Henrik's 3rd Birthday

Henrik turned three yesterday.  I've been thinking a lot about that day since the calendar turned to November. Life has changed drastically in three years from where we live to the dynamic of our family.
Henrik loves numbers and letters, stop me if you've heard this before... He loves to slide down the stairs on his bottom. Trudy is his great friend. She tries to sleep in his bed, next to his face, which means that twice a week he wakes up screaming in abject terror as he finds a pile of fur in his face.
Henrik loves Anders and will do anything to gain his attention, but if Anders is stepping to close or horning in on his things, then Henrik will take a swing at Anders. Henrik has a little "daycare edge" that Anders never developed.
Henrik has finally found an interest in potty training. It remains intermittent, but we are on the road. I am hopeful that three will be better than two. Two was rougher with Henrik than Anders. Meanwhile, Anders at three was not my favorite age. I've had a ball with Anders since he turned four. I guess not knowing is what makes it fun.
We, however, remain those parents that aren't nostalgic for our kids being helpless babies. I love that they are getting older and more self sufficient. They even play with each other for a minute or two before Anders horns in on Henrik and he swings back.
One of the funny thing that Henrik does is say "mine" rather than "my." Couple that with his white-blond hair, and Henrik could be an extra in a WWII movie, in an establishing scene at home where the movie Nazi goes home after work to be with his family.
Henrik also gave himself a nickname, deeming himself "Hammy." He loves when we call him Hammy, he smiles and lights up like a Christmas tree.
Looking back, I realize now that the stress of a second preemie triggered a rather severe amount of aging between 34 and 35. I won't go into every part of my physical decline, but my beard turned much whiter.
I thought much of Henrik's birth as I woke up on November 9th in Donald Trump's America. These past two weeks have felt like the days after Henrik was born, "So, we're doing this again, huh?" I'm still trying to calibrate how much to feel and engage this time around, which may sound weird, but I did the same evaluation when Henrik was born. When Anders was born, I reached out to everyone, looking for support everywhere. For Henrik's term as a preemie, I forged ahead with just Anna. Trump's election left me despondent and caused me to leave Facebook and Twitter. I've lost faith with my fellow Midwesterners. I'm fairly confident that I know how these next four to eight years will go, which terrifies and exhausts me at the same time. Spending three months in the hospital with your premature son will also terrify you, then exhaust you.
I'm glad that the first president Anders remembers will be Obama. That will go a long way, and whenever Anders thinks of the "The President," Obama will come to mind first.
Anders woke up at about 10 pm on Election Night, just as it was sinking in what was happening in Wisconsin, and how Michigan was not turning toward Hillary. He was wearing my "Boilermakers for Obama" t-shirt as his sleep shirt. I didn't have the heart to tell him, as he had made homemade Hillary signs and an "election bowl" for my office. I let him watch for about 15 minutes, just telling him that it was really close. He replied, "She can still win." I said, "Yeah, it's too close to call, it could go either way," or something like that.
The next morning I lingered in the kitchen before trudging up to his room to wake him up. Telling him was one of the hardest things I've yet done as a parent. He wailed and heaved uncontrollably, then Anna came in and they shared a long cry. Meanwhile, I chased Henrik around as he babbled and toddled excitedly. Later, Anders mourned by slowly doing his President Puzzle. While he calmed himself, if I could read his mind, I believe that Anders was saying, "How did that bad man make it onto this puzzle?" I don't know, Buddy, but we are going to be tested in ways that we don't fully comprehend yet over the next few years.