Saturday, August 01, 2009

Adjusting


Dean and Walt look quite different as babies. Dean had dark hair and was much more filled out. He never had the "old man" look. With Dean I thought Pampers were horrible diapers because they never fit him properly. Low and behold, Huggies are a little too big for Walt and the Pampers fit him! haha. So, Pampers for skinny babies and Huggies for chubby babies...

So far Walt has really been a dream baby. He rarely cries and he has his nights and days correct. He has been so laid back and relaxed and I am very grateful for that!! His jaundice is getting better and he's not quite as yellow today. He eats really well and generally doesn't complain. He's a little squeaky at times and occasionally the sound of his breathing scares me, but he's been great.

My incision burns much more than I remember. It's worst when I move a lot and after I sleep. My back seems more tired as well, but that's probably from having another little guy to look after. With my parents here I've been able to keep up with the two boys. We'll see how I do come Wed. when they leave, I can't drive, and Matt's at work. =( I tried going to the store with Matt last night and it's amazing how taxing it was just walking around!

It was Matt's 28th birthday on Friday. We had a german chocolate cake with delicious homemade frosting. He had to cook his own birthday dinner (pastrami burgers, grilled zucchini and fries), and I felt kinda bad about that. All part of adjusting to a new baby, though.

Dean really has been behaving much better than I had anticipated. He seems pretty panicked that I'm going to leave him again, and it breaks my heart I can't pick him up to console him. Considering his life has been turned completely upside down, he's been quite good. He'll tell me to put down or stop feeding Walt occasionally, but he's also shown his "baby brother" lots of love.

Here are some of the good:

Yesterday Dean said "share" and put his favorite blankie on Walt. SO CUTE!

Dean likes to pat Walt's head and usually is good about being gentle. It's a little scary though.

Dean often waves to and tells Walt hi.

He tries to rock Walt when he's in the swing or in his car seat. Again, a little scary, but he's trying to show love.

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The not so good:
He steals Walt's pacifier for himself. (Which is funny since he never really used one as a baby.)

Last night Dean had had enough change and had the biggest melt down I've ever seen him have.

We've kept both a rocker and a glider in Dean's room since he moved in there at 3 months. Yesterday Matt moved the glider into our room for night feedings. Dean did not like that one bit, but got over it. I decided I didn't want the glider because it just didn't fit right, so at Dean's bed time (mistake one) I had my dad trade it out for the rocker. We didn't bring the glider back first (mistake two), so Dean thought we were taking both of his chairs. He went berserk. Hyperventilating, crazy talking, running around, scream-crying. My mom was changing Walt's diaper at the same moment and was hungry, so he was crying too. I was beyond hungry and quite tired, and I started yelling at Dean to stop acting like he was. I yelled for Matt to come help. We finally got the glider back in his room and I read him books before bed. We were both still crying a little, and he cried himself to sleep.

This morning when he got up, the first thing he talked about was the chair. He had mini melt downs any time he entered our room and saw the chair. Poor kid.

8 comments:

Amanda said...

All of that "not-so-good" is SO normal. Dean is really so little, and such a little "routine" guy, that I'm sure that this is hard on him. But it all will pass. And someday Dean and Walt will be best friends, and it will be so fun to see them together. Hang in there. It can only get better, right?

Lindsay said...

You seem to be figuring out this two-kid deal pretty well. Way to go!

Anonymous said...

Dean will eventually adjust, but don't expect it to happen overnight. Kate was 2 1/2 when Aimee was born (so she was able to understand a lot) and it still took her a good 2+ months to adjust. With my oldest (21 mos when brother was born) it took a good 4+ months to adjust, but they DID adjust and things are much easier and they are great friends now!

As for the groceries, I would always send my husband to work with a grocery list to come home with that evening. I always had to plan a day ahead. That was always the easiest when I was still recovering from the delivery.

Walt is SO cute. He looks like a little man. Just make sure you get plenty of rest and don't try to do anything. Ask your husband to do the housecleaning/cooking for a few weeks while you recover-your body really needs it when you're dealing with 2 kids and recovering from a delivery!

Melissa said...

What a beautiful little man! I'm so glad he is a chill guy. My second baby (Nicholas) was the same way. It was glorious, and it makes the transition from 1 to 2 so much easier. Glad you are back home and everything went smoothly!!

~yoga~ said...

Hooray for you!!!

Adjusting with a 2 yo is tricky, but possible. We did it and survived. We may not be stable, but we did it!
Congrats! Miss you...

A.J. Dub. (Amy) said...

Congratulations! He is such a cute baby!
It's rough during the adjustment phase, I know. Hang in there and let everybody cry and have a tantrum once in a while, including yourself, Then make sure there's lots of love to go around after the storm. :)

You look great by the way!

Juls said...

I know exactly how you feel and when mom leaves just call me!

Jacqui said...

He is so cute!

Don't worry, so far two kids, two years apart has been the hardest phase for us. Four is easier! :)