George

Our little guy will be four weeks old tomorrow, and although I'm sure we haven't taken as many pictures of him as we did of Charlotte (one of the cruel realities of not being a first-born), I do have a backlog of photos to share. He's a sweet baby, and is generally pretty easily settled when he gets upset. The one exception is diaper changes: he hates them, especially when he's just woken up, and screams bloody murder. It's endearing most of the time, the way he cries and works his little arms and legs - except in the middle of the night. Fortunately Charlotte, whose bedroom is right next door to his, doesn't wake up to it.

George already seems to be turning into a thumb-sucker, like Charlotte was. 

Photo credit: Charlotte.

Hanging out on the floor with the baby.

George weighed a solid nine pounds two ounces when he was born and at his first check-up at two and a half weeks he had already gained one and a half pounds. I'm guessing he's over eleven pounds now. He's outgrown two small sleepers that Charlotte wore as a newborn, and fills out his 0-3 month sized clothes. He's come through the groggy newborn stage and already seems to be settling into a pattern with periods of alert wakefulness followed by 1-3 hour naps. We anticipated that he wouldn't be able to match Charlotte when it came to sleeping through the night, but he's doing pretty well there too, saving his longest sleeping stretch for nighttime.

The biggest challenge as parents has definitely been juggling the demands of two kids. When she does pay attention to him Charlotte is always gentle with George, but in the first couple of weeks she was clearly uncertain about what this all meant for our family dynamics. Fortunately James has been able to give her a lot of attention, and between my parents and his she's had a grandparent around to spoil her with attention for much of the past month. I did have close to two days on my own with both kids last week when James was in Regina for work, and although I was a bit nervous about it it went better than I expected. George sleeps happily in the baby carrier and in his car seat, making it easy to take Charlotte on outings to the park or library, and Charlotte played well independently when I needed to give George attention. The days are long though, and we've been so fortunate to have family helping out.

I can't wait to see the relationship develop between these two.

The first time Charlotte asked to hold George.

Papa: the source of George's middle name (Douglas).

Aunt Jenny came for a whirlwind visit to meet George and catch up with Charlotte.

Charlotte was enthralled with the sister-brother dolls that James' Aunt Jill made for her and her brother (and less excited about George).

George looking alert and dapper in his sweater made by a friend of mine.

James' Mom goes home to Toronto tomorrow, marking the start of our new normal for the next few months: me on maternity leave at home with the two kids. Since Charlotte had been in daycare since she was just over thirteen months, being home full-time is a change for both of us. To be honest, as much as I've welcomed the practical help from our parents, their visits have also helped pass the time. The side of me that loves routine is a bit nervous about the unstructured summer looming ahead. We'll be calling our local friends to make plans, and I am looking forward to having more time for a social life even if it will revolve around kids for the next while. The fact that our long winter finally gave way to beautiful spring weather at the beginning of May has also helped: we're spending a lot of time outdoors and loving having a yard (however small) and frequenting the neighbourhood parks. We're also finding our new neighbourhood very friendly, so hopefully we'll also make some new friends.