I need a hug...

With Robbie and I home the majority of the time, one would think that caring for our two babes would be simple, easy, a piece of cake. Abigail always had such a sweet disposition and was so relaxed and easy going that she could go with the flow any day. We were not completely naive in thinking that this would always be the case after Daniel was born, but we had high hopes that it would only affect her and us slightly. I can't say that she has been a complete terror, that would be far too extreme, but I can say that she has become quite a handful and very demanding these last couple of weeks.



For a couple of weeks I was finding that Daniel was really gassy and was having a lot of tummy pain from it, so we went through a lot of crying spells from him and I would explain to Abby that his tummy was hurting him and he just needed mommy to help him get through it and he would eventually feel better. Daniel went through a growth spurt this last week and was nursing a lot, so with the gassy-ness and his growth spurt, he was with me quite often. Robbie's work schedule didn't help during this period of time because he would be gone for full days, and a lot of evenings for basketball and work. I believe this all affected Abby and turned an attention switch on for her and she became very needy very quickly.

Abby began to create trouble during times that I was most engrossed with Daniel. A couple of examples...While I'm trying to put Daniel down for a nap, she decided that her teddy bear needed a bath. She decided to use the toilet to give him a dunk and then brought him in to me dripping claiming, "my bear need drying mommy." Another instance while I was putting Daniel down for a nap, she decided to go in our room and lock the door (Robbie thinks she did it on accident...?) and I couldn't get in until she figured out how to unlock the door. I had a scream crying little girl on one side of the door, while I'm on the other trying to get her to calm down enough for me to explain how to unlock it. But the most common one lately has been Abby coming up to me while I'm nursing and say, "My tummy hurting mommy, I need a hug," and she tries to climb into my lap so that I can pat her back like I do Daniel's when his tummy hurts and she get very clingy and needy.

All this to say, I have realized how much my attention has been so consumed with Daniel. I have had to really make a conscience effort to make sure Abby knows I'm still totally in love with her and that I want to spend all my time that I can with her. I now try responding to Daniel's crying with a, "Not now Daniel, it's Abby's turn and I'm playing with her and you're going to have to wait a minute," or I've really tried to include her in all the things that I'm doing with Daniel. She loves to help me get diapers, wipes, pacifiers, or pick out what he is going to wear for the day. She also now helps me pat his back and give him kisses when he's crying or his tummy is hurting. We've told her that when Daniel holds her finger that it's his way of saying "I love you," and so she always tries to get him to hold her finger. She really does love her baby brother, but she also really loves the attention that she used to get, that now he's getting ;) I'm trying to learn how to work with the two together.

But I really, really love when Robbie's home and he can distract her. He is so good with her and she really loves her daddy time; he's become her new best friend!





I've also tried to do some "special" things with her. The other day I was taking my nail polish off and she wanted to have her's painted, so she got some pretty toes with mommy.





I know that only time is going to make things become "easier" with working with the two of them. I'm not complaining, I'm just exhausted, and I now have returning to work looming in the soon coming weeks just haunting me. I want to enjoy every single moment with my kiddos!!

Especially because they're just so gosh darn cute...





Daniel loves his baths!! He's so content and relaxed in the water...love it!



Stay tuned!! I finally just finished designing my baby announcements and I can't wait to post about it. I'm waiting for them to come in the mail to family and friends before I put up that post! Wouldn't want to spoil the treat of receiving them in the mail ;)