Dear Frankie

Dear Frankie,

As I mentioned to you when we met, I am your Tia Effie. I’m the one who keeps taking your clothes off.  (That lady who keeps putting them back on is your Auntie Kelly.)  I don’t know if you’ve figured this out yet, but you are a second child. Your brother is that small, loud thing that moves fast and keeps kissing you on the head.

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This thing, being a second child, means that by now, even though you are only a few days old, everyone has already compared you to your brother a thousand times.  We’ve talked about how you look like him, how your lips are like his, how you’re quiet like he was, and like to sleep like he did…  You’re going to hear a lot of that.  From now on, the comparisons to him will be pervasive, and perpetual.  You won’t just learn to walk the day that you do – you will learn to walk sooner, or later than Luis. You won’t just learn to talk, you’ll talk sooner or better or later or with more ferocity that your brother (as hard as that is to imagine) and we will all make those comparisons between the two of you pretty much every day for the rest of your life.

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Your brother Luis, he has the magic of the first child. He is your trendsetter, the guy setting the standard against which we’ll all helplessly juxtapose you. I’m a first child myself, so I can tell you that as much as this is probably going to bug you, you can keep in mind that being the first child has its downside. He’s had to break your parents in, going first, training them up. Trust me, they’re way better at this parenting stuff now thanks to him.  You aren’t going to have to deal with rookies.  He is the first child, your big brother, the guy who turned your parents into a family,  and he’s going to have that over you from now on.

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If you ever get to wondering if you are less remarkable than him, my sweet wee man, let me tell you now what magic you hold.  It is important, special love-magic, and nobody else in this family could have worked this spell but you.  You are a second child, that means that when we learned you were coming, we all worried about the same thing. (This is something nobody talks about, quite wisely, but you will soon learn that your Tia Effie talks about all kinds of things that I’m not supposed to. It’s part of my charm, along with a good ability to talk your parents into letting you do stuff. You’ll love it later.)  We all looked at your brother, we all felt the enormous love we have for him, and then we thought about you, and we wondered, sweet magic boy, if there was room for you. Our love for him was so remarkable… could we love you as much we love him?

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Here is your magic. Last week, when you arrived earthside, with your own special face, your own unique self, each of us took you in our arms and one by one, each and every one of us knew a thing instantly. Those of us who have more than one child remembered it  in one second,  but your parents, new to the alchemy and special magic of a second child, learned it in one overwhelming, incredible, spectacular moment.

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You are a multiplier. You are amazing.  Our love isn’t divided when the second child arrives. There is no finite, counted measure of love. We don’t take the love we have and divide it amongst our darlings, with each added human getting a smaller chunk. Your magic is to remind us that love is expansive and infinite. We couldn’t imagine loving anyone as much as Luis, and then there you were, and you took a breath, and reached out a wee hand, and the family collectively gasped as every part of us capable of love was made bigger, and stronger, and loved you as much as anything, ever.  You are that remarkable magic, and you are that special, and that is every bit as amazing as being first.

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Like for your brother, and for your cousins, and for Hank, and for all the new people I love,  I knit you a blanket. Just like theirs and now yours, this blanket is as unique as you are.  The middle part is an old Spanish lace pattern, to honour the Spanish part you get from your Father.  In the border is snowflakes, for the Canadian half that is your mum. (You’ll learn about winter later, my summer boy.  It’s coming.  I’ll make you a sweater.)  I also chose trinity stitch, and then diamonds, for the incredible thing that you’ve done, turning a little knotted family of three into a sparkling, whole, four sided structure.

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You are like your brother Luis, and you are like your mum, and your dad, and so many people who come before you, and you are also fantastically, wonderfully, yourself. Do not doubt it.

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We love you, and welcome, and don’t worry. It’s a big family. There are more than enough people to hold you and Luis both.  You are second child magic, and we are all so grateful you are here.

Love,

Tia Effie

(PS. That’s what Lou calls me, but you can choose what you want. Stephanie is a hard name to say.)

240 thoughts on “Dear Frankie

  1. Second baby magic indeed. Also beautiful blankie magic. This post is, all in all, magic! Thank you and thank Kate and Carlos for sharing your joy with us.

  2. This was so sweet :). I’ll be honest, I’m pregnant with baby #2 and this is something I was/am worried about. I love my oldest fiercely, and I can’t fathom being able to love another person as much as I love her. It’s so wonderful and reassuring to hear that the love really does multiply.

    • Honest, April, every word is true. I’m the mother of two girls (now women in their 40’s), and I adore them both… and of course, their children. Tia Effie has it right — those magical kids are multipliers.

    • It does and you will. Mom of 2 boys. There’s also the special magic of watching them interact with each other.

  3. What a beautiful welcome to the world! Joyful, sweet tears while reading this lovely letter to your new nephew. Thanks for sharing. Lovely work on his blanket, btw.

  4. My first knitted project was for my new nephew, Frankie. At 26, he’s asking that we call him Frank, but he’ll always be my Frankie!

  5. This brought tears to my eyes, and I thought, “every second child in the world needs to hear this.” And only then did I remember that I am a second child. While I was raised in a loving-enough family, no one has said these things to me until now. Thank you, and a warm aloha to Frankie with hopes he will forgive my taking Auntie Effie’s words for myself. You’ll learn about sharing soon enough, too, dear little one.

  6. This post made me cry. I think this is why you are my favourite knitting writer, because it’s not about the knitting, it’s about all of life (and obviously knitting is a big part of that for knitter). Thank you for writing so eloquently.

  7. thank you for all that you share with us, your thoughts and your hopes and your family. i feel so honored to get to be included, in this way that we are.
    i have two children, and that love expansion is exactly as you said. in that one second, the magic happens.

  8. Precious – the baby and the words. And it’s going to be difficult to get my work done now with these tears in my eyes!

  9. As my husband says, one day our kids are going to grow up and realise why we called them “alpha”, “beta” and “release.

  10. The blanket is a miracle of design, talent and technique. But the essay? OMG. THAT should be printed, and handed to all second children everywhere. You have a gift for knitting and design, and you have a gift of expression that’s equally profound and perfect Thank you for sharing both with us all

  11. Congratulations to all, and that blanket is stunning! What’s the name of the central pattern — the Spanish one! Very handsome! Your essay is a great reminder that love is no zero-sum game…

  12. He’s as beautiful as can be & as lucky as can be to be part of the family to which he belongs. Your blanket is just as beautiful. (But, boy is that thing huge – no wonder you ran out of yarn!)

  13. Stephanie, your writing is even more remarkable than your knitting. Somehow you manage to take my unspun thoughts and feelings, card them, spin them and knit them into something I can wrap around me and my family. Thank you!

    And congratulations on your beautiful nephew. May he always know how special he is.

  14. What a beautiful post! You expressed your love so well. You made me love Luis and little Frankie! Just like that!

    May I add one more thought that it is always nice to know that there is another being on this earth that has the same Mum and Dad. I tell my brother that often. Only we two know about having our parents.

    • and you will have each other…my brother (59) and I (61) just lost our last parent in March – my brother said “we’re orphans now”, but I don’t feel like an orphan when we have each other to share the memories.

  15. Welcome wee Frankie, you are clearly loved to bits already. Wiping away my tears…. and swallowing hard. Congrats to the whole family!

  16. Oh, this made me cry such happy tears and made me think of how I felt when baby number two arrived…..

    Beautiful writing, beautiful blanket and of course, a beautiful baby.

  17. *sob*

    That is a beautiful, beautiful story. You make me want to knit something enduring for my children too, even though they are 3 and 1. I’m going to need some stitch dictionaries!

  18. As the mom of a little boy about Luis’ age and expecting his little brother in a few months, I have to say – I’m sobbing at my computer.

  19. my second baby is turning one at the end of this month, and this is everything i want him to know. you put into words what is in my heart, and made me smile and cry at the same time. until i saw the comment above, it escaped my notice completely that i, too, am a second child, both because i’ve been one for so long, and because there is a third of us, and our pentagonal family is full of love and joy. thanks for all you do for the community and your family.

  20. And when Luis starts feeling jealous, tell him what my mom told me, a first child: “Oh, you were so much fun, we decided to have four more.” (She didn’t say that till I was over 50, mind you.)

  21. Made me cry, too! Stephanie, you are a gift to all of us. Thank you for sharing your family, your knitting, and your wisdom. I am sharing with my family, too!

  22. That is probably the most beautiful welcome to ANY child I have ever read. I have 3 – two are twins – its a very hard thing to explain, how one loves them all. “There is no finite, counted measure of love. . . . Your magic is to remind us that love is expansive and infinite.” that was so eloquent and I thought. “Yes! that’s what I’ve been trying to say for 26 years!!”

  23. Now I know why you’re a published author and I have manuscripts under my bed (they’re really on USB drives, but “under my bed” sounds better). That is beyond a doubt the most poignant and eloquent, not to mention sweetest, love letter I have ever read.

    Oh, and I like the blanket too.

  24. I want to save this post for every child who comes before and who comes after, both for my family and for the whole human family. Beautiful, Stephanie, absolutely beautiful. (And I always wondered how it would be to be the first. The closest I got is when the third kid in my family went off to college when I was 16.)

  25. 6 months pregnant with my third. Sweater 1 is almost done, blanket is begun and going home sweater waiting in the wings. Now I have to go find a tissue! Beautiful, thanks for sharing.

  26. Tearing up slightly as I read this… and my #2 stomps up the stairs in a teenage huff.
    #4 just came and showed me what colour the popsicle turned her tongue. The multiplication is exponential….

  27. I’m crying. This is so beautiful. I only had one child, who’s in his thirties now.. I never felt I would love anyone as much as I did him, I’m a second child and had a very difficult time with it, I didn’t even feel my birth announcement was mine as I was “a sister for…”. You have written this so powerfully that I’m crying, I should have.. I should have..

    Beautiful writing, thank you.

  28. Not only is the blanket beautiful, the symbolism profound, the new arrival so cuddly cute that I bet all of your blog readers want a turn holding him, but then on top of these comes writing that was so heartfelt and universal, so moving and so eloquent, that I feel like I’ve just received a teaching that I needed very much to hear. Thank you so much.

    Please consider taking the text (and the pictures or Harlot-esque line drawings) and creating a book for all children to read, regardless of their position in the stack or age!

  29. Beautiful and poignant. Someone once described how they loved each of their children from a different part of their body. I didn’t really get it at the time, but I have 3 now (1,4,6) and I couldn’t agree more. And a happy multiplication indeed.

  30. Thank you for so eloquently stating how it is possible for a parent(family) to love another child. As a second I did live in the constant comparisons of my older. And then I became a middle and the comparisons went both ways. Never had it occurred to me that I was magical. I can’t wait for the next time my younger son complains about being second to tell him in fact he is magical.
    As for the blankie–so wondrous and the way you describe it was so touching. Wishing I had an Auntie Effie!!

  31. I am crying as I type this. I remember those feelings when my second son was due and how silly the worry was as soon as he was born. My first born and his wife welcomed their second child two months ago. Same thing. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. And the blanket is absolutely beautiful!

  32. The blanket is absolutely beautiful and I am in awe of your talent, both design-wise and technically. But what I will remember is your message to Frankie; I worried all through my second pregnancy about this very thing, how to have enough love for two, and the minute our little Matthew arrived (not really little…9 1/2 pounds) I fell in love again and knew it would never be a problem. We now have 4 sons, all wonderful young men, and the love flows around the family and is now stretching out to absorb daughters-in-law; I feel so fortunate when I see them all together. Thank you for a wonderful message, Stephanie, you have made my day!!

  33. What a beautiful blanket for a beautiful little baby. I’m the third of five children in my family and your theory of the expansiveness of love of the truth!

  34. Steph, you are the only person I’ve ever heard of who can write with blankets. I love the meaning you put into them.

  35. I have borne three children into this world, and I wondered every time: “Will I have enough love left for the next one?”
    The answer: “Hell yeah!!!!!”
    Hard to believe when you think about it logistically, what with having only two hands, only a finite amount of patience and sleep reserves, but yes, you will love every child as fiercely as the first one.
    It’s a handy miracle, because it ensures the survival of our species!

  36. Thanks for this wonderful letter to Frankie. I felt the same way when my second great nephew was born. I loved my first great nephew Tristan so much and here came his little brother Ozzy so soon. But Ozzy performed the same magic and now we love them both so much.

  37. *sob* Here is your magic. *gasp*hiccup*sob*

    Where is that Kleenex box?

    Be back later, gone out to sqeeze baby yarn. 😀

  38. This post is so amazing. I’m a second child of three, & have three of my own (all are adults now). It actually choked me up to read what you wrote, it was all said so perfectly. Welcome to the world Frankie!

    • Amy, I had to comment on your post. I am the same as you – second of 3 and mother of 3 adult boys. You are right!! Stephanie has put into beautiful words what we as seconds and Moms have always known. I, for one, am keeping her post for my children & grandchildren.

  39. Love the blanket. Love the sentiment…even if I am a first child and the trendsetter (but not trendy enough according to my second child sister!!!).

    It is a shame that folks can’t remember that love multiples the more you give it away. World would be a much better place.

  40. That was the most beautiful post Stephanie – I’ll admit to weeping while I read it. Congratulations to you and your family on your gorgeous new addition and on the beautiful blanket you created for him.

  41. Pingback: Tear Jerker | Gina Quilts and Knits

  42. Dear Steph,

    Frankie is gorgeous but so is the blanket! You’re a lucky Aunt and he’s a lucky boy. Wishing much enjoyment to both of you – and the rest of the family.

  43. Dear Frankie. You don’t have to imitate your brother nor do you have to reject doing everything he does. Just do what you personally want to do. You can watch what he does, and decide separately each time whether it seems right for you. You can also change your mind later.

  44. What a beautifully moving post. I hope Frankie’s parents keep these words somewhere special to share with him when he is older. Your writing is just as much a keepsake as that blanket.

  45. Tia Effie, this letter is beautiful. Thank you for sharing it and the photos of Frankie with his family with us.

  46. “Your brother is that small loud thing that moves fast and keeps kissing you on the head” is the perfect description of my two year old. Older brothers are delightful creatures.

  47. Now I’m crying. And saving this for when my sweet little second boy is old enough to worry about whether or not anyone loves his big brother better than him.

  48. Stephanie, You are not just a knitter who writes, you are a Writer, and a really good one! And what makes a good writer is not simply putting words together well, but having good thoughts, good ideas, good things to say. This was wonderful, and so are you!

  49. Thank you for sharing your family with us…they have become our family too. Welcome to young Frankie and his lovely blanket that was knit with much love.

    • I remember, just before baby #2 delivered, thinking, “how am I ever going to love someone as much as my first?” As soon as she delivered I thought, “oh, that’s how!” It is amazing, and Steph has expressed it so well

  50. I hope this heartfelt letter goes in his baby book and is shared with him repeatedly as he grows. It’s one of the more beautiful sentiments I’ve read. I liked hearing how you chose the blanket design – thanks for sharing and congrats on the newest addition to your family.

  51. Beautifully said. As the mum of three, I’ve always talked about how love multiplies with each new child (or niece or nephew or your friend’s children, you get the drift).

  52. Fast-forwarding to the day when that adorable little fellow will be ready to read that love-letter for himself . . . it will be a balm, an encouragement, and an affirmation that he’ll treasure. Once he stops blushing, that is.

  53. The blanket is amazing, I love how you planned all the parts to form one very special blanket.
    I looked up Tia, thinking it was Spanish for aunt, what I found a third of the way down the results was hilarious. According to the Urban Dictionary Tia means: A cool smart mouthed girl that always has something smart to say to everything. She’s also very talkative and can say things people take offensively but she doesn’t always mean to be rude. Either way you can’t help but love her.
    I think that fits the Yarn Harlot!
    Congratulations to the whole family!

  54. I too cried at this. I am expecting my second, after losing my first to stillbirth several months ago. It is so hard to imagine loving this child just as much, but this is the second beautiful reminder in the last few days that it is not only possible, but certain. Thank you for sharing.

  55. What a beautiful blanket and such a meaningful pattern. Where do you find such interesting stitches? I do a lot of baby knitting and would love to personalize it with family heritage. You do that so well with your stitch choices.

  56. Frankie is beautiful. Congratulations to all of you! And the blanket is beyond spectacular. Good job, Tia, good job.

  57. The blanket, with all its symbolism, is beautiful, as are your wonderful, loving, and wise words. I am the elder of two children, and I will be sending a link to this post to my younger sister.

  58. Waaaaaahhhhhh!
    My Luis and Frankie are named Max and Adam, and they’re 32 and 29, and I still feel the same way…

  59. Crying over here! Love the symbolism of the chosen stitch patterns. I’d take this blog post and others leading up to the blanket being done – and put them in a little book that can be tucked away with the blanket.

  60. Birth order does play a role in our lives, whether we like it or not. I have three children only four years apart. I tell the second and third that they owe a debt to their older brother that they can never repay.

    While they stayed at home, protected and secure, he went out into the world, alone, to kindergarten, and after a few hours he safely returned, and when it came their turn to go out into the world, alone, they knew they could do it.

  61. Stephanie, thank you for sharing this deeply personal letter with all of us. This baby, along with Lou, and your own, and all the babies you know, are wrapped up in so much love. Wish there was a way to bottle that and give it away around the world.

  62. Dear Frankie,
    Besides all those other people, your immediate family, about whom your Tia Effie wrote so beautifully, there is also this other big unseen-to-you family out there – we are called the Blog, and even though most of us will never meet you, we love you, too. If you ever need us – in almost any place in the world – you just let us know and at least one of us will be there to help.

  63. Amazing writer to be sure. I love the blankie as well. It’s so great to see knitting spotlighted like this. We have some great stuff as well at wearonearth.net maybe we can help you with your next project/ story. Keep up the amazing work.

  64. Dear Stephanie,

    Thank you for the beautiful expression of how love expands and has room for all, and of how each of us is unique. Congratulations and kindest regards to you and to Frankie’s immediate and wide family.
    Thanks too for the explanation of the amazing blanket. It is a reminder to me of the value of being mindful of what gifts I make and give.

  65. Cynthia in Seattle at 3:42 pm has a great idea! A book based on this letter and the sentiments about family and love. There are a lot of people who would buy the book for others or for themselves (all those second children) and there are many people who need to hear these words.

    I was the last of 4 girls – with a stretch of 30 years between my oldest sister and I – and I can tell you that a late-in-life baby has special magic too, perhaps especially for parents who thought they were growing old. I was lucky, my parents lived to see my granddaughter, and the love story grew even more. I wish they had been here to see my grandson.

    Happy life and much love for the whole family.
    Chris S in Canada

  66. You’ve made me laugh more times than I can count, but today a tear or two was shed. Well done, very touching and perfectly worded. Congratulations on a most marvelous expansion to your family!!

  67. Just beautiful! You have such a lovely way with words. I have tears thinking about the love that radiates from this post. You should print a copy to tuck into a birthday card when he’s old enough to understand just what he means to the family. He’s lucky to have been born into yours.

  68. This. This romanticism of knitting. It makes me want to pick up my needles and knit something romantic. And have a baby, lol! I love your blanket, and your nephew. Thanks for sharing both with us.

  69. Hey Frankie – great loving family you got there. Thank you Tia Effie for sharing your artistry – in all things. The blanket symbols are very special.

  70. Ah, dammit woman, you made me cry. You wrapped that sweet child in beautiful words and beautiful wool, each crafted by you into something greater than the parts by your talents and love.

  71. Oh good, I wasn’t the only one who got teary. Frankie, bud, welcome to the blog. We’re awful glad to meet you.

  72. Extraordinary. Him. You. Them. Past and present Thems.
    Big Love. Thank you for sharing.
    So grateful there are people like you in the world.

  73. Thank you for the second child magic insight – I am expecting my second baby in two months and am nervous, as I was an only child myself. My daughter will have to learn how to share with the baby, but now I can use your words to explain that we have enough love for both our children.

  74. The Frankie Blankie! I wonder if they nicknamed him after this awesome epic present as a sort of compliment? 🙂

    Love your Ode to Two! It resonates; I know exactly what you mean.

  75. Oh carp, pass the tissues! Thanks for putting the “next child” devotion in perspective. Frankie’s blankie is gorgeous, as it needs to be for such a lovely little man.

  76. Oh my, Tia Effie. That was a beautiful post to a beautiful boy. And your description of the blanket made your work that much more special. Thank you for making us feel like a part of your family, extended though we are! I’m a second child and you made ME feel special too. I can only imagine what you’ll write should they have a 3rd in the future. Love to you all!

  77. That was beautiful. But your photos are truly awesome. We should all be so lucky to have such wonderful photos of our new family members. The blanket is lovely too. Thanks for keeping us involved in your great family.

  78. I want to say a heartfelt thank you for this wonderful post. I had my own second daughter read it and she felt so special afterwards. As she should.

  79. What a beautiful, tender welcome to a precious new family member. He will be able to read this some day and know how cherished he is. (PS The blanket is so lovely.)

  80. Your writing….what a lucky family you have, to have you in it. Now I need to go find a box of Kleenex – I’m crying out of sheer happiness and joy. Thank you for sharing your family with us. xo

  81. I’ve been reading your blog for years, and I haven’t written in until today. Becoming recently a mom of 2, your words touched me thoroughly. Beautifully written. Thank you for sharing.

  82. You have an incredible way with words. It made me love him like he was my own.
    I want one of my own- now!
    ( sigh…patience they tell me! )

  83. “where did you come from, baby dear? Out of the nowhere and into the here..” A sentiment you’ve elaborated upon with magnificent beauty. <3 What a lucky boy to have this welcome tribute to call his own, to read and re-read, forever and ever.

  84. That was beautiful! There really isn’t anything at all like having that 2nd child and feeling the love multiply — so beautifully captured in the written word Stephanie. Enjoy that wee bundle while you can….they grow so very fast. And from one Frankie to another, may you be blessed with a wonderful life full of laughter, family, friends and so many great memories just waiting to be made.

  85. That is a remarkable blanket. And a remarkable letter. (And if I were you, I’d encourage Luis to aspirate the beginning of his name for you so it comes out Tia Jefe, Aunt Boss. Can’t hurt.)

  86. Stephanie, that second-child magic flowed right into you, because you’ve done it again. You’re always good, but this goes above and beyond. Beautiful, beautiful writing, full of love and joy. Thank you for sharing your growing family with us.

  87. Just the other day my second of three grandchildren was anticipating that perhaps one day in the future there would be a fourth grandchild. She she asked me if I would still love her afterwards. I questioned whether she was worried about whether there was enough love to go around and of course she said yes. So we sat down and snuggled and talked about how beautiful the human heart is because it can hold endless amounts of love.

  88. Excuse me while I wipe a smiling tear from my eye – what a wonderful welcome to the new member of your family.

    Blessed be Frankie & Family!

  89. This post was hard to read through the tears. It’s so lovely. You have a lucky family to have someone like you, write something like this, about them.

  90. Beautiful baby, beautiful blanket, very beautiful letter. I am sending it to my (now adult) second child.
    Did I mention–beautiful!

  91. I’m having a hard time typing this, because I can’t see through the tears in my eyes. This. This is why we all love you. Thanks, that was absolutely beautiful, and just might be the high point of my week. What a perfect way to start a Friday evening.

  92. I’ll be honest–I teared up when I read this. Frankie isn’t old enough to know it, but his Tia Effie (or whatever he chooses to call you later) wrote something beautiful about him. I hope he reads it one day. The blanket you made him is also gorgeous.

  93. This post was beautiful. I have an only child, but was one of 4 (3 by birth and one chosen). Having only experienced the “only child”, it is so wonderful to hear the multiplier effect (myself being the third multiple in my own generation). Such a beautiful explanation of family! Thank you!

  94. Tears of happiness for the new arrival and in thanksgiving for your gifts and willingness to share, Steph.

  95. Aaahh, Ms. Stephanie, you make me want to weep for joy. What a lucky little boy! What a splendid family! What a beautiful blanket, all knit full of symbolism and love!
    Thank you.

  96. I can only reiterate what others have said before me…gorgeous blankie and gorgeous child. What a lucky guy to be born into such a family.

  97. I don’t usually comment, but this one really made me want to reach out to you, Steph. You got me with tears welling up in my eyes.

    Thank you.

    Thank you for your honesty, your generousity, and your awesomeness. You’re wonderful, and my internet is so much better with you in it.

  98. That has to be one of the most gorgeous pieces of knitting I have ever seen! Wow! Such a beautiful blanket for a precious, adorable,much-loved little man. This was a lovely, thoughtful piece, and I hope Katie puts it in Frankie’s baby book for him to read many times in his life.

  99. I’ve never commented in the two years I’ve followed you but you had me crying in my morning coffee! Now we love him too!

  100. Stephanie, the blanket is a masterpiece. The patterns, the stitches, it’s a tour de force. While I love all your family blankets, I particularly like the way this one is edged with gentle scallops instead of the usual points. The planning, execution and technique resulted in the finest blanket I’ve ever seen. Brava!

  101. Beautiful blanket, beautiful baby, beautiful family, and beautiful words – especially to the second child that I am. Congratulations to all of you!

  102. I wish that every child could read a letter like this, written just for them, to remind them on hard days when the world has sharp edges just exactly how perfect, unique, and loved they really are–and how much they matter.

  103. An incredibly beautiful letter to a new-born child. Please keep it forever, on paper, for him to treasure all his life. Thanks for sharing such a personal experience and emotion.

  104. Just sayin’…that pretty much brings tears to my eyes.

    Beautiful blanket. Beautiful baby. Beautiful sentiment!

  105. It’s 4am and I just got my 3 week old back down, and reading this I want number 2. you have such a knack for putting your thoughts into words. I have tears like everyone else.

  106. What an incredible gift! Your letter to Frankie is also a gift that every parent should read. So beautifully written! I cried as a read it remembering my own children and grandchildren as I did. Thank you Stephanie:-)

  107. Your words and the pictures touch me time and time again. Thank you for the tears I now have in my eyes. And welcome, Frankie!

  108. You have a way with words, as I’ve marveled many times. A beautiful tribute to a family’s love. I’m going to print this and include it in my daughter’s birthday card (she’s our second child and lives far away now) as it expresses what’s in my heart so much better than I ever could. Beautiful blanket, too.

  109. You take my breath away. I don’t even do reincarnation, but I want to be reborn, into your family, and I want you to knit me a special blankie. Such love. Blessings on Frankie, and on you all.

  110. What a wonderful piece of writing. I remember so well when my second boy was born, and I realized, all in less than a second, I had enough love for both of them. Two wonderful boys, who grew up into two wonderful men with families of their own. Yes love just keeps on stretching – now enough for my four grandchildren.

  111. What a gorgeous testament to your love for Frankie. The blanket, and the words, I mean. Congratulations to all. Frankie, you have a very rich life ahead of you filled with amazing knitted things by your Tia Effie. <3

  112. I’m late reading this as on 7/17/15 I was in the birthing suite with my daughter (my second child) assisting her in delivering her first, a girl Alyssa Michelle. My third granddaughter. Each one precious, unique and beautiful. Thank you Stephanie for this post. You were on my mind a lot as I was with my daughter. This is the first time I’ve been at a live birth where I wasn’t birthing myself. Awesome. Magical. Wonderful.

  113. How absolutely beautiful, Frankie AND your absolutely beautiful words. You are so well spoken and so absolutely right … you made me cry. Congratulations to your whole family!

  114. Welcome to the world and a loving family Frankie! Best wishes for a most happy life.

    Stephanie, love is like the universe expanding all the time with room for all. So happy to see the blankie finished and to know the thought and love that went into the making of this important and welcoming gift.

  115. I am pregnant with our second boy, sometimes worrying about that very thing as we love our first so very, very much, and now trying not to get caught crying at the office. Thank you so much for sharing this.

  116. oh my. that was just lovely! ( I am referring to your welcome essay….though the blanket is just lovely as well! )

  117. It’s posts like this one that bring it home that while you are a knitter, I think you are really a writer who knits.

  118. OK, so I’m sitting here crying in the public library now that we don’t have internet at home.

    Beautiful post. I think I will send it to my second-born, who to this day (he’s 21) has never understood that being second does NOT mean second-best.

    Thank you for putting into words what we all know and feel even when we can’t articulate it.

  119. Stephanie,
    I just finished reading your post and am kind of overcome….You have so touched my heart; as an “oldest” and Grammie of a first anticipating the announcement of a “coming second”. You so captured my thoughts and emotions around both realities of my life. Life is so precious and little “new ones” help us remember that. May you continue to be blessed as is obvious! ENJOY! Love to you all.
    Frankie’s blanket is beautiful.

  120. Steph, you have a wonderful way with words. I started reading your blog a few months ago and have only now caught up (mostly). You can make me smile and tear up at the same time, and you have me remembering the birth of my second son with your welcome letter to Frankie. A beautiful letter and a beautiful blanket.

  121. I’m almost 7 months pregnant with my second baby and I just read this. (Yeah, I’m a little behind on my blog reading.) I got some dust in my eye.

  122. Steph, I just sent this link to a friend who recently had her second child. Obviously I re-read it myself, and again it brought tears to my eyes. The way you describe “second child magic”…it’s just perfect, and perfectly true.

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