Mom of two (to four)

I heard from lots of people before Elsie was born that having two kids was much harder than having one. Like more than twice as hard. Now people always ask how we are adjusting to being a family of four. It is harder in lots of ways of course, but not how I thought it would be. It helps that this might be one of the easiest and sweetest babies ever.

She is the complete opposite personality of Hendrix as a baby. And I'm not losing any sleep on her behalf, so that makes a huge difference. But she's so easy-going that sometimes I worry she doesn't get enough attention. The two year old happens to require a lot more. But then I think back to him as a newborn, getting lots of time sitting quietly in my lap and being read to and rattled at constantly. She's lucky to get a toy plopped in front of her face on the boppy. Of course, I'm not really worried about her, just because it's not my nature to worry. It's just funny how different things are for her. I'm sure she'll still  grow up to be a genius :) At least she gets plenty of entertainment from him. 

Today she might be even extra neglected because this one has decided to spontaneously potty train. I did not really want to tackle that for a few more months because I don't think it's that big of a deal to have two in diapers and I didn't think he was ready at all. But we are in a constant struggle with diaper rash and last night we were having evening naked time to relieve his "Hiney hurts!" This usually involves extra tv time while hanging out on a couple towels on the living room floor. I asked if he wanted to go potty since all his equipment was out and at the ready, and he said yes for the first time ever. He did it three times and only had one little accident all evening. So today we continued naked time. He's done way better than I ever expected, even dropping a couple deuces without being prompted. (He likes to do those without me of course.) He is totally proving me wrong about not being ready for it, and I'm so happy because this may be the end of the horrible diaper rash battle. Now I just need to get him some actual undies so we can eventually leave the house without him being buck naked from the waist down. 

Sorry if you don't care at all about our adventures in naked potty-training, but I know I'm always interested to hear how it goes for other people. 

(On a side note, have you tried Yagoot? At first I wasn't a fan because it wasn't the froyo I was expecting, but lately I'm loving it. You just have to open your mind and heart to the tartness.)

Today is also a bit crazy for intensive potty training because I have these two extra cuties. (And she is also training, but a bit farther along than H on the journey to undies.) So the house is extra super loud and messy on days like these, but I'm rarely stressed by it. They are all good kids. And in the afternoon I can usually get them all asleep at once for at least a little time for indulging in guilty pleasures. (Today that's blogging, dark chocolate, and So You Think You Can Dance on Hulu.)

I can tell you that a good carrier is essential for a second child. I made this a couple of weeks ago from a Sew Liberated pattern. She loves it and it's often a life saver. 

So even though it's been relatively smooth sailing so far, I am no expert on being mommy of two. I know it will be approximately 78x harder once she stops sleeping half of the day and starts moving around. So whenever she begins standing and trying to take her first steps, I'll probably just push her down. Not really. But maybe...