New Year's Eve is always a convenient time to take stock of where you've been in the past year. Something about the turning of the calendar that makes reflection appropriate.
It would be difficult to imagine a more tumultuous year, but in the end I'm not sure there's been one more rewarding for me.
Little Atticus is nine months old today, which sounds so much older than he can possibly be. He's oh so close to walking. He pulls himself around the coffee table and he has so much to say. But he's also probably every bit as moody as his daddy is. Guess that's what I deserve.
All the kids are so grown up all of a sudden. When I started this whole stay-at-home dad thing back in June, I was more a fan of the idea of staying at home than actually doing so. Now I have a bit of a routine and it has allowed me to do some writing as well, which is important. I've gotten to know my kids so much better than I had before and I've seen them become more comfortable with me as well. Eight months ago, if one of them would have gotten hurt, there is no way they'd want to hug anyone but Mommy. Now I am allowed to soothe them as often as she is. It makes me feel important and necessary.
Don't get me wrong, I still feel like a butler far too often, but I suppose that will change as the kids get older and I can assign them some of the housework. For now, though, I handle the vast majority of the cleaning, the cooking, and the laundry. It's also my job to get them up and around for school and I'm proud to say that the only time they were late to school this year was the one night they stayed with Bio-Dad.
Valerie has returned to work full-time as of August and she's basically running the place now. She's more satisfied by her job than I can ever remember her being. Keep in mind that she works at a pig farm. How anyone can be satisfied by that I have no idea. But my stunning wife is a rare bird. Of course, we already knew that I suppose. Not many women would subject themselves to a life living with me. I guess it stands to reason that she might enjoy other less-conventional things as well. Things like "sleeving" sows. You don't even wanna know what that means.
So Santa broke down and brought Lillian a DSi last week. I was convinced that he should have waited another year, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a seven-year-old who is more mature or responsible. Think of every seven-year-old you've ever met; Lillian is nothing like any of them. If there is anyone who should be rewarded, it's her. I just hope it's not the beginning of a downward spiral of video gaming. I already worry she doesn't get enough physical activity. She's joined Girl Scouts and will be selling cookies starting next week. My blood sugar can hardly wait.
Also, she gets great enjoyment out of using the phrase "that's what she said," but she has no idea what it actually means. I so look forward to the day that it clicks for her. I can't wait to see the look of horror on her face when she realizes the innuendo that has been floating over her head this whole time. hehe
It sort of feels like I'm required to recap each child in every post, like I'd be neglecting one of them by not devoting a paragraph or two. Instead, a brief summary.
Sebastian runs hot and cold. I'm so proud of the way he's handled school this year. We went to his conferences in November and I swear I wondered if the teacher was talking about the right kid. Clearly, the decision to place him back in kindergarten for another year was a wise one. He went from being one of the youngest in his class to being in a group with kids his age. He's no longer playing catch-up. He's more comfortable. He still has behavior issues at home and he's got tremendous and sudden mood swings sometimes (not really anger, but depression). But there has been progress, I think.
Okay, so that was more like a paragraph. Now I'm really gonna feel bad for slighting Leyton and Amity.
Leyton is half-way through his first year of pre-school. He's still so tiny, but that kid talks like an adult. His mind will be the way he survives I think; I mean socially. He won't ever be the biggest kid, and his mouth will get him into trouble, but he'll also be able to out-smart the rest of them. There is a lot of Braden in him, I've been told.
And then there is the Princess. What can be said about her? I think my (hopefully) future sister-in-law summed it up the best when she remarked on a photo of Amity by saying "there are six billion children in the world and I would be comfortable arguing that she is the most beautiful." Every day she gets more adorable. I used to think that Valerie spoiled her too much. Now I don't think that's it's possible to spoil her as much as she deserves to be spoiled. I can't believe she'll be three in a few months and starting school next year. Ugh. Where does it go? Why can't we keep her this exact age forever?
I'm certain I don't want any more kids and I don't really think Valerie does either, but she likes to say that she'd have Amity a dozen more times. I have to agree.
So, I had a third son, lost my job, gained a new perspective and a new responsibility at home and somewhere in the in-between I wrote about 350 or so baseball articles. In August I took over as Senior Editor at our general baseball site, Call to the Pen. I have free reign to cover any and all baseball news across the whole sport. It's been extremely challenging and just as rewarding. In four months time, I have improved my traffic by 400% and put Call to the Pen back among the elite of FanSided sites; which is where it should be.
2013 is just a couples hours away and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens. All things considered, I have very few complaints about where I've been in the past 12 months and I have nothing but optimism about what's to come next for me as a writer and as a husband and father. If you know me at all, you know that optimism isn't something that comes around often for me.
I'm pretty glad the Mayans were wrong. Happy New Year.