one month deep

How did I ever think one toddler was a lot of work? And even more hugely, how did I ever think that one BABY was a lot of work?

This two kid deal is harder than I thought it would be. Ever is a fussier baby than Nolie was and coupled with a two year old…. I am still getting my feet under me. Posting will be sparse till I start to figure out our new normal a little bit more. Every day gets little more manageable, I am slow and steady learning Ever’s tricks and how to help her sleep and feel content during the days.

So here it is… the rundown at one month in.

RUNDOWN:

sleep: Ever sleeps like a champ! 4ish hours in her bassinet at the beginning of the night (8-midnight’ ish) and then in our bed nursing on and off (side laying ftw!) till her sister wakes everyone up at 5-6am. Nolie has been (hope this won’t jinx it!) sleeping through the night consistently for the first time in her life…heyo!

nursing: Ever nurses every 30min or so during the day (unless she is asleep, still probably around 15-18 times a day) and I don’t mind it at all. She is gaining weight, sleeping well and smiles when she nurses. SO cute. Nolie is nursing, an enforced, three times a day and I love it. She is my little pump! She looks like she is gaining weight too! I am constantly hungry though! Easy snacks are the name of the game.

diapering: Ever is still in disposables. We are going to switch her over to cloth around 6-8 weeks once she is bigger. Nolie is toying with potty learning. She does great when she is naked or just around home and has gone a day here and there in underwear and no accidents but we haven’t gone cold turkey on the diapers, yet… We have been talking a lot about saying “goodbye diapers!” this summer so we shall see!

Nolie: She is in LOVE with her sister. The transition was a little rough but overall it seems to be all changes for the good. We are less immeshed and she and Charlie are more connected. This is hard for me to navigate and not mourn too hard but she seems to be thriving. She is more independent than ever and incredible at entertaining herself. She will play with a craft or activity for an hour+ and often it will be quiet and when I check on her I find her reading on her bed…right?! How did I luck out like this? The first two weeks were A LOT of TV and she is still watching more than typical (about an hour a day) but we are getting back to normal slowly and gently.

Ever: I adore her. She is so sweet, coo’s like a dream and sleeps (have I mentioned she will sleep at night?!) and is darling. She is, however, pretty fussy. She has a really rough go for 1-2 hours each night right before bedtime…heartbreaking and often times has a couple of sad jags during the day too. She is super strong and still has such clear blue eyes. She resembles her sister but is all her own. I am so in love.

One Month

Charlie and Me: We will be alone together again someday… right?? Right?! For now we are running all day to try and just keep up with the basics (diapered, fed, clothed, happy enough, laundry done, kisses given and the house a manageable  mess to live in). It feels like we are still in survival mode for now but, oddly enough, I feel closer to him than ever. In the moments when Nolie is throwing an epic freak out and Ever is screaming; Nolie is pee’ing somewhere and we are all covered in spit up… what else can you do but just laugh? The biggest blessing is those few hours that both girls are in their own beds and our bed is only ours. Both of us are typically too exhausted to stay up and talk but just cuddling in bed just alone is such a gift.

Me: I feel pretty much back to normal and did my first (semi)workout yesterday. It felt great to be active, sweaty and achey again…but, I am really out of shape. I am going to start doing Stroller Strides when I hit 6 weeks (and figure out how to leave the house alone with two kids….uhhhhhh?!) and I think that will be the perfect kick I need to start shedding this weight. I am not bouncing back nearly as quickly as I did last time and I feel really differently shaped now. I am struggling with it but I know I need to just stick with working out, healthy eating and extremely gentle thinking. But I am struggling, pretty hard. I am missing blogging and going to start carving out some time to pull together all the posts that are bouncing around (postpartum body and all those bellies I have sitting on my desk top! placenta information and a big tandem nursing how-to post and one about how we chose our girls names) but I have no idea where to find that time!

Overall… we are making it. More good times than bad and lots of grace and joy for everyone.