So...How's It Going?

This seems to be the most popular question right now.  Understandably, since anybody who has "been there, done that" has sympathy for the unpredictability and craziness of the newborn days.

To answer the question, here's how it's "going":


Kevin...

• returned to work on Monday after 2 weeks of paternity leave and is getting back into the office groove.
• has taken on the responsibility of those last minute holiday prep errands because I haven't quite mastered getting out of the house and in and out of the stores with both kiddos yet.  And he can do them about 10x faster.
• gets his "kid time" in after he gets home from work and usually while I'm orchestrating dinner.  This involves giving the "neglected" Mia the one-on-one attention that's hard to come by during the day, and also utilizing Jacob's alert period for tummy time, songs, and whatever else will keep him from deciding he's starving, even though he's just finished eating 10 minutes before.
• is probably the most organized of the two adults in the household right now. I'm starting to come out of my fog, only to realize that it's December 23rd, and HOW THE HECK DID THAT HAPPEN, AND WHERE WAS I?!?

I...

• am physically just about back to my normal self.  Recovery, while not necessarily "shorter" this time around, was definitely easier.  I knew what to expect this time (meaning, I realized how long after delivery recovery actually takes), so I was more realistic in my expectations for myself.  Also, since Jacob came so fast, I had no time for pain meds, or IVs, or any of that jazz, so there was no massive swelling or medication side effects to recover from. 
• am emotionally, not quite back to normal, but I think it's safe to say that most of the baby blues period has passed.  The crying-for-no-reason, panicky, what-did-I-get-myself-into, emotional rollercoaster has stabilized.  Which does not mean there are not moments of tension and frustration, but I feel much more in control now than I did even a week ago.  
• survived my first week at home alone with both kiddos.  It was not the perfect week, but we all survived.  By the end of the week, we were even starting to find a rhythm that worked, at least for now.
• find the greatest challenge right now is not so much in trying to meet the needs of the newborn, but the needs of the 2.5 year old.  There's some guilt and frustration with not being able to give Mia the time and attention she wants because Jacob requires so much one-on-one time right now.  At the same time, the sensible part of me knows that she is not the first child to go through the shock of having a new sibling, and it will all balance out in time.  She'll survive, and it's doubtful that she'll look back and remember that time when she really wanted me to play with her dollhouse, but I was feeding the baby, as the moment when her whole childhood started to go downhill.  

Mia...

• loves her new status as big sister.  She tells everybody-- from friends who come to visit, to the guy in the check-out line at Target,-- that "this is my baby brudda, and his name is Jacob."
• has a huge desire to help out, and willingly brings diapers, blankets, burp cloths, etc.  In fact, this desire to help has probably been on our biggest challenges with her.  She has taken on the role of little mommy, and when she is asked to step aside so that Jacob's real mommy can take over, she can quickly become angry or hurt.
• has had a few jealousy tantrums, but not as many as I had anticipated.  And it can be difficult to determine which of these tantrums are related to jealousy, and which are just related to her age (not that it really matters).
• has NOT displayed any of the regressions we were warned about.  Still sleeping through the night as she always has, still fully potty-trained.  Thank goodness for that.

Jacob...

• eats ALL. THE. TIME.  I kid you not, the child should weigh 20lbs by now.  He regularly eats every 1.5-2 hours, sometimes more.  When he's ready to eat, there's no distracting or delaying a feeding, and once he starts, he GULPS.  No lazy-eating here.
• blesses us with only getting up ONCE to eat between 10pm and 7am.  At least for the last 4 nights.  Which probably has something to do with why he eats so often during the day, but if my reward for so many daytime feedings is 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep at night?  I'll take it.  
• has, over the last week, begun to fall into a more predictable eat/sleep/eat/play predictable pattern.  I can pretty much count on his two longest sleep periods of the day being around 10am and then again around 1:30pm.  While I'm definitely not pushing a strict routine at this point, it does help to be able to predict a little bit of what our day is going to look like.
• seems to gain weight slowly (as did his sister), but has already begun to noticeably grow and fill out.  Still long and thin, but rounding out a little bit, too.  (Did I mention the kid likes to eat??)

So that's where we are.   Almost 3 weeks into a family of four, and slowly finding our footing.

Just in time for Christmas.