Two Under Two

Olivia is almost three weeks old now, and today is Adam's first day back at work, which means it is my first day solo with two under two. Somehow two babies works out to more than twice the work. While there are two bums to keep in clean diapers, two mouths to feed, and two to entertain, the fact that whenever I am doing for one, the other is there with her own needs, means that doing for one is more work than it once was. Did you catch all that?

 

Olivia loves to nurse. This is a pleasant change from Alessia who took the opposite approach and ended up a formula baby. On the downside, she wants to nurse ALL THE TIME. If Alessia ends up resenting Olivia, it will be because she has heard "mamma can't right now, I'm feeding Olivia" one too many times. At the same time, Olivia is a very wakeful baby and enjoys wriggling and gazing around from the comfort of her boppy chair. When she does finally take a break from eating, I have had some success swaddling her and putting her down in her bassinet. At this age, Alessia did nothing besides eat and sleep, and we could not put her down during the day without her screaming in protest.

 

So far Alessia is handling this new development in her young life fairly well. She is very curious about Olivia and is already trying to share with her. She offers crackers, crayons, and sips of water. Hopefully she will still be in the sharing mood when Olivia is old enough to actually accept. I'm the one that Alessia is mad at. I completely understand why. I went away for three days, something that had never happened before (well, once before, but she was only four months old). Since coming back, I all too often have this little baby attached to me. My lap used to belong to Alessia, and I used to be ready at any moment to play ball and accept a full body hug. Things will get better between us, and all this will be a distant memory, but these first few weeks have been hard for both of us.

 

I think the hardest thing about this next year is going to be that babies change so much. Every time Alessia changed (new nap routines, eating routines, sitting up, cruising, crawling, etc) I had to adjust, but I'm an adult, so big deal. With two of them, as Olivia changes, Alessia will be affected as well, which is going to be difficult for both of us. Toddlers enjoy routines, and while Alessia has proven herself to be very flexible, she is no exception here.

 

At the end of my first day as a stay-at-home mom of two under two, I am so glad to have two beautiful baby girls and a wonderful husband. This morning I found a note in my diaper bag that read "I love you. You can do anything."