I would say that Mack's powers of conversation now approximately equal that of a mid-level sign-language gorilla, in that it mostly consists of parroted phrases, a stock collection of food/toy nouns, and a selection of emphatic compound phrases mostly reserved for expressions of displeasure. ("I want to!" when we're preventing him from doing stuff, versus "Don't want to!" when the tables are turned, etcetera.)
Anyway, he's cute, is all.
Ever since Mack was born (oh man, almost two years ago--time marches on) people have been asking me when I was planning to have "the next one," or when I was going to "try for a girl." And let's be clear here, I have nothing against girls--certainly they lay claim to the lions share of cute clothes and accessories and I am told they are somewhat (though not absolutely) less likely to attempt things like base jumping off the kitchen cabinetry. However, as the oldest child in a family of three daughters, I have always found this societally ingrained push for parity in family gender balance puzzling. As though everyone expects us to take part in a family version of one of those reality show BATTLE OF THE SEXES and they just want the teams to be fair. It also makes me wonder--if Mack had been a girl, would I be getting quite as many queries as to the status of the next hatchling? Or would people more readily assume that we were done?
Let's just say right here that Joe and I have no immediate plans to have more kids. For one, we can't really afford it right now. For two (secondly?) we have more than enough on our plates at the moment. Maybe we'll feel differently when Mack is a little more self-sufficient, but in my opinion, there's no more effective form of birth control than a kid who requires adult intervention for every single bodily need in life, both consumptive and expressive. (Well, perhaps that's overstating things somewhat--he can breathe for himself. Has since birth. My little prodigy.)
We have not ruled out having more kids. We still may a few years down the line. But right now, we're good right here. We're fine with our two smelly boys. If we do end up having another kid, that'll be fine, we'll be happy. But if we don't end up having another kid, I think I can abide with these two. Right now, two is enough.
