Monday, March 22, 2010

The Current State of Things

Here's what's going on with the Petersons these days (I wrote this about a week ago and am just now posting it):

Austin:



-Sleeps for 5 hour stretches many nights, and almost never less than 4 hour stretches
-Loves to look at the blinds, the curtains in my bedroom, and pictures on the wall by the kitchen table, and the ceiling fans
-Does very well at holding up his head
-Pushes himself up a few inches when I put him on his tummy
-Is patient with Sally’s constant hugs and kisses, but protests when Sally wants to play “Got your nose!”
-Loves to straighten out his legs and “stand” when I hold him on my lap (just like Sally used to do)
-Is starting to be really smiley, although I’ve yet to catch a smile on camera
-Is so sweet and patient--he is almost too easy!

Sally:



-Is getting into the world of make-believe big time. Every day she is either Snow White, Cinderella, Dr. Nelson (her pediatrician), “Daddy’s little tiny baby”, Mama Bear, or Mrs. Bruin (from the Berenstain Bear books)
-Is getting over her dislike of Neal phase (thank goodness!!!!)
-Is starting to understand rhyming words
-Likes to play a silly word game with me that goes something like this, for example: “Mommy, do we drink tubby water? Do we wash our bodies with milk?”
-Often incorporates peril into her make-believe scenarios. A few examples: “My baby is gone—a mean guy took her!” “I cut myself with a sharp knife!” “I’m in my car and another car crashed into me. I was wearing my seatbelt.” “My baby touched the hot oven and burned her hand!” Where on earth would she get ideas like this?
-Likes to watch movies and will sit through most of a movie, much to my delight and dismay. It is nice to have the “down time”, but I don’t want her to get too hooked.

-Neal:

-Is not enjoying his current rotation—internal medicine at the KU hospital, which is full to the brim. Lots of paper work and 13 hour days don’t make for a happy Neal
-Is excited for March Madness
-Works a lot
-Loves his baby boy
-Does a great impersonation of Goofy, which may have helped him to win Sally back over

Emily:

-Can’t wait for warm weather
-Loves being at home with Sally and Austin, but wishes Neal were home earlier in the evening
-Has awesome friends from church that make motherhood even more fun
-Is tired, but not too tired
-Needs to find a way to get more into her days (such as reading, exercising, projects) rather than just playing with kids and taking care of the household. In short, wants some “ME” time.
-Felt empowered by a recent successful shopping trip to the mall with two kids (success = found some new jeans while both kids were well behaved and happy)
-Needs to learn how to take better pictures

Monday, March 8, 2010

The New Normal


Life with two kids is not as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, bad is not a word that should be used to describe it at all. Life with two children so far is great. I love spending every day with two delightful children. Sally is so fun and creative and entertains me every day, and Austin is as sweet as a baby can be. I feel so blessed that things so far have gone so well. Since Austin has been born:
*I have felt physically very well. I hardly needed pain medication in the hospital after the birth, and I didn’t need any once I got home. I’ve had the energy I’ve needed to get right back into the swing of things.
*Sally has been a VERY good girl. I was afraid that she would have lots of tantrums and demand a lot of extra attention the first few weeks after Austin was born, but that hasn’t been the case at all. She is the same fun, energetic, and sweet little girl. She loves Austin and can’t hug and kiss him enough.
*Austin has been a very good baby. He is calm most of the time, and is a great eater and sleeper. When he is upset, he is very easily calmed down.
*For the first week or so after coming home from the hospital, I would get up twice in the night to feed Austin, but since then I’ve only been getting up once in the night. I’d prefer to not get up at all, but that’s an unreasonable expectation at this point, and I’m sure it won’t be long before that’s the case.

Some days are hard and I’m sure that there will be hard times still to come, but I’m no longer nervous about the situation. I think we are all settling into the new normal, and life is good.

I have a lot more photos I want to post and a great deal more to say, but I'll conclude for now because my baby needs me.