A 2nd child?

Darren says all the time that Natali will be our only child.  He seems pretty adamant about it, but I remember once upon a time he was adamant that we weren't having any children at all.  Look how that turned out?  It took us 3 years and a couple of miscarriages to get Natali, and I am so happy that we didn't give up.  Natali is such a good kid.  We are very lucky to have her.  When we first had her I was totally on board with having just 1 child, but as she gets older my mind has started to change.  I really would like to have 1 more.  That being said, I definitely want to wait until Natali is older.  I have thought about it and I think the ideal time would be sometime in 2014.  Of course, then I consider our finances and how much even part-time daycare costs and wonder how other families manage.  We make a very comfortable living right now and adding another daycare payment plus baby expenses would push it a bit.  I really don't think we would seriously consider it unless Darren were already a captain with a much larger salary, but that could change too.  All of this would of course be dependent on Darren changing his mind.  If he doesn't then Natali will be an only child and I will be fine with that too.  I am happy just to have her.  It's not an issue I will push too hard on because I would hate for Darren to just give in and not really want it.  He is aware of my feelings on this matter, so we will just wait and see what happens down the road.  I do remember how much I hated being pregnant, but Natali was absolutely worth every uncomfortable minute of my pregnancy.  I think any other child we have would be just as great.  I have 3 siblings and am constantly reminded about how glad I am to have them all in my life.  I would like Natali to have that experience too.  However, if she is an only child I am comforted by the fact that she has such wonderful cousins that we are able to see on a regular basis.  Hopefully they will continue to be close as they age.

On another note, Natali had her 18 month check up yesterday.  She is 25.6 pounds and 33.5 inches.  I have been comparing her stats from this check up and her 15 month one to my stats at the same ages and they are almost exactly the same.  I find it interesting that for now she seems to be on track to be exactly my height when she grows up.  I am 5'3".  We'll see if she continues on the same track or maybe gets a bit taller than me.  I will be totally happy if she is at least my height.  Any shorter is too short. :)