The kids are asleep simultaneously - Quick! Blog!

So, Joseph is already over three weeks old and out of his newborn clothing (when I am going to find time to pull out the 0-3m stuff is beyond me) and this is my first blog post since his birth from the hospital.  If I didn't want to prioritize writing this post, I'd go back and count how many times I had blogged when Xavier was this age...but I'm sure it was considerably more!

I'm going to attempt to keep this somewhat chronological...but if I go on a tangent or two, I'd blame it on a tired sleepy brain or the feeling that one of the two (if not both!) children will wake up at any given moment and my attempt to finally get some thoughts on "paper" so to speak will have been futile.

...nevermind...it already was.  Well, here goes an attempt to nurse and blog simultaneously - parenting is supposed to foster multitasking, right?

Anyway, let's try to get back on track...

Recovery this go around was considerably different - whether it was due to the lack in severity of my tear, the reduced time on an epidural and absence of pitocin, or just knowing what to expect this go around, it was indescribably easier.  Wait - I can describe it.  Joseph was a week old, and I could walk a block, jog three, walk another blog, and jog another three...and uphill no less.  It was just such an amazing feeling to not feel so morbidly obese and immobile that I couldn't "take it easy".  

The contractions this go around while nursing were pretty wicked - however, they had pretty much subsided after the first week, or week and a half...

Body wise, I feel pretty good, although I'm still a little heavier right now that I was at my starting point...but not nearly as heavy as I was at this point when I had Xavier - and a lot of that was maintaining a better diet and exercise regime than the first go around.

Well, enough about me...onto Xavier and Joseph.

Xavier has adjusted amazingly - much better than I could have ever predicted or hoped.  I also thought it would get worse once I didn't have help around the house, but if anything, settling down into a normal routine again has helped.  We did almost lose out on naptime, but through some careful finagling  we have managed to salvage it - at the cost of it being at 11:30am (thus killing any chance of going out to eat for lunch).  However, with Joseph, dragging both kids out and hoping all would go smoothly for lunch was probably minimized anyway.

Xave in the last three weeks is now about to count objects up to about 10.  (Meaning, he doesn't just spit off numbers in rote memorization, but can actually point and tally a number of objects.  He tends to get caught up on numbers 6 and 7 a little though.)  He has also developed his imagination rather quickly as well.  Just today, we "rode" the PRT on pillows on our bed.  He would tell me when we would go under tunnels, when the doors would open, climb off the bed and describe what he would do when he got off (either "pool" or "daddy lunch") and talk about that making appropriate motions (for instance, "pool" = "back, kick kick kick! circle...round 'round! shower??  all done! towel! [for the shower, he uses my floor lamp and stands under it]" or "Xavier doctor" = "back[he lays on his back]...shot! all better!") and then climb back on, and explain that we were on our way again, going under tunnels, and stopping at various stations.  All the while he is doing this, I am sitting with him on the PRT, nursing Joseph...so it's a very convenient time for this to start developing!

Joseph has continued getting...fatter - which, in his case, is a good thing.  His personality is definitely different from Xavier's.  He's a little more clingy, hates to be swaddled (I can't even remember how old Xavier was before we went through one heck of a time weaning him from being swaddled), and actually occasionally spits up.  Tom and I remarked, that Joseph is far from being a "difficult" infant though, but rather, if on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being the easiest child in the world, and 10 being a fussy, colicky, impossible baby, Xavier was a 1, and Joseph might be a 2.

I am personally amazed at how things are going on my own with two though - I had help for the first two weeks, and thought that juggling the needs of two (plus a dog) would have been immensely nerve racking.  However, I find that while I did feel a little overwhelmed when I had Xavier, this time around it's a little bit more in stride...everyone's needs just get prioritized a little.  If that means Joseph has to cry for a few minutes to get his diaper changed (another difference from the kids - Xave never cried with a dirty diaper, and this change is actually welcome.  Xave could be dirty for who knew how long and we never knew!) while Xavier has to sit and potty - so be it.  I'd rather Joseph cry a little, than have to change Xavier's clothes, clean up the floor, and also hurt our miraculous potty training at 2 (which, he hasn't regressed with at all).

I am still a little leery of how this will all play out in the long run (IE when I have two mobile children...heaven help me) but I can honestly say I'm looking forward to it.

Oh, but of lessons learned, so far I have decided it is not particularly worth it to travel anywhere overnight with them...packing for a toddler, an infant, and myself is equal to attempting to prepare for a natural disaster.  The amount of luggage....goodness!!!