Life with a newborn and a toddler

It's only been two and a half weeks since Benjamin arrived and already it's hard to imagine our life without him.  Benjamin is a wonderful baby and we feel so blessed.  We thought that Maya was an "easy" baby but we also have rose colored glasses where she is concerned.  Both Jason and I seem to remember all the lovely, fun things she did like sleeping through the night at 7 weeks and dealing well with change or transition and loving to snuggle and cuddle.  We forget that she was a rather fussy baby in the afternoon and early evening, that she hated her carseat and stroller for the first three months and screamed almost the whole time she was in them, and that she was a terrible teether starting at only 3 months!  All that being said, we still look back at Maya's first years of life as the best of our life.  And now Benjamin, it seems, is starting out his life making it very "easy" on us (perhaps again we're a bit blinded by love :)  The first few days were tiring and sleep deprivation certainly set in as we tried to get Benjamin's days and nights figured out.  Fortunately my mom was here to care for (and spoil like crazy) Maya so Jay and I were able to focus on establishing Benjamin's routine without Maya feeling neglected.  From Maya's perspective, with all the gifts and attention from Grandma, Benjamin was the best thing that ever happened to her!  But, with the help of our trusty "Babywise" book, Benjamin started adjusting to his routine eating very well during the day and by the end of the first week, he was sleeping 5 hour stretches at night.  He is such a relaxed baby only crying if he is getting tired or has gas.  He is even able to put himself to sleep only sometimes crying for a few minutes before dozing off.  Of course, every day is not ideal (example last night where he was up most of the night unsettled for seemingly no reason).  It is certainly tough trying to juggle two kids during the day by myself.  And as much as Maya loves her baby brother, she is more clingy to me than ever before and is asserting her two year old self much more lately.  I'm sure at least some of it has to do with the fact that she is vying for more attention.  I admittedly find myself being less patient than I'd like with her when I need to respond quickly to Benjamin's cries and that has been hard.  More than once I've gone to bed asking for forgiveness, feeling horrible and resolving to be a better mother tomorrow. But I suppose that is the journey of motherhood.  Overwhelmingly though I feel gratitude and exceedingly blessed for this wonderful little family of ours.  So far being the mother of a newborn and a toddler is more work than I imagined but more fulfilling and rewarding than I can express!

Auntie Jenn H got this shirt for Maya - she loves it and even knows what it says!