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Double Trouble or Two’s Company?

A couple of weeks ago, Emily posted asking for advice on what she’s in for with having a second baby. A lot of you responded reassuringly that she was going to be just fine! And I’ve no doubt she will be!! Then the other day, I got this query from a reader named Jen:

“I’m halfway through my second pregnancy, so i’m currently contemplating what two kids will really mean (ie. “what the heck was i thinking?!?!?!”) i think you should do a blog about all the little tips for us moms going from one kid to two. =)”

Well, I don’t know if I have any tips per se, but I thought it might be at least interesting to share with you about what it was like for ME to go from having one kid to two. I thought it was pretty challenging. I think that obviously the distance in age between your kids has something to do with it, but I’m not sure what the magic number is as far as age range goes to make it “easier” to go from one kid to two. My kiddos are two years and nine months apart (that’s right, it was “Happy 2nd Birthday Joshua! We just made you a sister!”) and I was realllllyyy hoping to have Joshua potty trained by the time Sophie came along, but that really crashed and burned. So, I had two in diapers for awhile, and then I had the constant fun of trying to get Joshua on & off the potty while I had a baby attached to my boob. This of course happened about 47 times a day. His bladder and her need to nurse were perfectly in sync! I am not exaggerating!! (ok the 47 times part was a bit of an exaggeration. But it was still just about every time he had to pee.)

While the whole nursing-potty thing was logistically difficult, the hardest thing for me to deal with overall was having to care for Joshua’s basic needs when I was SO EXHAUSTED from being up with Sophie all night. I couldn’t nap when Sophie napped during the day, like I did when Joshua was a baby. (Not that he ever kept me up all night. He was way too easy!) I remember one day when Sophie was 4 or 5 weeks old, my friend Megan & her little boy came over to visit and bring Christmas goodies. Well, Sophie had been up every hour on the hour the night before, and I was just a mess. If Megan hadn’t been there I might have just gone out in the cold and laid down in the middle of my busy street and let nature take its course. Those were some tough days, but thankfully I was too out of it to have much of a memory of them now.

Now that Sophie is one, and crazy, and very mobile, my biggest challenge is to keep peace between the two kids. Joshua is constantly getting irritated that his sister is messing up his train track, or chewing on his toys, or something of that nature. But, often, they really enjoy each other and it is so sweet to watch! They love to chase each other around, and every morning when we come downstairs, Sophie howls with laughter as Joshua comes down the steps behind her. It is incredibly heart-warming (sorry that is the only word I can think of to describe it!) It’s nice to know that Joshua will never remember a time when Sophie wasn’t a part of our family. I hope that they will grow up to be good friends, just like my older nerds brothers and I did.

So, there ya go, Jen (and Emily). Once you get over the shock of having a baby that is commpletely and totally different from your first child, it’s pretty great to have two little boogers running around. And Em, just think, it’ll be TWICE the BLOG FODDER!

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At the Games of the 50 Bajillionth Olympiad…

Good news, my friends! Sophia Diane is going to be a gold medalist in either Olympic diving or gymnastics in about 16 years. Let’s hope these athletic accomplishments also come with lots of paid endorsements after the fact because she is going to need a lot of money to keep her mother in a very plush, ritzy, padded LOONEY BIN. I mean, she is definitely going to send me to the looney bin so I really want it to be a nice one. I received this vision of her future just this morning and I am quite certain of its accuracy. Let me set the scene for you!

I was running a bath for the kids, when the running water made me have to go tinkle. So, I sat on the toilet as one does in this situation. Sophia, meanwhile, was holding onto the side of the tub with one hand, leaning forward to stick her hand in the running water. Then, all of a sudden, she decided this was BORING and she VAULTED herself into the bathtub. When I say vaulted, I mean, she pushed herself off the side of the tub with both hands and FLIPPED into the bathtub. How? I have NO IDEA, so it must just be innate talent. Whether she will apply said talent to Olympic diving or Olympic gymnastic remains to be seen.

I let out a screech and jumped up off the pot. Adrenaline must’ve stopped my bladder, thank God, so I didn’t pee all over myself. I leapt over to the tub and found Sophie sitting up, fully clothed (including shoes), soaking wet, and very pleased with herself! She was very displeased with me when I pulled her out of the tub and began thrashing and wailing, and getting me soaked. I quickly stripped her and put her back in the tub. Then I got out my flask of brandy to soothe my nerves. JUST kidding. I ate three Hershey bars. JUST kidding again, but if I HAD three Hershey bars I totally would’ve pounded them down in quick succession!!!

She’s CRAZY!

Sophie, when you are reading this years from now, remember that Mommy carried you for nine months and nursed you for infinity (because you are never going to let me wean you) and that she wants a very nice, cozy, luxurious, lavish, over-the-top suite at the ritziest LOONEY BIN around!

Now GO FOR THE GOLD, baby girl! Your official training starts the day after New Year’s. We’ve got to get an edge on the competition!

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What exactly are we in for?

On Friday, we hosted a holiday party for my husband’s co-workers. In the course of the evening, I had the exact same conversation with two different men… both dads, one of two and one of three. Here’s the basic idea…

“Having two kids is SO DIFFERENT than having one. I mean, with one, one parent can be on duty while the other one does something completely separate. Then when you have two, ugh, it’s just so complicated!”

I’ve been thinking about these conversations on and off for the last couple days, and it’s really gotten me wondering… and I thought I’d turn to you all for advice.

Is the switch from having one child to two more or less dramatic than going from zero to one? What are the biggest challenges that come with having more than one? Is what those guys told me just man code for “My wife let me go out with the boys even less after Number Two was born?”

And (for the love of God) please tell me the good things, too!! ‘Cause really, it’s too late to turn this train around, and I could use some optimism. I mean there must be something to it… right???

Then, after you all figure this out for me, maybe we can work on answering the number one most popular question of Friday evening… “Emily, where on earth are you going to put pictures of the new baby? You’re going to have to build more walls!”

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