Week 25: Celebrate good times, come on!
I just looked at the calendar and cannot believe that […]
I just looked at the calendar and cannot believe that I’m already at 25 weeks! This pregnancy is going by so much faster than my first, and I’m really taken aback by it. I thought that because we already kind of know what to expect this time around, we could sort of coast into this birth and be prepared. I’m now starting to think we are overestimating how much we are actually ready for, and a little bit of panic is starting to settle in.
Take, for instance, the baby’s room. We live in a two-bedroom unit, so Anaïs will be sharing a room with her little brother. We haven’t even come close to rearranging furniture, putting together a toddler bed or setting up the crib! We don’t even have a “theme” picked out for this little boy. (Is a theme really necessary?) Then, there’s the actual baby inventory of things we want versus things that we need. We already have all the big ticket items like a stroller, car seat and crib. But things like newborn and infant diapers, butt pastes, wipes, teeny tiny onesies, receiving blankets, nipple cream, breastmilk storage bags and everything else that comes with a new baby? The list is seemingly never ending. My head hurts thinking about it. Which leads me to bring up something that I didn’t really know much about until now: baby sprinkles.
Everyone is familiar with baby showers. But sprinkles? Not so much. In my opinion, I think they are pretty often overlooked. For those who were like me and are a little confused about what a sprinkle is, in essence, it’s a smaller shower. They’re typically thrown for the second child or each subsequent kid after the first. And while they’re usually not as large as the first child’s baby shower was, they are still there to celebrate the new baby and to help out the parents with some necessities and even some extra treats.
Isn’t that really sweet? I know some people who are a little weirded out by the very idea of a sprinkle and think it’s a selfish act, while I also know others who are so excited about them and think it’s absolutely par for the course. So are we having one? Yes! Although this is my second child, this is Jesse’s first (and could potentially be our last). It goes without saying that he and both our families are over the moon! Not to mention the fact that this baby is a boy changes the game a little bit. Let’s face it. While I kept so many of Anaïs’s really adorable dresses and ballerina slipper socks, they’re not going to be hand-me-downs for this boy. Also, over the years and moving more times than I’d like to count, things got lost along the way or they simply needed to be purged because of general wear and tear. Plus, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited to have a few newer things for the little man that are all his own! Is that so wrong?
Of course, a sprinkle (or even a shower) isn’t for everyone. If some parents don’t want to have one, that’s their prerogative. However, I’m willing to bet there’s a fair number of parents and families out there who do want to have one. Shouldn’t they then be able to have one without guilt? The point is, whether or not this is the first, middle or last baby, isn’t it just lovely to celebrate them all?