Getting back into blogging is hard,
and if I didn’t sometimes force myself to look at it as a part-time job,
I’d probably have quit long ago.
Coming up with content is always the easy part.
It’s coming up with the time that can be difficult!
So, you’ll have to forgive me if my posts are long overdue, and will appear a bit dated. For example, this post was started when Baby Z was 2 weeks old, and he’s now almost 3. But as I’m discovering more with this second child, I’m extremely thankful for the times I found for blogging with my first.
With my first, I never knew what was around the corner. When would the fussiness end? When would the growth spurts begin? When would the cluster feedings stop! Thankfully I have this blog to turn to, and it’s helping me start to see the sunshine through the clouds.
So if my posts appear weeks after they were supposed to or seem muffled and choppy, it’s probably because I’m running on 3 hours of sleep and caffeine, but have found a few seconds between feedings to jot down some notes.
Which leads me to this post. . .
Discovering the Differences
As prepared for Baby #2 as I was, I’m starting to realize 2 weeks in that I was only fooling myself. What was I thinking? Prepared for a baby? Obviously, I was insane.
I’m noticing a lot of major differences between my two children, and I know you can never compare children, but before Baby Z’s arrival, I would have bet you $100 that my two children would be almost identical in temperament. (Which is part of what had me sailing high before Baby Z’s birth.)
This child is clingy in love with his mother, an aggressive eater fascinated with the culinary arts, and fussy very sensitive. (Trying to be positive!)
With the Little Man, he loved to be swaddled. Whenever he would get upset, all we had to do was practice the Happiest Baby on the Block techniques with him swaddled, and he would be good.
Baby Z doesn’t like to be swaddled. He wants his hands by his face, and he wants to sleep on his side. Apparently he didn’t get the “Back is Best” memo.
We’ve also been dealing with a lot of fussiness lately thanks to Thrush; another experience I never had with the Little Man. (Thank goodness!) It’s uncomfortable for him before, during, and after he eats, and excruciatingly painful for me. It’s equal to the worst pain I ever had with breastfeeding the Little Man, only there’s no cracking or bleeding. It’s just all internal. I’m really hoping the medication he’s on will work because I’m not sure how much more fist-clenching, toe-curling and lip-biting I can handle; and did I mention that’s every 2 hours!?
The First Two Weeks
As you can imagine with all the little setbacks and learning curves, the last few weeks at home has been interesting to say the least.
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| Little Man taking advantage of the chaos. |
I’d be lying if I said I haven’t had a few meltdowns. Staying at home with two kids is a lot harder than I’d imagined. . .and I already imagined it’d be difficult!
The Little Man is watching more TV than I’d hoped after having the baby, and we’ve barely left the house all week.
We have made a few accomplishments like establishing a bath time routine, having newborn photos taken, made it to 3 doctor’s appointments, and made my first run to Target with both little ones by myself (which is huge people!)
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| First bath at home. |
According to my blog post from the Little Man, I’ve got the joys of a growth spurt coming up next week. I’m not expecting the next few weeks to let up on the chaos, but if I can just tackle the Thrush and 2 hour nursing stinks, I’m thinking life would be just a little sweeter.
I think you are doing great! I love reading your blogs and always look forward to the next. I’ve learned how to deal with alot through you. Just wanted you to know they are a valuable tool for those of us trying to love our little tikes with grace,skill and wits.