My friend Mollie asked me the other day if it was weird having a boy since I have been completely immersed in pink girliness with Emma for the past 2 1/2 years. My answer- besides having to lift his junk to wipe during diaper changes, and getting peed on at random, not really. He's still such a newborn that he doesn't have boy traits yet. Poop, pee, eat, sleep. That's about it. I'm anxious for the boy stuff to begin though. And, I have gotten glimpses of what I think his personality will be like.
For example, Emma was a very high maintenance baby. She seemed to cry for the sheer heck of it. All.The.Time. Seeley is a lot more easy going. He will occasionally cry when he feels that attention is needed, but for the most part if he's crying its because he needs something-new diaper, food, burp, etc. The rest of the time he's content. Which equals peace and quiet from at least one child. Aaaah.
Emma also had lots of trouble keeping her days and nights straight. So far, Seeley will sleep well at night. And he's usually not much trouble to put back to sleep after a feeding. I'm still only averaging about 4 hours of sleep a night, but with Emma it was only around 2. And that lasted until she was 6 months old.
And believe it or not, I seem to be able to function better with two kids than I did when it was just Emma and I when she was a newborn. I'm not quite sure why. But in the past three weeks I can count on one hand the number of days I have not put on at least some makeup to hide my deathly pallor. And I've only had one day where I never made it out of my pajamas-we won't even discuss that day. It was too horrific. My hair is still normally in a ponytail but I don't consider that a failure. At least it's getting washed on a daily basis! And praise the Lord I have a hair appointment this week so maybe that will motivate me to actually DO something with my hair, we'll see.
Starting next week I'll have to spend some time each day on work related items. Part of my deal with my job is that I'll begin working part time from home during week 5 of my maternity leave. This helps me make some money and it also helps them because I have a lot of areas that fall under my responsibility that are being divided up among two other people right now and its not easy on them. So, with this looming deadline approaching I decided on Saturday to right two of my mommy wrongs. One for each kid. Emma has always been terrible about going to sleep on her own when at home. I have to lay down beside her in order for her to go to bed or take a nap. This hour long process is just not really feasible anymore since it never fails that Seeley demands food during that hour. This bad habit developed when she was a baby. Due to her severe asthma I could never let her cry it out and just put her down and force her to go to sleep on her own. So, on Saturday she had I fought it out for over two hours. There were about 15 swats on the butt involved. She told me I was mean and then proceeded to yell after me as I left the room for the millionth time "Mommy, don't leave me. I love you so much!" Absolutely broke my heart and made me feel like the worst mommy in the world. I finally admitted defeat and let her skip her nap. I just could not force myself to spank her one more time and I didn't trust myself to remain calm and patient any longer. End result= Emma 1, Mommy 0+ a migraine.
Seeley decided on his first night home that he would only sleep in his swing. Can't say I blame him, it does look comfy. But was becoming quite the burden. Amazingly enough, he transitioned quite well and we're now going on five full nights in his crib. I do believe that he is going to be my easy going child; a piece of cake and an absolute blessing. Emma is going to be no less of a blessing, but I think she's going to be more of a whirlwind. One minute I'll want to laugh at her and the next her stubborn nature will make me want to pull my hair out. It's pretty annoying to realize that while I find my stubborness endearing, it's a nightmare in others. She is just so dramatic and endearing that I cannot imagine her any other way. So, I'll take the migraines along with the hugs and kisses and laughs. It's all worth it!
1 comment:
I've heard that boys are usually easier going than girls. Dave's mom said once that if she had had his sister first, they probably wouldn't have had another child. Ha!
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