Hikaru

If Makoto came into the world curious about what it held, Hikaru came in hungry.

He's still hungry.

The second pregnancy was, in my respects, better than the first. we were far more confident in what was going on inside Beloved's body having been through it before. While the first time around we read the pregnancy books as if they were the Bible, the second time we glanced at them from time to time.

Hikaru didn't really have that big of a drama to go with his birth. I got the call while at school, hurried home, took Beloved into the hospital at around 4 and Hikaru showed up just short of 7 pm that day. He was a big baby, but if anything he was, he was hungry.

Makoto ignored his mother's breast when offered, Hikaru not only latched on but started sucking and nursed for a good 15 minutes or so before he finally decided he had enough for the day and went to sleep. It was long enough for me to go back to the house and pick up my mother-in-law and Makoto to meet our newest family member and long enough to call back to the US to inform my parents that they had another grandson, and that his name came from Beloved's grandfather's and that his middle would be Richard, after my step-father.

Today is his second birthday.

Hikaru has proved himself to be a fighter, Makoto was passive when he was smaller, letting other kids take his toys, Hikaru's the one who is taking the toys. Maybe it is the way with brothers, but Hikaru's a scraper and more stubborn by far than his brother.

Oddly enough however, I don't really have that great of difficulty in dealing with Hikaru. I have a harder time with Makoto whereas Hikaru drives Beloved up a wall quite regularly. Sometimes I wonder if my difficulties with Makoto are not related to how close he is to me in terms of personality... Of course, if true that would mean that Beloved's problems with Hikaru stem from...

I think I'll stop that thought there, Beloved does read this from time to time.

It is hard,  think for Hikaru because even on his day, he gets compared to his brother. I usually describe them as Makoto is one of the most beautiful little boys that I have known. Hikaru is very cute, but he isn't beautiful like his brother. Or to put it another way, when Makoto smiles, your reaction is to think how beautiful. When Hikaru grins, you want to grin in return. This isn't to say that Hikaru is ugly, just... he feels so much like a naturally good-humored kid. You just want to laugh when he is around, not at him, but just because that is how he makes you feel.

Two years isn't a very long time in terms of how he will develop or where he will go, but on his birthday I can state that I wouldn't have traded in these last two years for anything. He might drive his parents nuts, he may stand in the kitchen loudly demanding more and more food, and of course he will constantly fight with his brother, but then he's also the one who will be cheerfully grinning at you in the morning.

In fact, should he ever get married and I am asked to state my favorite memory of him, I think it will be thus: Hikaru, toddling out of the bedroom, trailing his blanket, with a wide, energetic grin that doesn't belong on anyone's face at 6 am in the morning, coming over to the table saying "Daddy!" and pointing at my yogurt as he steals my breakfast yet again. That is Hikaru, a kid who knows what he wants and will get it, but will make it all seem right anyway because you just have to laugh with someone enjoying life this much.