Oh ya, I remember why this was hard...

For the first few weeks of my son's life, I was walking around the house saying some pretty silly things. Things like, "I don't know WHYYYY I thought this newborn thing was hard the first time!" and, "Man, I must have been a real whiner that last time around, because this is CAKE!" Now, granted, I wasn't saying that life with TWO beautiful little darling devils running around was easy, but that taking care of a newborn in comparison with taking care of a toddler who is intent on making you EARN a good night's rest is easier than I had remembered it being.

Silly me.

Silly, silly, stupid me.

I remember now. I remember why I cried so much the first night we had Alex home. I remember why this little person, this little person who couldn't move or talk so really what harm could they do, I remember why it's tough having an infant in the household.

SLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP.

I miss the days of having a toddler and only a toddler who slept so nicely for twelve hours a night. I miss COLLEGE, where I could sleep so nicely for twelve hours in a row.

Granted, I would not go back. I would not change a thing (my husband, you see, he gave me a ring, and along with that ring, he surprised me twice more- so here is my lesson for all you crazy cats, don't sleep with a man, unless you want brats! ... sorry).

It could very well be easier the first time, because then at least you can sleep when the baby sleeps, even if it's in the middle of the day. Sleep is sleep, no matter how light it is outside. But with Alex, I can't do that. I don't sleep at night because of Eli, and I don't sleep during the day because of Alex. And it doesn't help that Eli is cluster-feeding right now, which for those of you who are not familiar with this lovely bit of motherhood, it's equivalent to setting an alarm clock to go off every hour and a half, then putting said alarm clock on a very sensitive part of your body and letting it chow down for about 15 minutes, and continuing to do this around the clock. It's lovely. I begin to lose my mind at about 3 am. Last night, he started crying for about the 5th time since I had gone to bed, and I sat up and held him without feeding him for about 5 minutes of screaming before it dawned on me that he is hungry. Again.

Plus, with the whole bed issue with Alex. The fact that she is not caged in (excuse my terminology, but really, what is a crib if not a cage?) has effectively cut 2 (sometimes more) hours off of her night's sleep. Effectively cutting 2 (sometimes more) hours off of MY night's sleep. 6:30 comes really early! Especially when the way you are welcomed into 'awake-land' is by two little hands slamming on the door across the hall. Repeatedly.



So, all of this leads me to this. I am thinking of turning our house into a bed and breakfast. You know, a place for all those weary travelers to come and get a good rest before they head back out on the road. After, of course, their filling breakfast of peanut butter toast (with the peanut butter mostly licked off) and half mashed, half chewed bananas. Let me know if I can book you a room.

A Glimpse.

Now Entering: The Land of the Toddler.

I promise I have a good explanation for the lack of posts recently. Actually, I have two. First, I wasn't home. I was in the land of the Island-folk, resting and catching up with family and kids and friends alike. It was a good trip, with the exception of the big void that was the absence of the hubby. Alas, he was off doing that thing called 'work', which apparently needs to get done in order to make it with two kids. Who knew?

Reason two: My children grew up. Really quickly. Eli has grown to the point where I feel silly calling him a 'newborn'. He's HUGE. He's awake all the time, he smiles, he talks. He's wearing 3-month clothing... which Alex didn't do till she was about 6 months. But this is not the big news.

My little girl. My little almost-17-month old little itty bitty wittle girl. She's grown, almost overnight, into a pint-sized little person. She is officially a toddler.

And what is it that I am using to judge her advancement to toddlerhood?

Just LOOK at her!

She eats corn! While it's STILL ON THE COB!

And that's not even the half of it. Two days before we left Michigan, she decided she was through with the pack-and-play she was sleeping in. She crawled right over the top and landed on her head. I will say right now that that was probably one of the worst noises I have ever heard in my life. One that I wasn't willing to chance hearing again. So she slept in our room the next two nights, in her pack-and-play but within an arm's length so I could throw her leg down everytime it popped up. And the first thing we did when we got home was go out and get a toddler bed. ... A BED. FOR A TODDLER. THAT DOESN'T HAVE ANY RESTRAINING BARS ON IT.

It's probably one of the cutest things I've ever seen. I was very nervous going into the first night, especially considering that we were coming off of a ten hour road trip. We were already tired, and this bed meant that there was probably not a full night's sleep ahead of us. (which... I don't get anyway, but it's nice to go into the night with the illusion of a good night's rest.) But, after about 45 minutes of picking her up as she ran down the hallway and putting her back into bed, she passed out. It was.... well, I don't know how to describe the absolute euphoria one feels when her child goes to sleep. Especially when there's more than one. My spirits were dampened a little by the 6:20 wake-up call the next morning, but really, that was more than I expected anyway. Then, first nap, went down without a peep. Second nap, only 30 minutes of chasing her down the hallway. (Which is amazing, because before this we weren't even getting a second nap.)

She's fallen out of it only once, which is good. She learned within the first 30 seconds of being up there that she shouldn't play the spin-until-you-fall-down game. Because the fall is alot longer. But, it's not as long as the fall from the top of the crib.

So, all in all, the transition is going smoothly. She's been on of the most adaptable children I've ever seen. Hopefully this continues.

I will try and post some pics from my last few weeks soon. Thanks for being patient. :)

SON OF A....

Showing us up... AAAAGGAAAAAIN.

God, that is. Here are all of my upstanding neighbors trying to put on some fantastic firework shows, and there He goes, making bigger booms and brighter flashes (read: incoming thunderstorm) than any of them can manage. Showing off that 'All-poweful-creator-of-the-universe' thing again. That is so LIKE Him.

But, I must admit, though the lights and sounds are better, He cannot compete with the entertainment that is coming from the streets. Lightning is cool... but watching my neighbors shoot roman candles AT each other? Way cooler. And watching them miss terribly (because how accurate can you be with a stick of dynamite, really?) and instead hit their own cars and houses? Even cooler.

So... nice try, Lord. I will give you props for creating the whole idea of 'light' first... but... roman candles. AT each other.

Very southern neighbors: 1
Creator of the Universe: 0

16 Months.

I've grown a new appreciate for my eldest since the birth of my son. I can see clearly now how much work and love and tears and just-plain-craziness went into to getting where we are at today. There was a time during my pregnancy when I feared that the newest addition would take away from the relationship and the bond that had formed between Alex and I and her father. I am very happy to say that that is not the case.