My first week as a mother of 2

Last week was my first *real* week as a mother of two. Up until last week, I had lots of help. John stayed home from work for a week, his mother stayed with us for a little over a week, my dad and stepmom came for a really long weekend and my mom has been in and out for the last three weeks helping here and there.

This week, it was just me. I have to admit, I was rather intimidated by the whole thing on Sunday night.

But it all went relatively well... surprisingly. Juggling Hank and Johnny hasn't been difficult because Hank is still pretty sleepy and a snuggler to boot. I pack him up in my ring sling (my savior) and we just follow Johnny around all day. Luckily, Johnny doesn't seem to mind playing independently while I nurse Hank. I just have to make sure I pick an appropriate place to nurse... a childproof place is best, like our playroom with the bookcases bolted to the walls and the television secured to the wall with high tension wire in studs. When I pick an inappropriate place, Johnny ends up pulling a barstool on himself and making me wonder if he has a concussion... but that's another story for another day. I believe I was talking about how well this week went...

I noticed that everything comes down to timing, as life does in many cases. Knowing that Johnny goes down for a nap at 1, I would try to get Hank sleeping around 12:30 so I could focus my attention on Johnny for a good half hour. Did that work every day? Nope, not even close. Hank had to cry by himself for a good fifteen minutes on Friday while I put Johnny down... and guess what? He lived through the experience. I would NEVER have done that with Johnny, so this is whole I-can't-pay-attention-to-you-because-I-have-more-important-things-to-attend-to thing is entirely new to me. In the morning, I leave Hank all alone in his bassinet (sometimes sleeping, sometimes just chilling) while I get Johnny up and dressed for the day. I think I can count on one hand how many times I left Johnny alone in his first month of life. Oh, how things change with the second one.

So let me give myself a shout out for surviving the week: You go mama! You rock that double offspring lifestyle!

In the ring sling

The Maya Wrap ring sling. So awesome.

Johnny providing moral support for Hank's tummy time.

Silly face during our photo shoot.