Green Bluebirds: Life With a Newborn: Take Two

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Life With a Newborn: Take Two

I have to say, life with a newborn isn't nearly as hard this time as I expected it to be, and it is SO nice to not be pregnant anymore! Granted, we've been totally spoiled this time with Paul's Mom coming to stay with us for the first week, and my Mom is here for ten days, but we're doing great. I've found I have less patience with Benjamin than I used to, but overall, he's done well at adjusting to life as a big brother.

The key differences this time? First, Peter is a very chill newborn. He sleeps a lot, eats well, and has most of his quiet, alert periods during the day. I keep him in our bed, so most nights he sleeps, fusses a little, I feed him, and then he goes right back to sleep. So in the morning, I actually feel rested! I didn't think it possible to feel rested after a night with a newborn. And thanks to our Moms, I'm able to rest throughout the day and not worry about the house and cooking so much.

Second, I'm less paranoid. I've been so much more relaxed about everything this time around, so I'm not constantly on the verge of tears. Nursing? Piece of cake. Bathing him? Not nearly so scary. Going places? Do-able. I feel so empowered having done this before!

Third, I have a two-and-a-half-year-old Benjamin around this time. This initially scared me, taking on two kids, but it's been nice (I should add that my Mom is still here, and takes him jogging every morning and reads to him, plays with him, and takes him places, so I'm probably speaking too soon). I'm not bored. I don't feel guilty about not engaging Peter every minute he's awake, and I have a cute little helper who actually responds when I talk to him. He's still adjusting of course and testing our limits, but overall he's been a sweetheart. He still gives Peter kisses constantly and tells us how much he loves his baby brother. His more trying moments usually come when he's over-tired or hungry (big surprise!), so we're trying to make sure his routine doesn't get too rocked.

So life is good. It really is fun being Mommy of two.

11 comments:

Bill, Kristin, Will and Kayla said...: I'm so glad that you are adjusting so well to being the mother of two. It gives hope to those of us who will be in the same boat in a few months :-); 3:04 PM
McKenna said...: How wonderul to have your mother around. I am so happy to have my mom so I can ask her all the "first time mom" questions! It's good to hear such a positive outlook to adding more kids to the bunch.; 11:46 AM
Momo Cannon said...: Thanks for the update. I can't believe it has already been a week since I was back there. It is fun to see how Peter has changed. Tell Benjamin that Grandma Cannon misses him so much! Love, Grandma; 1:59 PM
Melanie said...: I'm glad things are adjusting fairly smoothly for your family right now. Even if things to get a little tougher after all the family is gone at least you'll have gotten through the the initial newness of it all. That's gotta be great!; 5:59 PM
alexandra said...: Hooray! I completely agree that the first one is just by far the hardest. Two is easier than number 1. I love that last photo of benjamin stretching by the door. What a cutie face!; 9:32 PM
The Dahle Family said...: I thought my second was easier than the first, too. Nursing experience is priceless! I remember when Xander was less than a week old, isaw someone with two little kids, and I thought, how does anyone do that, one is so hard (we still hadn't mastered the eating thing at that point)! But I was just like you describe with number 2! We'll see how number three goes in just a couple months!; 10:57 PM
Rachel Sorber said...: Isn't two fun? I love it. Amazingly, it just keeps getting better! I love having 2 to play with each other now--they just entertain each other, making me much less in demand (or at least it feels that way to me). The first 6 months were probably the hardest, but they really weren't that bad. Isn't it fun to feel kind of like a "veteran" mom a little bit? :); 7:59 AM
Susie and Jay Larson said...: Congratulations!!!!! He is beautiful. You give me hope for having two children. Take care!; 12:02 AM
Marc and Miriam Deru said...: Your outlook on mommy things is refreshing. Thanks for the great pictures! You're STILL a rock star. :); 3:28 PM
Sarah said...: You said it all perfectly. I totally agree. The second is easier, even if there are still rough days. And it gets even easier as they get older.

I love that last picture. What a cutie!; 5:01 PM
Mirien said...: You said it so well, Sarah. I remember the same feeling when Evan was born. I wondered why I had thought taking care of a baby was so time consuming. The baby seemed easy--it was the two-year-old that was hard! Now, the baby still seems easy, it's the teenagers that test my patience and make me wonder if I'm saying and doing the right things! Which goes to show that there is a learning curve with each stage of parenting. But I agree with Rachel and others who say that it keeps getting better.; 11:46 AM

Noraisms

1/19/14
"Why you like Daddy's germs? Because why do you kiss him on the lips at home?"

6/20/13
Nora randomly asks if she can say a prayer in my presence: "...and bless that Benjamin can get on the school bus and go to school and that we can go to the Butterfly House..."

6/10/13

While Paul was bouncing her around, Nora tooted and sheepishly said, "That's not propriate!"

6/10/13

Mom: Nora, tell Lydia a happy story.

Nora: Unicorns and pink trees!

6/08/13

While Paul was spinning Nora around, she started aggressively rubbing his cheeks and gleefully said, "You a SCRATCHY lil man!"

5/8/13
Observing from her car window a random female adult without any children: "Look, a Mommy! Poor Mommy, she doesn't have a girl."

4/28/13
At my mention of George Washington: "George WASHING MACHINE!?!"

3/27/13
Referring to Lydia's fuzzy newborn head, "Oh, she's so cozy!"

12/21/12
Nora often says, "I can't need that!" when explaining that she doesn't want something as in "No. I can't need broccoli."

12/20/12
Dad: "Nora, do you want me to buckle you in?"
Nora: "Yeah...actually no, Mommy!"

She uses "actually no" surprisingly often. When Dad goes to get her out of her crib in the morning, "Actually No! Mommy!"

Mom: Do you want jam on your toast?
Nora: Yes. Actually, no.

Peter Prattle

6/20/13
"I'm glad Daddy decided to marry you mom....I'm glad that I grew inside your tummy. Because I LOVE being ME!"

6/10/13

Peter: I wish I was a cheetah, because I could eat anything!

Mom: What would you eat?

Peter: EVERYTHING!

5/21/13
Referring to the voice-over narration in the Tale of Despereaux, "I don't like people talking about the movie!"
I think he's his Dad's son.

3/27/13
Referring to Lydia's newborn ears, "Her ears look like ham!"

12/30/12
After spending a few minutes playing with an interactive coloring display at the LA Temple's visitors center, a befuddled Peter asked, "Why does God's home have crayons for us to draw on?"

12/07/12
Dad: "Aaron was Moses's brother."
Peter: "Oh! Just like the 'Aaron' Space Museum!!"

12/03/12
Dad: "Peter, I love who you are; you make me so happy."
Peter: "...and you don't want any more of me."

11/29/12
"I'm not someone who turns bad dreams into good dreams; I'm just a PERSON!"

10/29/12
Mom: If you grow up to be a doctor you can learn how to fix people.
Peter: I just want to be a chef. Actually! I want to be a doctor, a BOY doctor when I grow up because there aren't many BOY doctors in this land.

10/8/12
After Peter read Red Hen six times in half an hour:
Dad: "You can do anything you put your mind to."
Peter: "Like when I'm a chef I could learn how to not get my hands burned?"

8/24/12
"I'm the SWEET-Heart of the Family!"

8/24/12
Playing Scrabble with the boys:
Peter: "s-e-k-x. What's sekx?"
Mom: ?!...
Peter: "What's sekx?"
Mom: "It's whether you're a boy or a girl."
Peter: "Ohhhh. Sekx."

3/7/12

Ben: "Guess what I'm going to ask for for my birthday?"

Me: "What?"

Ben: "An Ipod."

Me: ".....?!"

Peter: "Guess what I'm going to ask for for MY birthday? An escape pod. It's from Star Wars."

3/6/12

Butterflies have butter in them, but we don't eat butterflies."

2/14/12

Peter, who has a cold complained during lunch that his "breath hurt." I'm pretty sure he meant his throat.

1/9/12

After recovering from a dinnertime tantrum, "I have an angry face on my smiley."

11/10/11

Very matter-of-factly, after observing some windblown black and white garbage in a neighbor's yard, "Looks like a penguin is dead."

10/14/11

"I'm just tipping on my toes."

10/13/11

"I'm just raking the inside of my mouth...because I have a bun stuck inside my teeth."

8/10/11

Peter: "Mmmm...this is yummy!"

Me: "You like caramels?"

Peter: "No, car-di-NALS! ...you don't chew on the cardinals or you won't have any teeth, and you'll be a baby and I'll say, 'where's my teeth?'"

8/2/11

After feeling my legs, "Your knees are so scratchy! You better go scratch them."

7/29/11

Peter picked up a pretty rock and exclaimed, "A Julian! I found my own Julian! it's white and black and blue!"

7/18/11

Referring to a dandelion that his cousin found, "She found a dandy land!"

7/15/11

Not wanting to take any pain medication after landing on his head, Peter cried, "I want to have a hurt head!"

5/12/11

Peter: "It's the weekend?"

Dad: "No."

Peter: "It's the work-end?"

4/25/11

Benjamin: "Where's my orange?"

Peter: "In my throat."

4/17/11

Mom: "Pick a Sunday movie. It's Sunday."

Peter: "NO! A COOL movie! Not a nice movie."

4/16/1

After making a mess, "I'm a natural."

4/15/11

"I'm NOT a baby! I'm a JOKE!"

2/23/11

Mom: "Thank you for being the peacemaker, Peter!"

Peter: "No, Coolmaker!"

1/26/11

"I need a towel. NOT the flower one. That'd be gross."

Benjaminisms

3/8/12

Peter, referring to a Jeep: "That car has a wheel on the back of it!"

Benjamin: "That's called a GPS."

1/10/12

"If I ever catch a Leprechaun, I will wish to be an angel or a prophet."

8/8/11

Referring to the Boppy, "Nora's milking pillow is on my bed."

6/5/11

Peter: "I'm going to be an astronaut when I grow up."

Benjamin: "But be careful! An asteroid might come and break your rocket!"

5/1/11

Benjamin recently watched the entire first season of the original Transformers animated series. This morning while piling into the van Benjamin said, "Let's get ready to go IronHive!" thus aptly naming our family transport.

3/4/11

"I don't know why all the days are called tomorrow."

12/13/10

Benjamin, in response to Peter's moaning: "Peter, that freaks me out!"

11/20/10

Someday soon, I'll have hairs in my nose like Daddy...then I won't have to pick it with my finger."

11/12/10

Measuring Nora with a ruler: "Looks like you're one and a forty half. That means you're a little bit big...."

Measuring Peter with a ruler: "Looks like you're one and a fifty half. That means you're a little bit chunky big."

8/23/10

Paul, packing up our suitcase: "Zip it up!"

Benjamin's quick response: "Zip it up, fuzz ball!"

6/6/10

"I can't wait to meet the new baby! Your tummy is getting REALLY big...are there two babies in there?"

5/1/10

Sarah, making a dumb joke: "We're going to feed the koi fish. They're very coy."

Benjamin: "Are they shy?"

2/23/10
"You have to be careful! You don't want to fall and break your leg skeletons!"

12/11/09
"Mmmm! That bagel was so, so, SO plain!" (describing to us just how delicious his plain bagel with plain cream cheese was)

11/2/09
Sarah: "Tell Peter about Santa Clause."
Benjamin, to Peter: "Santa Clause is...he's kind of like a wizard."

10/24/09
"Butter is the new toast."

10/22/09
Benjamin: "Hey Mom! Have you ever heard of penguin squash?"
Sarah: "Nope..."
Benjamin: "That's the squash that penguins eat."

10/13/09
Sarah: "Daddy's not coming home tonight. He's on a business trip."
Benjamin: "Oh! Kind of like Business on Ice?"

10/7/09
Peter: "Bababa...shriek!"
Benjamin: "Peter said 'Gandalf!'"

10/6/09
"I was in my room and I heard the rain, and the thunder was taking some pictures."

9/25/09
Sarah: "Why are you so happy?"
Benjamin: "I'm so happy because I'm excited to be your kid!"

9/24/09
"I just played "Hot Cross Buns" with my mouth!"

8/23/09
"Let me take off my pants so I can shake out all my nickels and diamonds."

8/12/09
After sneezing he called out, "Hey! I just made some bless-shoos!"

8/8/09
"After dinner, I get to have a very special treat...it's called oatmeal!"

6/22/09
"NOOO, Mommy! Don't go outside by yourself. The big, scary bugs might come and take you!"

6/13/09
Paul: "Can I have a bite of your strawberry custard?" Ben: "OK! Oh...you should take smaller bites, Daddy."

5/15/09
"Oh! Rodents are my best buddies!"

5/3/09
"Wake up, Daddy! We don't sleep at church. That's not the place we go to sleep!"

4/29/09
While "huffing and puffing" and blowing on his hot dinner, Benjamin said, "Not by the hair of my chimi-chimi-changa!"

4/28/09
"Mommy, can I marry you in the Salt Lake City Temple?"

4/17/09
While taking off his favorite "Thomas Toy Train" shirt during his bedtime routine, Benjamin assured us he could put it away in the drawer. "It's ok. It's a little bit clean." He was probably right. I'm sure there were clean spots!

4/1/09
Benjamin yelled this from the bathroom: "Sawah! Take that thing off your hair! That's yucky! We don't put things in our hair!"
What I want to know is how did he know? He hates it when I put my hair up, and I had just put it in a clip.

3/11/09
"Might Mommy will fall on you, and you will bleed a lot." Hmmm...not sure where that came from, but apparently I have a lethal mass.

2/26/09
Benjamin refers to himself as "Little Tiger" these days, but this morning he said, "I'm not Little Tiger. I'm Baby Tiger. And Mommy is Mommy Tiger and Daddy is Daddy Tiger, and Peter is a dog."

2/12/09
After clipping Benjamin's fingernails, he said to me, "Now I never scratch Peter again when he cries. Now I never get a time out!"

1/27/09
Paul: "Who's that?" (referring to Abinadai).

Benjamin: "I can't say it. I'm too sick."

Sarah: "Do you need to go potty?"

Benjamin: "No, I already did last week at the library."

1/4/09
As we drove past Salt Lake, I pointed to the city and told Benjamin "That's Salt Lake City." He replied, "No, we only put salt on eggs. Not on buildings and mountains."