Life with Two

So it's been a crazy, exhilarating, exhausting, challenging and delightful 3.5 weeks with two kids. I have such respect for parents who have two or more. The amount of physical and mental energy needed to cater to ONE child's needs is staggering. We both feel like we've pulled a week's worth of all-nighters with all the nursing, diaper changing, bedtime battles, preschool dropoffs and pickups, and general household chaos. And yet, it's absolutely amazing to see our two kids together and to think of ourselves as that nuclear family of four that we always thought we'd have "someday." That someday is now and I'm sure we'll look back on these early days and wonder "Where did the time go??"

An update on our boys:

Callum
1. Just under a month old, Callum's days are dominated by two pursuits: nursing and sleeping. He augments these with 5-8 poops and 1 or 2 periods of fussiness/crying. There are VERY short periods of awake alertness when he's not doing any of those four things, but mostly he's... nursing and sleeping! He's a much more relaxed baby than Ronan, so far (but people have pointed out that we're much more relaxed parents too). While Ronan was a wide-awake and intense eater, I often have to wake Callum up to nurse, and he usually drifts off to sleep before finishing a full meal...

2. Ronan delights in all of Callum's "baby noises." I had forgotten the repertoire of chirps, squeaks, clicks, grunts, sighs, and gasps that newborns do. They really do have their own special language! Since my days are filled with one-on-one Callum time, I get to hear these little sounds all day long and I realize how strange it is to speak to one child who can't speak back during the day, and to another child who demands constant verbal interaction in the evenings!

3. When Callum does cry, it's a very distinct cry. I've never heard anything like it! It starts off with some typical fussing and whining (we call this stage 1), but then it escalates at lightspeed into frenzied wails (stage 2). Stage 3 is the pinnacle - the silent cry. For such a relaxed baby, this super-intense crying routine is kind of surprising. But since we are more laid-back this time around we see these episodes as, simply, "baby brother's exercise!"

4. Looks wise, little Callum looks almost identical to Ronan when he's sleeping but very, very different when awake. He's got loads of silky black hair and it's so long on the sides and back that he almost needs a haircut! People say Callum looks like his mama, too.... :-)

Ronan
1. Luckily, the novelty of having a newborn in the house has not worn off for Ronan. We're amazed at the extent of his love for his brother! He begins and ends every day with sweet (and persistent) demands to hold, kiss, and touch his baby brother. And he really does try to be gentle and loving with him. He wants Callum to be near him pretty much all the time, often climbing INTO Callum's infant carseat with him to deliver his affection. We think all the bear hugs will toughen Callum up. If he can survive the occasional elbow or knee on the face and all the fierce kisses, then he'll be a strong little trooper. :-)

2. Since Callum was born, it seems like Ronan has grown 2 feet and expanded his verbal speech ten-fold. I look at Ronan and wonder where my little baby went?! He's huge! He's heavy! He's strong! And he talks like a young boy now! I was slightly sad the first week home with the newborn because suddenly my Ronan was no longer the baby of my life... (even though of course he'll always be my first baby!). These days, Ronan cannot stop chattering and asking tons and tons of questions. Every second, it seems, is filled with "Why? What's that? What are they saying? What's Daddy doing? Where's baby brother? Where are my birthday presents? What are you doing? Where are we going? Where's Popo? Where are my friends? Where did the sun go? Where is Lambie?" It's such great fun to have conversations with him now because he cracks jokes and makes hilarious commentary about things he sees. A common exchange is this set of rhetorical questions:

R: "What's that, Mommy?" (pointing to a dinosaur)
M: "Hmm. I don't know."
R: "What's that, Mommy? What is it?"
M: "Well, honey, I really don't know. Maybe it's a stegosaurus."
R: "NO, it's not a stegosaurus! It's a triceratops!"

R: "What's that, Daddy?"
D: "I think that's a tractor..."
R: "NO, that's not a tractor! That's a steam roller!"

3. Ronan's big THREE is coming up soon. And I'm realizing that once your kid starts school, your weekends are suddenly filled up with tons of birthday parties. I guess this is the beginning of many years of kiddie parties. Whereas we used to go to friends' birthday dinners/parties at bars or restaurants on our weekend evenings, we now spend our Saturdays and Sundays eating cupcakes, making kiddie crafts, and cavorting with dozens of very short, very cute, very hyper little people. How times have changed! We're looking forward to celebrating Ronan's 3rd next month.

Some recent pics from Ronan's friend Wyatt's 3rd bday at Acrosports...








Callum doing what he does best!