Differences

On the glider with her baby sister

While I had not planned on comparing my two children, I think that to a certain extent, it is inevitable. A case in point: the car ride. As a newborn, our toddler cried the entire car ride home from the hospital. Thankfully the trip did not last longer than 15 minutes. Our second, on the other hand, slept soundly from day one. If not already asleep, she falls asleep almost the instant we put her in a car seat. Our toddler continued to cry, whine and complain in her car seat until she was about 12 months old. Consequently, we tried to limit our car rides to the essential: doctor's visits. Our newborn has already been in the car on more than a dozen occasions and it has been a breeze each time. Of course, she is still a newborn that sleeps more than she is awake, but I have a feeling she will continue to behave...

We held Baby # 1 for the first three months of her life. She cried the instant we put her down. We would take turns holding her. She slept between the two of us at night, because she didn't sleep for very long in her bassinet, even swaddled. Baby #2 allows us to put her down, complaining only when she is very tired or hungry. This is a blessing, as it allows me to continue paying attention to the toddler. When she does cry, it is a solitary "WAH". This will be followed a minute later by another "WAH" if there is no response to the first one. Baby #1 would have been almost inconsolable by this point.

One of my friends suggested that I am now a more experienced mother, and things were apt to be easier the second time around. While I do not dispute that experience may play a role, I think that the two girls have very different temperaments. Overall, Baby # 2 is very calm.

Our first baby was the polar opposite of calm...but she would also go on to prove very proficient at crawling (6 months) and walking (10.75 months). Today she remains very active; she is an expert climber, jumper, and amateur gymnast.

Our toddler only started sleeping through the night regularly at age 2. While our newborn is not yet sleeping through night, I think that it is just a matter of a few months. She sleeps swaddled in a bassinet next to my side of the bed. At night, she generally sleeps for 2 to 3 hour blocks, waking only briefly to drink. Last night she gave her Mama a 4.5 hour block of rest, and she feels like a new person now!

While I certainly hope Baby #2 will also be active, I am very much enjoying the calmness of the moment.

Spring is Here!

Gardening

I had forgotten how easy it was to entertain our toddler outdoors. I remembered this week, as a warm front descended upon us, and we had record breaking weather. We had 5 days of temperature above 20C; typically the average March temperature is 2C!

We ventured to the park on several occasions. The baby slept soundly in her stroller, while our toddler ran around. The nice weather was so unexpected that the park's swings had not yet been set up. Our toddler was very content to be outdoors, and we found it difficult to convince her to return home.

Although the above average weather won't last, it was a nice distraction. Rather than mope around the house feeling exhausted, my goal was to get outside. And that I did, at least twice a day. Most often I was alone with one child while the other was being entertained by her father or grandmother. I am not yet confident that I can walk outside with both. What if our toddler decides to run into the street? The one time I ventured outdoors with both of them, our toddler insisted I carry her. "No," she said emphatically when I suggested she ride on the platform attached to the back of the stroller. Thankfully the park was only 50 meters from our house.

Napping

Routine

Sisters

I did not imagine that it would occur this quickly...Life at home with my two young charges has now become routine! Just last week I was struggling at home alone with the two young kids. Yet this week was a breeze. Our toddler was entertained by her little sister, and the hours flew by! Having a housekeeper on Tuesdays who also helped our toddler with mealtime was certainly useful. My mom came by on Thursday, and then on Friday we headed to Grandma's house.

Although it flew by, I still find myself exhausted...I suppose it would be unrealistic to expect a 5 week old to sleep through the night!

Home Alone

I asked her to smile for the photo!

Home alone with the two kids, that is. My husband headed back to work this Monday. I was exhausted over the three weeks that my husband was home to help. But the real test, in my mind at least, would be this week. Here's how it went:

Monday.
Horrible night on Sunday. The baby decided to wake up every hour for more milk. Growth spurt perhaps?! As well, I was up earlier than usual, as my husband had to leave for work by 7h30. Over the last three weeks, he had been feeding our toddler breakfast, a task that once again became mine. The morning actually flew by despite my exhaustion. My sister, a school teacher, was off for spring break and offered to help out with the Brat. She arrived at 11, and stayed for 3 hours. I don't think I could have done it without her. She fed our toddler lunch, and entertained her better than I could have under normal circumstances. I tried to nap while she was here, but to no avail as the baby wanted to drink very often. My sister left at 14h, our toddler's usual nap time (if she was so inclined). Much to my dismay, she decided she did not need to nap. However she did play surprisingly calmly the rest of the afternoon. My husband arrived shortly after 17h and took over. And because our toddler had not napped, she fell asleep very easily a little before 20h.

Tuesday.
My first real day alone. Another tough night. Baby awoke every 1-1.5h for more milk. I felt like I was running an all-night cafe! Usually we have a housekeeper at our house on Tuesdays. She has quite a bit of experience as a nanny, so I thought I could ask her to help feed our toddler. But she had requested to work this Thursday rather than Tuesday, so I truly was alone. At some point in the morning, I found myself sipping some caffeinated tea (another rarity as I usually drink tisane), and thinking that it was not so bad, I could handle this new job of stay at home mom to two young children. Then I looked at the time. It was only 10h! Only 7.5 hours to go!!! I am not sure how I made it, but somehow 17h came around, and before I knew it, my husband was home. A little later on, with the Brat in bed, and my husband holding the baby, I was tidying up the kitchen. In my trance-like state, I knocked over a cup of tea onto my laptop. Although my husband would say it had nothing to do with exhaustion, just my usual clumsiness...As I type these words (on my desktop), my laptop remains nonfunctional...

Wednesday.
Finally, a better night! She awoke every 2.5-3 hours, and her mama finally got some sleep! The day flew by. It was 12 degrees Celsius outside, and normally I would have ventured out, but the idea of running after my toddler as I held onto the baby's stroller somehow did nor seem appealing! Surprisingly, our toddler decided to nap at 16h. She must have been exhausted. I only let her sleep for an hour so that she would not go to bed at midnight. As the baby was also sound asleep (and would be for another half hour) this allowed me 30 minutes to myself, a rarity these days!

Thursday.
I was very much looking forward to Thursday. My mom's day off work! She arrived shortly before 9h. I left the baby with my mother (along with some pumped milk) and headed off to the YMCA with my toddler. We participate in a parent-child activity every Thursday at 10h called Kindergym. We sing songs, then play for an hour. While my husband was off work, they had attended together, and I had actually missed the class. Not only was it nice to get out of the house, I enjoyed chatting with the other moms, and simply jumping around with the kids. Attending the class was invigorating, and made up for the rest of the day. Our toddler was certainly acting up after the class; she refused diaper changes, wanted to stay in her pajamas, and had difficulty staying at the kitchen table during mealtimes. I am not entirely sure how my mom's presence contributed to this, but I am certain it did. Was she allowed to get away with everything while at Grandma's?

Friday.
As has become a weekly tradition, our toddler spent Friday at her grandma's. I thought it would be a great opportunity to catch up on some sleep. I would nap each time the baby did. She slept soundly while being held, but she woke up the instant she was put down. I need to learn to sleep standing up!

Then something quite unexpected happened on Friday. Our newborn smiled! On a few occasions. And it was seemingly unrelated to sleep and gas. And just like that, it made the rough week worthwhile!

Papa Heads Back to Work

Before

Our baby turns 3 weeks old this Thursday. This also marks my husband's return to work. We have opted for the "special parental package" that the Quebec government offers to new parents. We will be taking a combined 25 weeks off work over the first year of our baby's life. We decided that it would make most sense if my husband took a few weeks off initially, as to help our toddler transition from only child to big sister.

A few interesting things occurred over the course of these last three weeks:

1. Our toddler has grown very attached to her papa. He left briefly one day to pick up some documents from work, and she cried when he left! (Ususally she doesn't even bother saying goodbye!)

2. Our toddler is sleeping better at night. Probably because my husband kept returning her to her own bed when she would venture into our room. This is out of necessity, as there simply isn't enough room for the four of us in the same bed, and for the moment the newborn sleeps between my husband and I.

3. Our toddler has grown very attached to her baby sister. Multiple times a day, she requests to hold the baby in her arms. And she is surprisingly gentle with her, patting her hair, and giving her little kisses.

I am a little worried about my husband's return to work. How will I feed both babies simultaneously? Will the toddler agree to nap with us, or will I be foregoing the naps I have been taking with the newborn? How will I survive on even less sleep (my husband has been waking up early with our toddler, allowing the baby and I a few extra hours of sleep in the morning)? I realize that I am not the first mother with more than one young child at home, but I remain a little apprehensive...

After