The New Normal

6wks….how the heck has it been 6wks?!

Time is flying faster than I ever though possible. No one told me that it goes twice as fast with your second baby….I was not prepared for this! I want so bad to just stop and enjoy this time…the snuggles, coos, nursing in the quiet night. I told myself I would. I would enjoy every single second because I know how fleeting it is and how even the rough parts will be gone before I know it. No second guessing, no guilt over holding/cuddling too much….just savor it all. I am trying but the hours fly by and life spins out of control. Every night when bedtime comes and I look down at that sweet baby face dreaming away I wish I could back everything up and do the day again. It just went too damn fast!!! Honestly one of the many reasons we cosleep is to enjoy a little quiet cuddle time where I can savor it!

I guess this is the new normal. Really wish someone would invent those time machines we were promised by now 😉

Life with two kiddos is crazy, exhausting, funny, and awesome! I can’t ever seem to catch up on dishes or laundry but I’m slowly coming to terms with it. Jake is an amazing happy little boy. I always laugh at how Harper can get daddy to do her bidding with just a little eye fluttering….I guess it is my turn now because that little boy can melt me with a smile. Pure momma’s boy! 🙂  Harper has been an amazing big sister who is obsessed with the “cute brother sister baby” (what she calls Jake…cracks me up!). The first two weeks of Jake being home were awesome and we had no issues with Harper regressing/acting out. Dan and I were high-fiving everything being so easy…we were a little quick to celebrate! 😉  Around week 3 Harper regressed with sleep and using the potty. Annoying! Suddenly she was going from sleeping all night to waking 2-3 times. Add in Mr. Jake who was up every 2-3hrs eating and I was an exhausted zombie! Luckily this only lasted for about 2wks….but it was a loooong two weeks! She is back to sleeping all night so that is great, although she now fights going to sleep a lot more than she used to! The potty regression was a little longer to recover from, and we are still not 100% back to normal. I had been warned it would happen and I expected it but it still annoyed the crap out of me! We went from a rare accident maybe once a week to multiple accidents a day. For about a week we just threw her in pull-ups because I was too exhausted to deal with it. It took a bit of bribing and a LOT of praise/attention when she went to the potty, but we are back to just an occasional accident (usually when we are out and she is playing with friends). The struggles I found with having 2 kiddos were not the ones I expected. Going to the bathroom or running upstairs to grab something suddenly became stressful because with one baby you could just toss them in the swing or on the playmat and go….with 2 (especially if the second is a toddler!) it isn’t that easy because the toddler likes to “help” and I was terrified she would try to pick him up or sit on him! As it was I did come down from grabbing a diaper upstairs to find Harper “putting the baby to sleep” by wrapping a blanket around his head. Oy! Thank the lord for baby carriers because my “little buddy” is going everywhere I go for now! The logistics of getting 2 in/out of the car is also annoying & hard! With Dan we can divide and conquer but alone is a different story. At this point we don’t run errands alone unless there is no way around it. My first attempt at getting out alone with two kids ended with Dan coming home to find me crying in the bathtub with a HUGE glass of wine and a pumped bottle in the fridge for him to take over when Jake woke up. I’ve been assured it gets better…..I haven’t tried it a second time yet! 😉

Jake has been an amazing little guy who is much more laid-back than his high maintenance sister! He hates the carseat and swing with almost the same amount of passion she did but as long as you hold/cuddle him he is the happiest little boy in the world! He started smiling around 3wks (not just gas smiles!) and started making small cooing noises right at a month. Harper very rarely smiled as a baby….they were quick and you had to work HARD to get one! Jake will hand them out to anyone and is already a flirt with the ladies 😉  I see a heart breaker in my future! My little boy is also not quite so little! By day 5 of life he had returned to his exact birthweight and was 11lbs 1 oz by one month!!! He also went up to 23in in that month! We had another appointment 6 days after his one month appt and he had gone up to 11lbs 11ozs! He is HUGE!! He is almost the exact size Harper was at 3mo old. He is in the 55% for weight and 90% for height. Another tall and skinny kid! Dan has some family members who are extremely tall so I’m curious if Jake got that particular gene! He is growing out of clothes at lightening speed….3mo sleepers are getting pretty snug!

Sleep is going pretty good (for a newborn!). He is currently sleeping in his Rock-n-Play next to me due to reflux issues. As soon as we get that under control he will be moving to the crib that is sidecarred to our bed like Harper did. He typically gives me a 4-5hr stretch in the beginning (9:30 – 2:30) and then is about every 3hrs from then on. Better than Harper’s 1-2hr stretches 😉  I guess the good thing about having your first be a crappy sleeper is that your expectations are low! Haha! Poor little guy doesn’t get as much sleep during the day as he probably needs because his big sister is constantly waking him up. I’ve tried everything and she still finds a way (she will sit outside his door if he is napping in his crib upstairs and knock on the door yelling “Jacob baby” until he wakes. Ugh! I guess he will learn to sleep through anything!

Nursing is going well although he is a lot lazier than his sister was! I could nurse Harper in any position imaginable and she would contort to get a good latch….Mr. Jacob has to be supported in the “perfect” position. He wants me to do all the work (typical boy!) ;). He also struggles a lot with my fast let-down and slight oversupply. He gets upset easily when he wants to just pacify (I prefer to be a human pacifier rather than use binkies) but still gets milk. We have broken out the binkie when he is really worked up….but I’m hoping he learns how to handle pacifying at the boob! We’ve been struggling with some diet issues and the reflux/gas/poops/rash that goes with it. I think we have figured it out so hopefully things get better! I really want him to get control of the reflux so he can nurse side-lying at night! I hate having to sit up each feed!!!

I love love love having a sweet little boy. I always tease Dan about how much of a sucker he is with Harper….that girl has him triple tied around her little finger! Well my days of teasing are over because this cute little guy OWNS me (yes I’m stealing that from you Dianthe! 🙂  It describes it perfectly!). I am looking forward to all the little things like mommy-son dates/dances that Dan gets to do with Harper. I can’t wait to see  similarities/differences in little boys & girls. We are not really into boy/girl things….Harper loves princesses/baby dolls but also plays with blocks, cars, trucks, trains and she is currently in a HUGE dinosaur phase. I fully expect Jake to love those things as well as the play kitchen and dollhouse! I’m excited to get little boy jonjons & longalls (though the selection is crap compared to little girls!)….I’ve been suckered into cute boy print cloth diapers….It is just fun to experience both sides!

All in all I just love being the mommy of TWO adorable little kids. I already can’t imagine how we lived without this sweet little guy! The nights are long and the days are exhausting but being a mommy is the one thing I have no doubts I’m good at (most days!) 😉