When I was pregnant with Henry, I wasn’t sure I would have that severe obsession with Baby #2 like I did/do with C. How would my heart handle that?
Well, no worries… I’m obsessed. He’s the cutest little love and I just can’t even handle it. So much love and sweetness in my world! I’m a lucky gal.
Oooey gooey rant over. Now, some pics of Henry and I playing today…
Yesterday felt like a pretty successful day. After taking Charlotte to school late (oops), Henry and I stopped at our favorite coffee joint for an iced almond milk latte. Cutie pie was alert and adorable. We cooed as we waited for our caffeine.
After coffee, we stopped at the office. We like to go in 1-3 times per week in between dropping Charlie at school and picking her up at 12:30. (I also try to go in for a longer day on the days Mark’s momma picks C up from school.)
The plan was to go in for a short amount of time, drop Toby there, and go grocery shopping. Well, Henry’s refusal to nap kept me there until it was time to pick up C, so no grocery store.
But, on the positive side of things, Henry was able to get some good cuddle time with Grandma and some laughs with Grandpa.
Okay so I dropped C at school late and didn’t go to the grocery store… No successes there. And now that I think about it, when we all got home after picking C up from school, there was a decent amount of kitty vomit to clean.
But anyway, C went down for her nap and after I scarfed down some lunch, I swaddled Henry and put him down for his nap.
Here’s a success… Both kids napped simultaneously in their respective beds for 45 minutes!! Just enough time for me to cook dinner (my new survival habit is cooking dinner at 230/3ish during naps and reheating it when it’s time for dinner at 530).
During this time, I also checked my email and realized that the committee I volunteer for was meeting tonight. Since I had pumped for the first time over the weekend, I figured it’d be a great time to test out giving Henry a bottle and giving me a little freedom.
Thankfully, Mark’s day worked perfectly to sneak home by 415 and allow us to eat together and for me to feed Henry as much as possible before leaving.
I also had good playtime with the kiddies and got to watch Mark teach Charlie to change batteries and use a screw driver (damn battery-eating swing!).
Then, I was off to my meeting! I spent about 3 hours away… On my own… With my music blasting… It was nice!
When I got home, Marky and I say and chatted while I swapped a ton of Henry’s 0-3m clothes that don’t fit him for 3-6m. Yes, my 7.5 weeker is a giant.
At the end of the day, I’d call that a success.
Do you remember all of the poop drama we went through with C and my many attempts to clean up my diet in attempts to eliminate whatever was irritating her stomach?
Well, if you don’t remember, here are just a few posts from back then…
https://playinghousewi.com/2014/12/03/holy-cow-milk/
https://playinghousewi.com/2014/12/18/dairy-elimination-update/
https://playinghousewi.com/2014/12/31/total-elimination-diet-ted/
Well, unfortunately, we seem to be having the same issues with Henry. I’m trying not to worry too much, as the GI had told us it wasn’t the biggest deal when Charlie went through it. However, I have eliminated dairy and soy for about 4 weeks now.
I was seeing blood quite often the week before I decided to change my diet and haven’t seen any since, so I’m taking that as a good thing. He’s still had mucus, but the blood seems to be gone.
Unfortunately, Henry has been fighting a stuffy nose/cough for a week or more now and has had LIME green diarrhea for 5 days. This liquidy mess keeps finding its way out of Henry’s diaper and all over everything. SO. MANY. WARDROBE. CHANGES.
I’m hoping he’ll start feeling better soon. Also, I miss cheese.
I think things are improving. Don’t get me wrong, Charlotte still ran away from me in the school parking lot and had more than a couple whiney meltdowns… BUT, it really felt better.
By this afternoon, despite waking up from her nap like a total bear, we turned things around and she was a good listener and even quite sweet. She felt a lot more like my girl today.
Progress…
And as for my Henry, who I feel like I never get to write about because I’m too distracted, he’s just the sweetest little love. We have such a great routine together and I feel like I know his cries and his patterns. He feels super easy to predict and handle (baby #2 is SO much easier – like a different species). Not to mention the fact that he’s totally just my little love. He’s so smiley and just loves his mommy and is the cutest most kissable little dude (even though his head smells like cradle cap).
Today after we dropped C at school, we went on a quick shopping trip to Old Navy and Nordstrom Rack. Henry was trying to beef up my confidence, and in doing so showed me that I can in fact push a stroller, shop and breastfeed my 12+ lb baby simultaneously. The ultimate multitask.
Look how cute he was helping me pick out clothes in the dressing room…
Apparently he did not approve of whatever I had tried on.
Once we picked C up and put her down for her nap, Henry decided we would spend the remainder of the afternoon snuggling. He wouldn’t have it any other way!
In conclusion, I got a great little tote from Old Navy and really enjoyed my babies today. Big win.
6 weeks… That’s how long it took for the reality of baby brother Henry to really sink in for Charlotte. Since last week, we’ve been dealing with a green mutant version of our girl.
I’m talking hitting, scratching, hair pulling. Mutant Charlie.
At first, Mark and I were annoyed. All the whining and misbehaving. Oy. It wears on you. Especially when so sleep-deprived. But yesterday, I read about 40 different articles about jealousy when a new baby comes and it just left me feeling really sad for Charlotte.
She is very clearly testing us, but what I didn’t think about was that it likely stems from an insecurity regarding her current situation. Do mommy and daddy still love me? Do they love me the same? Will they love me no matter what? Why does Henry get all of mommy’s attention? And so on…
The gist of what I read is to just shower her with love… But let me tell you, it’s not always easy. She’s got SUCH spice. One minute she’s our sweet little girl and the next, she gets this look in her eye and does something so naughty.
This morning’s victims? Mark and Ollie. Mark got kicks on the changing table and hits when he tried to put her in her car seat and Ollie got his tail pulled.
Ugh. Please, please, please tell me this is a phase… A short-lived phase.
To all you mommas of two… Any advice? I know I need to find just mommy/Charlie time. But what else? Ignore the hitting? Timeouts? Any advice is welcome!
It’s called, “Wait a Minute… I’ve Seen that Photo Before” and I’ve been playing for the past two days.
Here’s how it works… I take a photo of Henry and as I’m admiring it, I realize… I think I took the same photo with Charlie when she was a babe. So I search and I find said picture and spend the rest of the day marveling at how my children look pretty damn similar to one another.
Here are the photos…
Mark and I had our first “date” last weekend… After we put Charlotte to bed, Mark drove 35 minutes to our favorite ramen joint for takeout.
In that time, I got Henry to sleep. When he got home at 9 pm, we enjoyed a delicious and kid-free dinner 🙂
Not exactly what it used to be, but it’s something!
I have to get to bed, as Henry is already snoozing, but wanted to share some photos from our weekend! We took Henry to his first parade, which he slept through!
And in full Charlotte fashion, the girl was totall straight-faced throughout the entire parade, until we got in the car and she was all smiles and chats about what we had just seen. Such a shy and timid little dear.
Are these not two of the most sullen faces you’ve ever seen at a parade??
The dancing grannies (so silly)
Finally, some smiles!
After the parade, we dropped C off at my parents’ house so she could nap while we went to little Bailey’s first bday party with Henry! 
C was excited to reunite with her brother!
The cutest little Henry pie in his denim romper. I could just eat him up.
Miss C was excited to head back to camp this morning.
Henry and Mommy snuggled at home… ALL day
Remember when I thought having the stomach flu while pregnant was the worst thing ever?
New verdict… Having the stomach bug while having to nurse and care for an infant and simultaneously trying to recover from major abdominal surgery is way worse. And unfortunately for me, I got to discover this first hand yesterday.
I don’t know what I ate (although there were a number of possibilities… Why did I think eating a turkey and ham jimmy johns sub that was thrown from a JJ’s parade float in 80 degree weather was a good idea?), but I woke up yesterday and was totally down for the count.
I’m talking can’t even keep down water… Nothing says motherhood quite like having to interrupt a breastfeeding session to uncontrollably throw up Gatorade. Finally, by around 4 that afternoon I survived some water and a cracker. By evening, I had eaten three whole crackers and by bedtime, I even had some noodle soup.
Today has been way better. Still a bit rocky and filled with crackers and soup, but way better.
I’m hoping tomorrow is even better and that my body stops catching every f’ing illness. But, as my gf said, I’m helping Henry build up immunities… So there’s that.
It’s crazy that it’s already been three weeks. Or maybe it’s crazy that it’s only been three weeks? Who knows…
Either way, we’re settling into our new life as a family of 4. Seriously, I know I’ve said this before, but we would be lost without my mother in law. She’s been absolutely invaluable in helping care for Charlie during the transition… And just provide all around help and support at home. Not to mention all the help from the other grandparents (picking C up from school, bringing dinners, picking up things from the store, etc). We are very lucky.
Anyway, little man is definitely way more alert this week! He’s been having more awake times and seems to be way more aware during those awake times.
He also seems to be entertained by his sister… Or comforted or something. Despite the fact that she appears to be all over him and shoving paci’s in his mouth or just “loving him too hard”… He seems to be at peace with her… Until he isn’t! Haha I mean, let’s be honest, there are only so many 26 lb hugs an infant can take before he’s had enough.
Henry had 4 or 5 nights in a row of sleeping 5-6 hour spans followed by 2-3.5 hour spans; however, last night was only 4 hours. So, we’ll see what happens tonight.
He is still eating like a little monster and getting G some good naps in during the day.
He also seems so dang strong. He pushes off on me with his legs and hangs out in a standing position. He also sits upright in my arms with his head totally self-supported. He’s a tough cookie.
Other than that, it’s business as usual. Lots of eating, peeing, pooping, spitting up… Ya know, the fun stuff!
Playing House 