is no sttopping him. It’s a great age, all he wanted is to play with his big sister and brother and do what they do.

    • I hear you, Cormac. She was out of her crib at 19 months and never looked back. She has no older sibling to mimic, just a need for independence from Mommy and Daddy.

  3. Awesome. Congratulations, Daddy. You’re off to a great start and the best ride of your life. We just got a copy of a brand new book, well renewed, so to speak, I think everyone would enjoy called “She Calls Me Daddy: 7 Things You Need to Know About Building a Complete Daughter,” by Robert Wolgemuth. The original book came out in the 90s, a best-seller, has been updated for today. His girls are grown up and give their own input along with their husbands who are daddies to girls. I understand 40% of the book is new material. It’s so unique in this way. He says, “I need to remind you of what you’re learning already. Your girl is a free agent. Nothing you can do will ever force her into a certain kind of thinking or behavior. Like it or not, there are no guarantees. There are no risk-free formulas. You’re dealing with a person who has her own agenda, her own mind, and her own will. Ultimately, she’ll think and do what she decides to think and do. However, and this is a big however, you can create an environment that gives you—and her—the best shot at success. There are certain things you can do that will raise your probability of success. That’s what this book is about—low-risk fathering.” I highly recommend it!

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