extra grateful for my awesome husband today! he is the greatest source of support and encouragement for me.
i've had a few rough days here and there over the past 5 weeks while transitioning to caring for two little ones who i equally love and want to give 100% to at every moment. this morning was one of my more difficult ones- and reflecting back, it honestly wasn't so bad. it's even kind of humorous... i just didn't see it that way in the moment :)
i always joke that being a stay-at-home mom means that you're a professional lukewarm coffee drinker. because it's true. i rarely get a sip of my coffee in before it's gone from too hot when first brewed to lukewarm, and this morning i decided that gosh darn it, i was going to drink my coffee hot. i made my pour-over, and told myself that i wasn't going to feel bad turning on mickey mouse for lucy so that i could sit and nurse eloise while sipping a piping hot cup- just this morning.
well, my attempt at a relaxing 30 minutes of disney junior screen time turned into nursing a frustrated baby who kept having to re-latch because her big sister refused to stop climbing on top of me in the chair i was sharing with eloise. i asked lucy to move to the couch and sit and watch her show because i was feeding eloise.
...mom guilt #1.
i felt awful putting one kid in front of the tv, so i could better care for the other.
our morning was a series of these moments [mom guilt piling up], as eloise was awake and hungrier than usual. in feeding her, i felt like it was at the expense of best interacting with lucy.
...which led to little things that i might otherwise find endearing causing some strife! for example, when 11am rolled around and i was still in my night clothes [the girls were dressed and with bows in their hair of course... or strapped to her head with a headband due to lack of adequate hair in eloise's case], and the mailman came to the door leading charlie to dash outside, and the 3 of us to chase after him in front of the neighbors with lucy clinging to my shorts for dear life, causing them to be pulled down to toddler height- i wasn't at my best.
i know this is all part of having multiple children [and it's no secret that i want a small bunch], but i often beat myself up for not being able to give them individualized 1-on-1 attention every waking moment now that a third party had been added. jon's great at reminding me that the girls have each other now, and the payoff for that is well worth a few minutes here and there where they have to figure out things for themselves because their mom is busy with the other. and my mom is awesome at reminding me of the importance of independent play skills [i should be able to remind myself of that- i have a master's degree in early childhood education], but after 20 months of being there for lucy whenever she wanted me, it's definitely a switch to have to tell her that she's gonna have to to wait because i'm busy caring for her little sister.
i know other moms can relate. and my "mom-friends" give me good laughs over our similar situations :) thankful to not feel alone in this journey called parenthood! a strong support base is so so SO important, i've learned.
in other news, i'm apparently making milkshakes over here on 98th terrace. my little 6 pound baby (25th percentile at birth) is now 10 pounds at one month old- jumping to the 75th percentile for weight! lucy's never once been in the 75th percentile for weight.
eloise- my little butterball :)
other great news! eloise was introduced to a bottle of pumped mama milk last week- and she's a total champ! with lucy, we introduced the bottle at 6-8 weeks per our lactation consultant's advice to avoid nipple confusion. it turned into her hating the bottle- she never grew to take it very well, so we actually switched to a straw-cup at 8 months and never looked back. we decided to introduce the bottle earlier this time around, and it's been the best decision. eloise will even take a bottle from ME- something lucy never did. it definitely gives me a sense of freedom that OK... if jon and i want to have a dinner out just the two of us, we know eloise won't be at home, screaming at the bottle nipple. certainly glad we've been through this newborn thing before- so much is easier this time around because we've already learned what doesn't work :)
also great news- we have the best friends. lucy's godfather and his wife [who lucy loooves] are in town visiting, and spent their evening last night putting together lucy's new pink kitchen my mom got her. and they even acted like they enjoyed piecing together a 50 piece toddler-sized hot pink kitchen :) somehow jon roped them into that one...
and a very happy 4th birthday to this guy! holding down the testosterone fort with his dad.
gotta go snuggle my babes and sip some lukewarm coffee :)
-ivy
