Figuring it all out

As our third full week of being a family of four is drawing to a close, I'm starting to feel like I'm getting a handle on life with two kids. At least, that's how I feel today. Ask me again tomorrow, and things may have changed!

 

Although she's still not sleeping in her crib very often, I had to take a few pictures of her first nap in her bed (taken last Sunday, the 23rd). She definitely sleeps best while swaddled tightly, but still doesn't typically stay asleep for very long if I put her down in her crib or the pack n play. She's definitely a cuddler, at least for now.

 

Monday I braved the DMV with both kids as we had to get the van titled and registered. Nothing like realizing this on the last week of the month! Luckily, it wasn't a terrible experience, and we were done by 10am. My mom's group had a playdate at a park, so I opted to head out there so Joseph could play with the other kids. He had a blast running around - it definitely seems that his mood is better and we have fewer "2 year old" incidents when we spend time every day letting him burn energy running around.

Joseph is still doing great as a big brother. He loves giving Maddie kisses, and every morning when he comes upstairs, he'll say "good morning mommy" and then immediately come over to Madeline, climb up to where he can give her a kiss and tell her good morning and then "glad to see ya, baby Maddie." It's really sweet. Wednesday when he woke up from his nap, I took her in with me to get him, and since he was still kinda sleepy, offered to "let her sleep with him." He was thrilled at the idea!

I wish I could say that I was posing him for these pictures, but they were all him.  Except for the last one, which was the first picture I actually took. He's big on saying cheese for pictures these days, and then insisting on seeing the picture. I had to remind him a few times that I'd show him the pictures later to get him to act candidly with Madeline.

We're still figuring out what makes Madeline tick, as she has good evenings and really not good ones, like last night where she was awake off and on from 5:30pm until 11:30pm and generally fussy the whole time. Some nights her episodes only last an hour or two, and others, like last night, are much longer. At least once I get her to sleep, she seems to reset and sleep for 4+ hours, and doesn't get too fussy again until the following evening.

And this morning I managed to get her into her carseat without waking her (she generally dislikes being put in the car seat and screams about it until she falls asleep), and got in a quick trip to Jo-Anns for supplies for our mom's group party tomorrow night, spent an hour letting Joseph play at Little Monkey Business, another quick stop to buy pumpkins for the party and head home before she woke up. Hooray! I'd love to think it wasn't a fluke, but we'll see. Right now both kids are napping, and it's so nice to have a few hours of peace and quiet each afternoon before the more stressful evening begins.

And for my own records, she still is very disinterested in taking a pacifier, to the point of getting very upset when we offer one. Unless she's super sleepy and just goes with it. Which only happens about 10% of the time. Maybe she'll figure it out; although her hands are making their way into her mouth more often so I have a feeling she'll be a finger-sucker instead.

Last night Joe tried to give her a bottle for the first time. Probably because she was unhappy anyway and not really hungry, it wasn't a great experience. She only ended up taking about half an ounce after finally giving in. I'm hoping to continue offering a bottle every day or two so we can hopefully not end up with a baby who is only consolled and fed by me!