Big March Post #2: A Mama’s Evolution

Some big things are going on at 9 Years Later this month! The first big post was all about our new beds and all the research and self-education we went through to get to our amazing sleeps. With this post, I’m talking about a subject that’s a bit closer to why this blog got started in the first place.

The announcement this time is that we’re expecting our third baby here in the 9YL family! (Which is another reason why I insisted on new beds – I’m not going through another pregnancy on a lumpy mattress!)

This baby is expected to arrive sometime in September and everything is going really well so far. We’ve had two appointments with our midwife and everything is looking good. Baby has a nice heartbeat, I’ve got good protein levels, etc, etc.

As far as the blog goes, I won’t be going back to doing weekly pregnancy posts or lots of pregnancy book reviews like I did last time. While every pregnancy is different and I’m sure there could be a bunch of new things to post about, I’m kind of feeling like I’ve been there and don’t want to repeat myself. I do love having my old posts to look back on now, though. It’s nice to have the record of what was happening – so much better than relying on my memory!

Something that has been big on my mind for this particular post, though, is how much Mr. Handsome and my – and especially my – parenting has changed in the 12 years that we’ve been parents. I say “especially my” parenting not because Mr. Handsome hasn’t evolved in much the same ways as me, but because it is just easier to reflect on my own thoughts and actions than trying to over-analyze him or read his mind. My mind-reading skills have not at all evolved.

As many similarities as there are between Kiddo1 and Baby2, they were also very different babies. So I tend to wonder if my parenting style has changed due to my thoughts on parenting evolving over time or is it just my babies needing different things? I don’t know for sure what the catalyst for all this is. But I do know that some things that worked great with Kiddo1 just didn’t translate to Baby2. One is quick to adjust her practices if the existing ones are not working anymore!

Take scheduling, for example: Kiddo1 was a Babywise baby, and he rocked it. He loved a schedule. He got up every day at 5:30 AM on the dot (and we quickly became morning people because of it). For the most part, we knew what he needed before he was hungry, before he was tired. Honestly, he still thrives on a solid schedule. Give this kid too much free time and you’re asking for trouble (although that’s probably a common pre-teen thing too).

Fast forward 9 years to a Baby2 that doesn’t do schedules. She has a loose routine but it is harder to predict her needs. She is not at all Babywise (in fact I’m sure she would not thrive with that method at all), and she has opened my eyes to why so many people hate Babywise because you really have to have a baby with the right disposition in order for it to be successful. Baby2 is an “Attachment Parenting” baby all the way – she loved co-sleeping, loved nursing on demand, loved the breastmilk SO MUCH (we were going to wean at a year because of my work schedule but that didn’t happen until she was almost two), she loved being worn (although lately she’s not that into it – she’s way too independent), and I found myself loving to do all that stuff too.

I never envisioned myself to be the consistent co-sleeper that I was with Baby2 (she’s been sleeping in her own bed since we weaned). When Kiddo1 was a baby, he was pretty much banned from our bed because I didn’t want him getting in the habit of coming in our room in the middle of the night. Of course he did that anyway – I should have learned that no amount of effort can really stop what most consider to be normal child behaviors. 

Something that I think has influenced my parenting evolution is also just me being more mature now. Kiddo1 was born when I was in a much different place in my mindset. I was 22 and thought I knew everything. I basically followed the parenting model that I saw around me, and it was fairly strict and rigid, which is mostly counter to my personality but I didn’t know there were other choices. I guess my desire for confidence blinded me to wanting to know if there was another way to do things.

Back then I also didn’t understand (or chose to recognize?) the impermanence of babyhood. I wasn’t excited for the dependence of a baby. I was excited to play with a kid but babies scared me. I wanted my baby to be less helpless, less likely to “break,” less dependent on me and Mr. Handsome, more of his own person. I cherished his baby time, don’t get me wrong. I have 1000 photos to prove it, boxes full of mementos, memories that only a senile elderly brain could wash away. I held him, I “spoiled” him, I loved him then every bit as much as I love Baby2 now. But today my mindset is different.

With my second attempt, I understand and appreciate the brief time that is infancy. I know firsthand that dependency, helplessness, “breakiness” (the constant feeling you’ll break your fragile little human), only lasts so long. Shoot, blink and you missed it, right? I mean, when did Kiddo1 stop being a baby?? When did he become so independent? These things don’t happen overnight – they evolve over time until one day you give him a goodbye kiss in the morning and realize you didn’t have to bend down as far… or at all. Or you’re out getting new school shoes and realize his shoes fit on my feet. I have watched my firstborn grow SO FAST over the last 12 years that I now cling to every second of whatever baby time is left with Baby2, and even that is fading fast.

So perhaps it is this awareness of all things impermanent that has made me love attachment parenting traits like co-sleeping, which gives me extra time with my baby, while she’s a cuddly, snuggly baby. Add to that the fact that when she was a baby I worked full time outside the home (read: no time with my baby during the waking hours!) and co-sleeping/baby-wearing/extended breastfeeding/EXTRA SNUGGLE TIME becomes even more appealing. Now I work from home, thank goodness, so I have a feeling things will be a little more relaxed with this third baby.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: every baby is different. Every family is different! And, apparently, every mama is different with every baby! We adjust, we evolve with every child, every experience, every mistake, every success. We become the mothers, the parents, the families, that we need to be.

12 Months

What a great month it has been. A great year, too, but a particularly good month. We’re all completely settled into our routines now, Baby2 is fairly predictable and all that “normalness” does ease the mind a bit.

I’m pretty sure Baby2 said her first word this month, and I think she understood the context as well. We were looking at her books and she made the “wa” noise, so I said, “wow,” at the book and she said wow too! I swear she did. She says it now still, mostly when she’s looking at her books. I swear she’s saying wow when she likes something. I swear.

Mr. Handsome and I both think we’ve heard her say “hi” and “bye” in the appropriate context too, mostly when one of us is leaving for work (he says bye to me in the mornings and I say bye to him when I get home in the afternoons). She also just started waving too which, like the clapping she started doing last month, is just super adorable. She has a whole-forearm kind of wave, and she often waves both arms at once. Either she waves or she does this cute thing with her arm where she reaches out for… something… air? Recognition? It’s almost a ballet arm pose, but I’m not sure what to call it. It looks sort of like this blurry picture:

She moves so quickly most of my pictures of her lately are blurry. A few days ago, Mr. Handsome asked me to take some pictures of her in this cute dress I bought her.

I got maybe three pictures before she made a bee-line for my camera/phone.

I turned the camera to front-facing and she took a few funny pictures.

And a video. I love this video so much because you can hear her little noises, it’s almost like you can hear her learning and thinking about the camera. Plus I like that her face just kind of randomly appears. You just have to get past my obnoxious commentary!

She’s so fun. She was also doing this one day, which was just hilarious:

What a silly crawler! She just laughed and laughed, and kept going for at least three minutes.

She’s been really wanting to crawl through small spaces lately (that’s not at all nerve-wrecking) so we got her one of these collapsable tunnels at IKEA. Not only does she love it, but Kiddo1 took to it right away as well. They have spent a lot of time chasing each other through the tunnel. Kiddo1 has even worn it a few times. $14.72 well spent.

When she’s not crawling through the tunnel, we’re attempting to work on our walking. She’s just so good at crawling that I don’t think she cares too much about walking. She will walk around with her push toy:

Just as happy as can be. She has risen to standing without holding onto something a few times and if she does pull herself up with assistance she lets go and stands on her own for a couple seconds. She is testing her limits I think.

She is getting more and more independent. She loves figuring things out for herself and she usually pushes away any form of assistance. Except when it comes to food! Like last month, she still doesn’t really get much in the way of “real food” unless it is a puree. She does enjoy a good gnaw on a strawberry or a cool steamed carrot, but she won’t take in much from that and she still has a bit of a gag reflex. Even on her birthday she wasn’t interested in the cake!

Purees are going better and better though. The last couple days she has had a least a couple tablespoons instead of a couple small bites. Progress! And getting her on goat’s milk is still going really well. We’re down to our last jar of breastmilk in the fridge so the switch is about to be complete! She’s still nursing at night, too.

Her sleep hasn’t changed too much lately. Her naps have been fairly predictable for awhile. She still wakes a few times a night to nurse but goes right back to sleep. The past couple nights she’s had a hard time getting down to sleep BUT yesterday she had two vaccination shots and we think she might be getting a whole slew of teeth now that one little guy has pooped through those gums.

It’s still quite difficult to get a picture of the lone tooth so you’ll just have to take my word for it that it is indeed there.

What’s also getting a little teeny bit difficult is Baby2 when you try to take something away from her or do something she doesn’t like (like change her diaper). She is starting to make the tantrum noise, this whinny high-pitched squeal that sounds like frustration and anger and sadness all mixed into one. I dread the tantrum phase, but honestly, if that’s the worst thing going on right now then I consider us extremely lucky!

Baby2 is such a good baby, such a happy baby. Being around her is just pure joy, even when she makes the tantrum noise (well, most of those times).

Finally, I leave you with another super cute video! Kiddo1 renamed this Tommy Toot toy, “Professor Joe.”

7 Months

This baby, I tell you what. She has got us all wrapped around her little finger! Even Kiddo1 is pretty enamored with this precious girl. She’s the kind of baby that makes you want to have so, so many more babies because this age of babyhood is amazing. She sits, she rolls, she discovers something new AND AWESOME every day. It’s pretty sweet to watch her learn new skills and take in new observations. There’s nothing like watching a baby grow!

Valentine’s Day fun

She’s still rolling everywhere. She started really pushing up and getting her belly off the floor a bit just a couple weeks ago. She will also scoot forward a little by pushing her feet on the floor. So once she gets enough arm strength to get her belly completely off the floor… watch out.

She’s getting her fine motor skills down so well. She’s pinching objects with her thumb and forefinger in order to pick up small things, like bits of food. When she has something in her hand, like a spoon or her hairbrush, she twists her wrist around to make the object rotate. She passes things back in forth between her hands in order to study them completely. She’s so inquisitive, so smart. Can I please brag some more about my genius baby?!?

Okay, I will! She babbles constantly now – she’s really discovering her voice! She can get so loud just with her babble that we can’t hear each other talk! She tends to say “dadadada” sounds when she’s playing, or super happy, or she sees her wonderful daddy. Interestingly enough, when she’s a little upset or hungry it’s “mamamama” or more of a “nananana” sound. That’s a funny joke, kid.

I suppose her life is not all sweet milk and roses, though. She’s sleeping okay. Naps are getting a lot better. She takes 2-3 naps a day. I’m only home three days a week (I work from home on Fridays now!) but on those days she seems to take one good morning nap about 1.5-2 hours after she gets up, another nap around mid-day, then maybe one mid- to late-afternoon. Some naps are 90 minutes, some get to even 2+ hours, a few here-and-there are only 45 minutes. Those shorts ones are when you know she just couldn’t get in her nap groove for one reason or another so her sleep cycle like totally sucked and she’s over it quickly.

Nighttime sleep is better than last month. She goes down around 7 and usually gets up once around 10, then she’s out until maybe 3, but sometimes 5. She wakes at 5 consistently, regardless. And she’d be up for the day at that point if I’d let her. But if she eats while she’s still a little groggy, she’ll usually nap for an hour or two.

Honestly, at this point I’m fine with her waking up at night. For one, I’m paranoid about supply problems so 7 hours without feeding her is long enough. I haven’t had any reduction in supply and I’m still donating, but maybe that’s because I’m still feeding her at night. I guess I won’t know until it changes! It only bothers me on the nights that she has an extra wake-up at 2 or 3, which is fairly rare but always seems to happen on the nights that I really need that full night’s sleep.

Anyway, when she does go down to sleep she gets to use her pacifier. She has gotten really good at getting it in her mouth all by herself. It’s really quite adorable when she grabs the paci (such joy in her face when she gets a hold of it), twists and turns it around and moves it to her mouth just so.

She has been eating solids for a couple months. She’s had avocado, sweet potato, banana, carrots, kiwi and egg. She doesn’t eat much, but solids are really all for practice now anyway. Sometimes we puree the food, sometimes just mash it, sometimes just give it to her, like scrambled eggs or a chunk of banana to nom-nom on. She explores her food, taking it in with touch, sight and smell as much as taste.

So I said before that Kiddo1 is “enamored” with her. Well oh my goodness, lately there has really been a shift with him and he has been smiling at his sister, talking to her and playing with her and she just smiles and smiles at him. Last month he would pick her toys up off the floor, but now he makes faces at her to make her laugh when they’re sitting at the table together (she’s been sitting in her chair at the table for a couple months now – it’s one of those that just pulls up to the table which has been awesome). It took us seven months to get here, but things are finally feeling like they should be between our two children. I’m sure it won’t always be smiles and fun faces, but I’ll take every bit of it that I can get!

Five Months

Baby2 is SUCH a happy baby. Not only is she an absolute delight when she wakes in the morning, but the evenings after work with her have been nothing short of fantastic. She babbles on and on in Baby Talk and will make her little squeal-type laugh at so many things. She loves playing with toys now and seeing a new one makes her little arms quiver with excitement.

Mr. Handsome got her the exersaucer-stand-up-toy thing this month. At first I wondered if it would be uncomfortable for her since she doesn’t sit yet (so she doesn’t have the core sense to keep to balanced) but she does pretty well on her own. And by standing supported she’s probably working on strengthening those standing muscles! She loves the toy and we love getting things done in the kitchen.

Sometimes she can sit with support and maybe she will hold the sit for a least a second if she’s on my lap and I let go with my hands (ready to catch her when she starts to lean, of course!). When on the floor, Baby2 can roll both from front to back and back to front; she’ll go back and forth but she’s not rolling through the living room or anything. Occasionally she will roll in her crib and we’ll find her stuck in a corner, just kind of hanging out and talking to the mattress.

Her sleeping patterns haven’t changed too much lately, which for nighttime sleep is kind of a bummer. She was doing these great six or seven hour stretches but those scaled back to three hours at the start of this month. I thought maybe it was the Four Month Regression (a temporary period in which babies regress to earlier sleeping patterns). But three weeks later and she’s still waking about three hours after she goes down. Huh. Well maybe it’s really supposed to be called the Four-to-Five Month Regression but that title was just too long. That’s got to be it…

Honestly, I don’t mind the waking too much, IF she gives me that at least a five hour stretch. ‘Cause that’s mama’s beer time. I’m not drinking a beer every night, but a couple nights a week I would like to have one. And yes, I could just give her a bottle, but I don’t want to. That’s kind of the point of breastfeeding. She gets enough bottles and I pump enough during the day and I don’t want to do that if I’m right there. But I would like one beer, once in awhile. So Baby2, if you’re listening, sleep.

We started a new bedtime routine so she can start associating something other than eating with bedtime, since I’m trying not to nurse her to sleep as often (unfortunately that happens more often than not, but sometimes I can’t help myself. What if she’s hungry? She needs to eat! It almost always quiets her cries, of course). Now every night she gets fed, then changed into PJs, we read a book and I brush her pretty little head which is slowly starting to accumulate more hair. I would love it if she started associating sleep with hair brushing. There are certainly worse things to associate sleep with. After all the brushing I put some coconut oil on her scalp to combat a small case of cradle cap (coconut oil has been working wonders! And she smells like cookies. Our ped says she also “loves coconut oil right now” for dry skin too. She’s a pretty fun doctor.) Then Baby2 goes to bed. Sometimes she goes right down, sometimes not so much. We roll with the punches.

Breastfeeding is still fantastic, even with all the pumping at work. I’m feeling pretty good about my one year goal right now; with Kiddo1 I had stopped by the time he was five months old due to supply issues. I’ve made it longer than last time now and the supply is certainly going strong! So much so that I’ve started donating some of my stash (which I will try to post about this week if I can ever wrap it up!).

A couple interesting post-partum tid-bits at five months (is it still considered “postpartum” at five months?):

I’m five pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight, but I don’t feel like I am at all. I stepped on the scale the other day and I was a little shocked that I was lighter. Some of my clothes are more loose. But I haven’t been doing anything. Honestly I have “worked out” maybe once since Baby2 was born. I suppose I’m just okay with having a little extra fluff lately. I don’t think I’ll feel completely normal until I stop breastfeeding anyway, so I’m having a much easier time with feeling “different.” My linea negra is also still not completely gone (I cannot remember when it went away last time) and the “monthly gift” has not yet returned, thankyoubreastfeeding.

With that, I’m off to enjoy Christmas cookies!

Four Months Old!

Baby2 has really been coming into her own lately – in just four short months she has grown and changed so much. This is Mr. Handsome’s and my second time watching a baby become a little person and we still can’t believe how amazing it is. Here are some of the things she’s been working on…

She has the sweetest smile. Ever. When she wakes up in the morning she is just the happiest thing that has ever lived, smiling and giggling and batting her adorable eye lashes. She grunts and coos and squeals. She squirms her little body all around and clenches her fists in excitement. It is very fun to watch.

She’s all smiles at home but she seems to be a bit weary of strangers lately. In the last month, we’ve had a couple events out and and about and she hasn’t been too excited about them. I think being around a lot of people is a little over-stimulating for her at times, especially if she’s being passed around. Too many faces for her or something.

Baby2 starting recognizing and zoning out on her hands sometime around six weeks I think, but this month she has started to have a bit more control of those little hands. She can get her thumb in her mouth with fairly consistent success.

She reaches out for things that she wants badly enough. Her concentration is palpable: she stares at the object, she shakes her arm as her little hand starts to move, fingers moving, trying to get all the needed parts working together to achieve her goal of grabbing her toy. She’s started to enjoying “playing” and she seems to show some excitement when shown a familiar toy. Her eyes get wide, her hands shake a little, maybe she lets out a little squeal. Adorable!

She rolled over this month from front to back. She can get from her back to her side very easily so I’m sure it won’t be long until she is rolling from back to front, too. She is also quite good at rotating her body around when lying on her back. Most nights she’ll fall asleep in her crib with her feet pointing one direction but by the time I come back and check on her she’s rotated around so her head is where her feet were. Now she does it when on her play mat which is quite fun to watch as she moves her little legs and pushes around.

She’s started to get much better at napping. As I type, Baby2 has been asleep for almost two hours and is on her second extended (meaning more than 45-minute) nap of the day (of course she just woke up). Mr. Handsome is feeling very happy about this as her naps either enable or distract from him getting to accomplish much during the day (he’s a SAHD).

As far as night-time sleep, just does pretty well. I’ve stopped giving a shit about all the “rules” I had established for sleep. My methods worked so well for Kiddo1 but with Baby2 I feel differently. I’m just kind of rolling with the punches now. She wakes up sometime between midnight and two or three am. I don’t pay attention to the time at all, I just pull Baby2 in bed with me and relax. She probably wakes up two or three times per night but I hardly notice. She eats, we sleep, it works out pretty well.

Eventually I’d like to get back to having her in her crib all night, but I have time. I also want to make sure my breast milk supply stays up and I recall that once Kiddo1 started sleeping through the night my supply dipped pretty fast and breastfeeding was over. So I’m trying to prevent that this time around by keeping up the night-time feedings. It may be establishing the wrong sleep routine but I suppose I’ll tackle that issue once it actually becomes an issue. Again, I’m going with the flow rather than trying to keep over-thinking things.

Finally, we did celebrate Halloween this year, even though I didn’t write a post about it at all. I leave with a few snapshots.

Pumpkin farming

Baby2 and her little punkin

Kiddo1 trick-or-treating with friends (he was a zombie)

Baby2 and I in our homemade two-peas-in-a-pod costume

Has it really been a month?

…since I’ve written a post? Over the past whole three months, I’ve wanted to write so much more than I actually have. But, at the end of the day, it is hard to pull myself away to write. Baby2 is growing so fast I’ll miss something if I blink and Kiddo1 is just blowing me away with his awesomeness lately. But, before I completely forget everything I had better take some time to get my thoughts down, so here’s a huge wrap up of things from the last month or so…

First, Baby2 is so freaking amazing. She will be three months old this Thursday. She holds her head up on her own all the time now. She barely lays her head on my shoulder anymore! Only when she’s super duper tired will she give in to a little head support assistance. She’d much rather be looking around and taking in all her surroundings than laying down like a little newborn. Sheesh, we’ve totally outgrown that phase. She likes to “sit” or “stand” while we hold her sides. No more craddle baby hold for her, much to Mr. Handsome’s dismay.

For awhile there she was not having much of tummy time – it is still hit and miss but I see more hits than misses. She’ll lift her neck and legs until she looks like a little airplane about to take off! It looks like she’s gearing up to roll over soon, although I’m sure it will be several more weeks until that milestone. At least I hope so! Don’t grow too fast baby!

She smiles and it is so freaking cute. When I come home from work and met her eyes for the first time she gives me a little grin and it just melts my heart every time! Of course the second I pull out a camera the smile fades so it has been difficult to get many of them captured! Although, the other day I put her down in her crib for just a moment while I put some laundry away in the bedroom. I caught her smiling and looking up at her mobile. That made me pretty happy since I spent so much time on making that dang mobile with its huge balls! Baby2 was just looking at them and waving her arms and smiling. Super cute!

This week I’ve been trying so hard to get her to laugh. I really don’t want to miss that first laugh but I know that I will miss some firsts while I’m at work. Knowing that Mr. Handsome will witness what I don’t does soften the blow a little bit, but it still stings. Most of the time going to work isn’t too hard, but I’ve had a couple days in the last month that I really haven’t wanted to leave. Last Monday was one of those days. When I got home I learned that Baby2 didn’t have too easy of a day herself. We commiserated a bit and felt better.

Work is great; really, I have it pretty easy. I have a nice room to pump in and I’m down to using it just a couple times a day. Pumping is usually pretty fast for me. It probably takes longer to walk to and from the room than it takes to actually pump! I keep my pump parts in the fridge all day so I only wash once when I get home. It saves so much time that way! I’ve been meaning to write a whole post dedicated to pumping but I’m not sure if I really have enough content for a whole post. I just pump and that’s it I suppose. I wish I had some pumping buddies, though. For a few weeks there was one other woman who used the lactation room but her son just turned one so I think she graduated. Good for her, though; knowing another person made it a whole year of pumping is really good motivation for me! I’m surprised more women aren’t using the lactation room. There are several new moms (or second- to fourth-time moms) in the building but I’m the only one still breastfeeding. I’m sure they have their reasons for not pumping, and I’m not judging them at all! But it’d be nice to have some company sometimes. Not to pump-in-tandem, that’s kind of weird, but to relate to and what-not.

Breastfeeding itself is still going really well. Baby2 doesn’t seem to have any confusion between the breast and bottle. I know I could use the bottle more on weekends but I like keeping the bottle use to times that I’m literally not around and can’t feed her. I like feeding her myself. I don’t want Baby2 to get too comfortable with the bottle so that she starts to prefer the immediate let-down and faster flow. Although, I shouldn’t be too worried. She doesn’t seem to really dig the bottle too much. She’s still eating a little less than I’d like her to during the day. I’m certainly not worried about our frozen stash, though, since I’m probably adding more to it than taking away. We use frozen milk on Mondays and freshly pumped milk Tuesday through Friday. Then on Friday afternoon I freeze the leftovers. I’m usually freezing between 20 and 50 ounces per week. Doesn’t look like I’ll be finishing off the frozen stash any time soon!

Baby2 is still eating plenty overall, though. She certainly goes through enough diapers to convince us that her eating habits are quite healthy! Thank goodness for cloth diapers. I figure we’ve saved at least $200 so far, if you don’t count the cash I spent on building our cloth diaper stash, of course. I suppose if you count that then we’ve almost broke even. I don’t count the laundry spending because we don’t pay for water and the detergent is only half used and it cost like $10 or something.

We are still using prefolds and covers and I really love this method. We have about ten pocket diapers that are just starting to fit Baby2’s little frame. I have used the pockets a few times and they almost always leak for me. Maybe I leave her in them too long, I’m not sure. But I can never tell because the pocket material wicks the pee into the soaker so fast that most of the time I can’t tell if she’s wet. But when I use the prefolds they aren’t usually too soaked she’s not siting in wetness a lot. Who knows, but I’m thinking I’d like to sit with what works and keep the pockets in “reserve” status for when I’ve forgotten to finish up my cloth laundry. We wash just about every day, sometimes every other day. Most of the time that frequency isn’t too annoying. Sometimes it’s just like, ugh, laundry, you know? No one likes doing laundry all the time. You just tolerate it I think.

Overall Baby2 is a pretty good sleeper. She started sleeping in six to seven hour chunks several weeks ago, which was an awesome pre-return-to-work present. Since she hasn’t been eating as much during the day now though, I think she’s eating a bit more at night so she’s up more. I say I think because once she gets up the first time I keep her in bed with me so she could be eating every hour and I won’t really realize it because I hardly wake up anymore. I just pull out a boob and she does the rest, for the most part. Mr. Handsome kind of laughs at us (and spends a lot of time on the sofa with the dog!) but this is the method that nets me the most shut-eye so it is what it is. And I’m sure Baby2 is enjoying the snuggling. I might be enjoying it as well!

Finally, I know I don’t spend too much time on this blog talking about Kiddo1. I think that’s just the nature of starting as a pregnancy blog – I’m used to dishing baby stuff all the time. But this blog is really about having two kids with a crazy age gap, so I’d better get some more Kiddo1 memories down here!

So far there isn’t too much age gap drama or fun to report. Kiddo1 doesn’t do too much with Baby2 yet. She really isn’t all that interesting to him. He likes when she smiles so I think once she starts really laughing he’s going to have a good time trying to get her to do that.

Right now he seems to be having a really good time getting involved at school. When he started kindergarten he said he really wanted to be a playground helper and safety helper once he got to fourth grade (which is when kids can start doing that at his school). Now that he’s in fourth grade he is doing both jobs and seems to be having a great time at it. He is so good with helping the younger kids at recess. Sometimes there’s a disagreement or something and he tells me how he helped. He’s such a good kid – he is going to be so awesome with Baby2 when she’s a little older and needs his help.

Finally, Kiddo1 went and got himself elected to Student Council this year! I believe fourth grade is when they can start doing that job, too. Mr. Handsome and I were so excited for him. We’re interested to see what is going to be his “thing” in school. For us it was always music (and also sports for Mr. Handsome, for me my second love was dating sports boys, haha). Kiddo1 is a little into music, not so much into sports, so we’re wondering if maybe school politics would be his thing. He now has this whole handout/book about public speaking, crafting an argument, etc. We got so excited when we saw it!

Overall things are quite awesome. We are loving our new life as four. Mr. Handsome and I love having a baby around (maybe too much!). Everything she does makes us appreciate life, appreciate Kiddo1, appreciate what we have that much more. Of course some days are a challenge but they are far between the good, amazing regular days. I can’t ask for much more!