Two Weeks Already?

On Monday we went to see the doctor yet again, only this time it was just for Luke's well-baby two week check up (two weeks already?!). Since we were going to be there anyway, we decided to take Ellie in to get her flu shot. Managing two children in the doctor's office (even with two parents present) was an exhausting experience and firmed up the fact that I will never take the two of them by myself if I want to maintain any semblance of sanity. They actually both did as well as could be expected, but we were there for almost an hour and a half and in between the poking and the prodding and the hunger and the shot it was a lot of craziness over a long period of time with little entertainment. Marty and I were both working VERY hard to keep both children happy simultaneously. The good news is that Luke is healthy and has already surpassed his birth weight (he's now up to 8 lbs) and his belly button and circumcision are healing well enough that we can start giving him a real bath (as opposed to just a sponge bath). Ellie was a champ with her flu shot - she didn't even cry - mostly thanks to her Daddy who spent a lot of the hour we were waiting "practicing" giving her a shot. When it was time for the real thing, it didn't even seem to phase her.

That afternoon Marty had to teach his college class and our daycare was closed for Columbus Day (is that really a holiday? really?) so I had my first ever extended period with the two kids all by myself. I have to admit, I was completely terrified that it was going to be an afternoon of lots and lots of tears and meltdowns (from all three of us) but it actually went really well. There were barely any tears at all! It definitely gave me confidence that I can, in fact, handle being the mother of two (a little too late to come to be contemplating that point, I know, but still).

Elise has been so wonderful with Lucas - she has been the best big sister we could have ever imagined. We were really worried about how she would react to Mommy being busy with the baby and to her generally not being the center of the universe. However, so far she has not had any tantrums, has not shown any jealousy or animosity towards her brother and has not reverted to "baby" behavior to get attention. I was feeling really great about it until the pediatrician told us that the older child usually does a really great job for the first 2-4 weeks and then the novelty wears off and that's when they start to act out. I am hoping that that will not apply to our little girl!
Ellie with her cousin Abby
Ellie's favorite thing to say about the baby is "What's wrong with Lucas?" and "What's Luke crying about?". She says these things constantly even though most of the time he is not even crying or upset at all. I think she just imagines that he is crying because then he'd actually be doing something interesting since now all he does is sleep. On another note, we are starting to realize that there is a very practical reason why people find out the gender of their baby ahead of time when they have an older child. Ellie still refers to Luke as her "brother-sister" ("what's my brother/sister doing?") and does not seem to get the concept of just plain brother. Hopefully that will come in time. She is very loving with him and she shines in her role as helper. I think that she gets a little frustrated that he won't hold any of the toys that she gives him, but she likes the fact that she doesn't have to share her food and toys with him. When her cousin Abby was visiting, I overheard Ellie say to Abby "I'm a big sister. I love my little brother/sister Luke." I almost started crying it was so adorable (and my hormones are wacky right now).

Luke is a very mellow and sleepy baby. Yes, I realize that we are only two weeks in, but I would say that he still sleeps a minimum of 20 hours a day and I have no recollection of Ellie being so sleepy after the first few days. This is not translating into us being the most well-rested parents ever (he usually only goes 2-3 hours between feedings at night) but he usually goes right back to sleep after eating for about 15 minutes so even though I am not getting lots of sleep in a row, I am still getting enough sleep to function. He doesn't cry that much and hasn't woken Ellie up in the night yet (knock on wood) which was one of our biggest fears about the baby because Ellie is such a light sleeper. Hurray!

So basically, the four of us are muddling through, figuring out our new roles taking it one day at a time. And so far, we're doing ok.