Parenting the Second Time Around

Eliza is now 7 weeks old and I feel like we are getting into a routine and coming out of that newborn fog. Do I dare to say that she has slept through the night
the past three nights...from 9pm until about 4:45am. She eats and goes back to sleep until about 7:30! I am so happy! It is funny because ella first slept through the night at 6 weeks and 6 days(I checked her baby calendar that I kept) and low and behold eliza first slept through the night at 6 weeks 6 days too! I am thankful for good sleepers!

It is definitely different parenting with two! I love having two! Twice the work and twice the love! I have told kevin over and over how I don't feel like I am spending enough time with eliza. I am sure anyone who has more than one child knows this feeling. With ella I was able to sit and hold her, rock her, read to her and I spent hours upon hours doing that with her as a tiny baby! My time to do that with eliza is more limited. I feel like I often nurse her and have to put her in her bouncy seat, because ella has waiting patiently or not so patiently for mommy to finish! Yesterday, I think I had to stop nursing her two or three times to discipline ella.

I also used to bathe ella every day or every other day when she was a baby. It was just part of our daily routine. Now it is much harder to bathe eliza with my little helper (who wants to bathe sissy herself) so she is def. getting fewer baths than ella did. (Don't worry she's not stinky!)

I am holding eliza more while she sleeps. With ella I put her down for most of her naps as a baby. I didn't want her to get used to having to be held to go to sleep. Now when ella is napping I am finding myself sitting holding eliza and cherishing every minute of our quite time together! In fact, she is sleeping on my lap right now.

Eliza has probably had to cry a little more than ella did as a baby. I am sure this is normal also for having two little ones. Sometimes mommy just isn't fast enough at meeting everyone's needs.

I think it has been different for Kev too. We were so so ready to have a baby when ella was born. I think I wrote before that we literally used to fight over who would carry her into church! No joke. I remember us begging the other to get to be the one to hold her after her shots (we both wanted to be the one comfort her tears!) Now, he is normally on ella duty and I take care of eliza. He said the other day how good it was to get to hold and spend some special time with just eliza.

So all this to say that it is a little different the 2nd time around. I wonder how all this plays into their personalities due to birth order. I am sure it molds them into who they are meant to be!