I have to admit that so far, I'm pretty impressed with myself. I've managed to keep both kids not only alive, but fed, bathed, well dressed, and played with. On top of that, the laundry, dishes and cleaning hasn't gotten entirely out of control, and I've managed to get Petey outside in time for him to do his business. I've even kept Lyla's schedule as normal as possible, having taken her to story time at the library on Tuesday and her gymnastics play group on Friday. I did push my luck, however, by adding a mall trip to our day on Friday, where Lyla was pushing my buttons and the baby was letting the world know she was ready for lunch. I had my first meltdown when I got home from that trip - but after 10 days of nearly nothing to complain about, I guess it was time for a good "holy shit" moment. I even made Eric proud when I tossed one of Lyla's sippy cups onto the kitchen floor out of frustration that it would not fit into our over packed dish washer. He said this little act let him know that I'm indeed human, and not super woman. Not to mention, my first week on my own with both kids happened to be the week that Eric was asked to work 10-hour shifts in order to get a job done by a deadline. All in all, I really can't complain.
Lyla has been the tougher of the two. She's been testing my patience and her luck by purposely doing things she knows she shouldn't be, like throwing water out of the bath, or pulling the dogs tail. But as frustrating as it can be, especially since I am a bit more tired these days, I had prepared myself for these outbursts and cries for attention, so it doesn't always seem so bad. Some days I have more patience for it, and other days she spends quite a bit of time sitting in time out. But keeping her involved with the baby has been a huge help; she loves to get me diapers, help pick out little outfits, and rock her sister in her swing. As long as she feels like she's helping, she does just fine. But when the baby cries and needs to eat (aka steal mommy's attention), that's another story.
The baby has been wonderful. She's only given us one rough night's sleep so far, and otherwise is a totally happy and content little girl - until she gets hungry; then she lets you know just how much noise a person her size is capable of. She stays awake for 1-2 hours at a time between feedings, and then will nap for a couple of hours. It's perfect because it gives me time to color, do puzzles, or paint nails with Lyla, and by the time Hannah wakes up and needs to feed again, Lyla seems content with our time together and is more apt to be independent for a while.
When I had Lyla, I was so afraid to go anywhere. This time is so different, having already left the house on a daily basis and continuing on with our normal lives - but just bringing a baby along, too. On Wednesday we'll be heading to Maine with my mom. I'm mostly excited for Lyla, because she will get loads of extra attention from Grammy, and be able to do her favorite beach activities: finding sea shells and sea glass. We also plan to take her to York Zoo, which I know she'll love. I'll enjoy the break too, whether my mom is holding the baby so I can be more engaged with Lyla, or spending more time with Hannah while my mom takes Ly. Plus, there's always fabulous food involved when you stay with Deb, and when Eric joins us Friday after work, it'll be a nice mini-vacation for us after 2 weeks of 10-hour work shifts for him.
So far so good with this mom-of-two thing.
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