G is a very different baby than E was. Two years in, we feel like we understand our toddler pretty well. We know how to comfort him, how to put him back to sleep if he wakes up, what makes him happy and what doesn’t. And it’s lead us to a false sense of confidence that we know babies/children in general.
But G is a very different baby.
We’re still obsessed with happy birthday over here. E can almost sing it by himself, but he still prefers it if we sing it, or we watch his two minute clip on Netflix. The drive home from daycare is prime happy birthday singing time. Lately, singing it is no longer enough. He’s requested that we merge his two favorite things, and sing “Orange Happy Birthday.”
It all started with an Instagram ad.
Huh - that’s interesting, I remember thinking. I texted it to Tom as an almost joke – wouldn’t we be crazy if we did this? He immediately was on board and started talking about logistics and I got scared and backed way off. I wasn’t serious! We couldn’t do that! Let me think about it.
And I thought about it the entire way home. And after I put the boys to bed. And it seemed… possible?
So I went back to Tom and told him I think we should attempt it. Because why not. If we failed miserably, at least we’d have something to put in the baby book.
So croup’s fun, huh?
On a Monday recently, I was sitting at my desk at work, leisurely eating my breakfast while planning out my day. What projects I was going to work on, what I was going to get for lunch, and making plans with a co-worker to get coffee after our 8:30 team meeting. It was during that 8:30 meeting that I saw daycare’s number pop up on my phone.
Baby, baby, baby. You are such a fun addition to our family. Your laugh, your faces, your happy little grab onto my arms when I bounce you up and down and you snuggle your face into me.
You’re happy as long as you’re a part of whatever’s going on. If someone walks into another room, you squirm after them as quickly as possible, and if you’re having trouble keeping up, or they vanish out of your sight, you’ll start screaming until someone picks you up. Sometimes you’ll just decide that you’re done on the floor and you’ll squirm right up to someone’s feet and look up at them with your big eyes until we grab you.
It had been coming for a while, but we finally did it. Baby G is no longer in a bucket seat. Poor thing was pretty uncomfortable in there. His feet were hanging way over the edge, which meant that more than once we’d stubbed his toe against a car, door or wall as we were trying to carry him in the seat. His head was nearing the top, and he could easily grab the handle with both of his hands. I’d be driving and look back and he’d be holding on to each side like it was a roller coaster and he was afraid to let go.
Every once in a while, E picks up a new phrase. Sometimes it’s obvious he got it from us, but sometimes it seems random. We assume it comes from daycare, but we never know for sure. Lately his phrase has been “walk away.” It’s equally hilarious and insulting. It usually comes when he’s doing something on his own and we’re trying to help. Like when he decides he wants to feed the baby by shoving food in his mouth, and we try to intervene, he’ll look at me and say “No, Mama. Walk away.” Somehow it’s cuter than if he just told us to go away, and it’s equally as funny when he tells the baby to do it too. We should probably try to encourage him to use different language… but we’re enjoying it for now.
Usually when we put the babies down for the night, it’s pretty easy. Hugs, kisses, place them in their crib and walk away. If anyone gives us trouble, it’s usually G and it’s usually because he’s demanding more food before beginning his 12 hour fast.
But one night recently, it was E that was making noise. If he does wake up, it’s usually the result of a bad dream, and it will be hysterical crying which will bring us running. But this was just small cries, which sometimes happens when he wakes up at the end of a sleep cycle and before he rolls over and goes back to sleep. So we watched him on the monitor and figured that’s what it was. He was lying on his back, rubbing his eyes, and softly crying.
Four day weekends used to be so exciting. A big opportunity to go somewhere, or do something. The opportunities felt endless and we were always excited and counting down. And then you have two very small children, and you realize that as much as you love spending time with them, four days without a break is a lot. It’s tiring.
I remember asking E’s doctor a while ago when I should be bringing him to the dentist. Her answer was a bit funny, and something like this: “If you ask a dentist, they’ll tell you to bring them by 6 months. If you ask a doctor, they’ll say anywhere between 2 and 3 is fine.”
Considering E didn’t get his first tooth until 14 months, I wasn’t going to bring him on the early side so the dentist could… I don’t even know what they would do. Also considering I HATE the dentist and it gives me major anxiety and heart palpitations, I wasn’t rushing the first visit.
Tom and I were talking recently, and realized just how packed our years have been recently. Kind of the opposite of taking things slow. There have been a lot of big milestones, every year, which made us realize that there wasn’t really one this year. It feels weird, it feels a little bit like we’re slacking, but most of all… it feels good?
A few things about our favorite toddler around here.
He changes so quickly that something that is an every day huge part of life could disappear in a month, and we’d all forget about it. So I’m leaving this here so I can better remember this moment of life.
Most Requested Activity: Going outside or cooking
This is how crazy my life feels sometimes. I did something fun and awesome and just for me (ie without kids!) and I stayed up much too late to do it.. and somehow it’s been three weeks now and I’m just telling you about it. Because I still woke up the next morning as the mama to two little humans who did not care if I was tired. They did not want to hear my stories or look at my pictures. They wanted to be carried and sung to and entertained. And so that’s what I did.
There's this thing that happens a lot, where we compare ourselves to others and decide everyone else has their life more together than we do. Other couples who seem to never fight. Other moms who have perfectly well behaved children. People who's house is always clean and have time to make dinner from scratch.
I heard someone say recently that nine months is peak cuteness for a baby, and I’ve got to say we are well on our way! You are just adorable lately. Dimples on full display, giggling all the time, totally squeezable. Just lots of fun. It would be nice if you’d pretend to care about me or Tom at all, but it’s more than obvious that all you want is your brother. It’s everything we dreamed of when we decided to have two kids so close together, so I guess I shouldn’t complain too much.
My last post about Maine was pretty E heavy. Mostly because he’s a toddler and is big about experiencing everything and sharing opinions about it. Baby G on the other hand, mostly goes along with whatever we’re doing. For every one of those memories about E, baby G was there too. Usually in someone’s arms or sitting on the floor watching everything that was going on.
There were a few very distinct G memories though, and so I thought I’d share them in their own post. I’ve already mentioned that G was feeling a little off during the week, and as a result, that surrounds most of my memories of him. We were constantly trying to either figure out what was going on, or trying to treat it. I’m not exaggerating when I say that we were minutes from bringing him to the ER (Tom had already called to verify they had a pediatrician on staff) when we abruptly changed our mind and decided he was fine.
We recently went on our annual trek to Maine. I guess it was technically a vacation, but these days that word has a very different meaning than it used to. At this point it’s all about building memories and doing things to make the kids happy. And I’m okay with that, as tiring as it is. (It definitely gives me a different perspective of all those years in Maine when I was younger, and what my mom was going through!)
We did have the added bonus of having a lot of family and friends come and stay with us, which was amazing. It meant extra hands to hold our babies, to entertain them, to play with them, and to feed us! All good things. And our kids were psyched! There was so much laughter and running around and smiles. Nothing is better, or makes me happier than seeing someone I love, love on my children. It makes my heart happy.
I think I was wrong.
Not just wrong, but I had it completely backwards. I used to say that E was an extrovert and G was our introvert, but after a week of vacation, I’m rethinking that. We all have a bit of vacation hangover right now. It was a long week, a tiring week, and the most fun week ever. Totally worth it, but reentry is hard.
So as I’m watching how both of the small ones react to reentry and think about how their energy levels fluctuated over the week, I’m thinking that I’m changing my mind: E might be an introvert and G might be an extrovert!
Here's what I believe about toddlers, at least two year old toddlers. They don't know how to misbehave, or how to do things to annoy you on purpose. They only know there are things that will get your attention, and things that won't.
And if they're doing something to get your attention, it's because they need you and don't know how to say so.
It’s hard to pick a favorite part of my day, but it might be right after I pick up E at daycare. I grab him first, and then we go to pick up his brother. I open the door and tell E to go find his baby. And he runs around looking from baby to baby until he finds G. It’s seriously the cutest thing ever.
This part of the day is easy and fun. It’s before the dinner struggle. Before I have to fight to get them in PJs and deal with tears because they’re overtired but don’t want to go to bed.