We are two weeks in to our life as a family of four and let me tell you, we are learning and adapting all the time! Overall it has been so much easier than I thought it would be but it has still thrown us quite a few curve balls and we have had to make adjustments and come up with new strategies for how to handle things.
The first week was so easy, Echo was ridiculously smitten with her new sister and wanted to spend all her time helping with diaper changes, fussing over Clover and patting her on the head. After week one was over and Eric went back to work things started to get a little more crazy. I think Echo began missing my undivided attention and so she started to act pretty wild at certain times of the day. She also started fighting her nap like crazy. I had a limited amount of time to try to put her down for a nap since I had to do it while Clover was asleep and so we ended up missing several naps last week. This made Echo, tired, cranky and even crazier than she would normally be. She is still napping some days but other days it's just not worth the fight. I'm afraid it won't be long before she drops them all together.
Anyway, I digress, there is just so much to talk about with a new baby in the house :-) Here are some things that I've learned since round one of baby raising, some comparisons between baby number one and baby number two, and just some observations about having two kiddos in the house.
1. Newborns are so easy! When I first had Echo I was so overwhelmed and thought it was so difficult! This time I can't believe how easy a newborn is compared to a toddler. To be fair I think part of it is just that Clover is an exceptionally easy baby. Another big part of it is that I have more experience and am less stressed about everything. Having raised one kid through the baby stage I am much more confidant and less worried about every little detail and it has made my life so much easier.
2. Naps are precious, take them when you can. I really fought taking naps when Echo was a newborn, her naps where my only "me" time and I wanted to spend that time working on my projects and getting things done. Now that i have two kids and sleep for me is much more iffy I will take a nap when I can get one and it is glorious. Unfortunately I don't often have a time when both kids are sleeping and I can sleep too but sometimes the stars align and it all works out.
3. So far Clover seems super mellow compared to Echo. I'm not sure if I'm just not remembering what Echo was like as a newborn but Clover seems like a really calm and peaceful baby to me. She even sleeps really well so far! (knock on wood). I'm hoping her peaceful nature continues as it makes a nice contrast to my wild child Echo :-)
4. Going anywhere is like launching an expedition to Mars. That's an exaggeration but not by much. It takes forever to go anywhere, we have so many things to think about and so much to pack. Do we have enough diapers in the right sizes for both girls? Changes of clothes? Snacks? Baby sling? My bag weighs about a thousand pounds.
5. The laundry is ridiculous. I have two kids wearing cloth diapers, laundry is completely overwhelming.
6. I'm more smitten than I ever thought I could be. I'm guessing all moms feel this way about their kids but I am seriously so in love with my children! To the point where I can't even watch them together without tearing up. Eric and I must say "look at her, she is so beautiful!" about 100 times a day, referring to one or the other of our daughters. We are about as proud and happy as two parents can be :-)
My free time is understandably limited lately so I might not be blogging much for a while but never fear, I will plug away at it when I get a chance. In the mean time I will just be enjoying some time with these two precious little girls of mine :-)
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