Two Weeks

So Timmy is two weeks old today (okay, in another almost-six hours, anyway). Here’s where we are…

Timmy

He’s really a good sleeper, which is nice. I think we’re starting to find a rhythm, though of course, with a baby this little, it could all change tomorrow. And he can sleep through a lot of noise from his siblings…which is good because they make a lot of noise while he’s sleeping.

Timmy eats like a champ. He was just one ounce off his birth weight at his one-week appointment, so he’s obviously doing well in that area. We’ve had a little trouble with gas in recent days, but gas drops seem to work wonders for him. And he seems to be pretty laid back, so he doesn’t cry much (except when he’s “starving” of course) – so nice for me!

So far, we’ve noticed that he sneezes a lot (especially did this the first week) and twitches randomly. Apparently, he already knows to “duck” when his siblings run by, though one time he made a loud noise while eating and startled himself. That one made me laugh. He also makes a particular face that closely resembles my grandfather (though the lack of hair and teeth might contribute to that perception somewhat). But he’s got a really sweet little smile which I can’t wait to see when he can do it on purpose!

Generally, the other three really like him. Alex is his protector, Erin his second mommy. Megan is interested and likes showing him off to people. I’m just glad we haven’t seen much jealousy at this point. So far, having a new baby is just a lot of fun for them, and that makes it a lot easier on me. 

 

Erin

Earlier today, Erin was singing, “I may never march in the infantry, ride in the cavalry, shoot the artillery. I may never fly over the enemy, but I am the Lord of me!” Made me laugh out loud (and yes, we did correct her)

Erin’s very creative these days – she loves crafts, coloring, playing dress up, making up songs, etc. She is also quite the helper when it comes to her new little brother, bringing diapers or whatever is needed (sometimes before it’s actually needed). And she keeps asking if he knows who she is. She’s got such a sweet heart. 

 

Megan

Meg is adjusting to Timmy as well as I could have hoped for. She asks to hold him occasionally and stops to pat his head as she wanders by his bouncy seat. And the other day, when we were putting up the baby swing for the first time, Eric glanced over just as Megan picked Timmy up and started carrying him to us to put in the swing. And yes, he rescued the baby as quickly as possible. 

Megan also had her first bloody nose the other day. Frankly, I’m surprised it didn’t happen before now, but finally we have managed it. She was running outside with Erin and Alex chasing her. Erin grabbed her hood. She tripped forward, pulling Erin on top of her (Alex fell on the pile, too), and Meg came up with dark blood just running down her face. It took a couple of minutes to get it to stop bleeding (which, by the way, is very hard to do on a crying 2-year old), but we managed. And now she’s just got a lovely scuff on her nose to show for it. Ah…life with Megan!

 

Alex

Alex is not as interested in holding/cuddling with Timmy (though he does ask every so often), but he does like to get in the baby’s face and talk to him when Timmy is on the floor or in his bouncy seat. He tells me if the baby is crying, and he does like to watch us take care of him. He is definitely going to be a fantastic big brother…at least until Timmy starts wanting to play with “his” toys. 

And other than Timmy, Alex is pretty much just doing his thing. He loves the I Spy book and magnetic shape toy that he got for Christmas. He wants to climb on and wrestle his dad every chance he gets. And he loved getting to run outside a couple of days this week, too. 

 

And Us

Eric and I are also adjusting to life with 4 kids. Eric has been an absolute rock star the last two weeks (okay, longer than that really), helping me with every little detail, covering the kids and chores while I’m feeding Timmy, taking care of all of us in uncountable ways. I cannot imagine doing this crazy life without him, and I’m so grateful for his commitment to our family and his totally uncomplaining spirit. 

And me…well, I’m doing pretty well overall. Physically, I’m starting to feel mostly normal again. I’m pretty exhausted, of course, but that is to be expected. And while I’m probably not as calm and in control yet as I can be, I’m doing a lot better than I was the last few weeks I was pregnant. For that, I am more than grateful. We had a few days this week without any help and we’re starting to find our new normal. The kids have been pretty needy some days, hardly wanting to be out of my sight, and there has been a lot of whining and a few “displays” that are, I’m sure, just them testing the waters to see whether the world still functions as they remember. I’m trying to find the balance between giving grace for the newness of it all and holding the boundaries firmly, which is, obviously, a difficult balance to achieve. But we’re getting there. We’re all learning. I’m messed up and apologized to them all. They’ve messed up and had to apologize to me. And we are slowly learning how to do this whole thing of life together, all six of us. 

And that…I guess…is where we are. At least for today.