It has been the month of adjustments for our family of four! We have slowly been figuring out new routines, how to adjust our lives without going too crazy.
The biggest adjustment was for Cameron: going from the center of attention at home to now sharing the attention with an infant. The first two weeks were the hardest but they have slowly gotten better. It didn't help that while we were in the hospital, Cameron got a really icky cold with an awful cough that sounded like croup or RSV. My mom stayed with Cameron while we were in the hospital and one of the nights she held him up so he could breathe easier. We came home from the hospital at 10:30 on a Tuesday morning and Ryan was to the clinic with him for a noon appointment with his pediatrician to get checked out. It was ruled a virus and our biggest job the next few days while he was contagious was keeping him away from Abbie - we didn't want to get her sick!
The temper tantrum and attention grabbers Cameron acted out on in the first two weeks are something he still does, but they are a little less dramatic. I've never seen him lay on the floor screaming and kicking all four limbs, pounding them on the floor until that first week. It was sad for me to see our sweet boy start to become someone he normally wasn't - the tantrums, a lot more hitting, kicking and pushing (especially towards me!) and a lot of tears. Like I mentioned, he still does a lot of those things, they just seem less frequent now, or he tries to do them more subtly hoping we won't notice or discipline him (hitting me less hard, etc.). Listening is another thing we noticed changed - he has a hard time listening and following through on what we ask, compared to what we were used to. Although I've heard this may not get better as they get older! :)
We've been teaching Cameron to be more of a helper and grow his independce, hoping this will help him feel more valued, now that he's sharing us:
- Takes his clothes off and puts them in the dirty clothes hamper
- Teaching him to put his clothes back on (a lot more tricky when he'd rather be naked!!)
- Taking on and off his coat, boats and hat. Putting his coat by the coat rack for us to hang up (the coat rack is too high for him, but he does try to hang it up!)
- Helping wash bottles and putting away dishes
- Getting things for Abbie (pacifier, blankets, etc.)
- Helping me make her bottles by putting on the covers and then placing them in the fridge
The first couple weekends Cameron had sleep overs at my parents house and then at his Auntie DeAnn's with grandma Chris. I had such guilt that we were sending him off the first couple weekends, but looking back I am so glad we did. I thought Cameron would be upset he wouldn't be able to be home or be mad he couldn't be with us. I had to remind myself that he's two and wouldn't remember this time and also, he left happily to both sleepovers - probably because those places were more fun than somewhere where he was getting disciplined by his parents! One routine we've kept in place is sending him to daycare full time to Bridget's - I'm so glad we made that decision because he loves going and I think that routine has been very important to him. We let him sleep in and take him around 9:00. Letting him sleep in has impacted his nap routine (he rarely takes naps anymore!! :-/) but we'll get back into that once we go back to work and he had to get up early again (hopefully!!).
Now that we're over the initial transition of Abbie being here, Cameron really is an awesome big brother! He always has to know where his "stister" is and constantly wants to help with her. He will ask about her if she's not with him and always wonders what she's up to asking a lot of "why" questions (yes, that has also begun for him!!). He also is good at sharing his toys - if we're playing in his room an Abbie is with us, a few toys usually end up in her lap and he tells her to play with them. Or he shares his blankets and stuffed animals by placing them on her - we're teaching him that blankets do not go on people's heads, especially Abbie's!!
As for Abbie - we've been blessed once again with a good baby (I know, she's only 5 weeks and things could change, so I hope I'm not jinxing myself!).
- She's had her days and nights figured out pretty well from the beginning. Only a couple of nights has she had stretches of being awake for more than a couple of hours.
- She's averaging about 4 to 6 hour stretches at night with an occasion wake up after 2 hours. She's gone through a couple of growth spurts and those nights are the longest!!
- She swallowed a lot of amniotic fluid and had her tummy suctioned twice at the hospital. Because of this, she was really spitty in the beginning and had a hard time latching when nursing. I started pumping breast milk and she's been on a bottle from the first week. Now she's so good with the bottle, I rarely nurse and just pump. She started out at 2 - 3 ounces at a time and is now up to 3 - 4 ounces. Thank goodness I have a supply to support her without supplementing nursing!
- She has a strong head! Even when she was born, the nurses commented on how strong she was. Ryan is very good at doing tummy time with her and she can even lift her head up and turn it from one side to another! And she doesn't mind tummy time - let's hope it stays that way!!
- She is very grunty and makes LOTS of noise! The pediatrician said this is very normal and it's something she will outgrow - her airways are so small and she tries to breathe faster than she needs to, so it comes out noisy.
Abbie has been growing like a weed! Here have been her check up stats:
Two day check up:
8 lbs, 2 oz and 21 1/2 inches
Two week check up:
8 lbs, 15 oz and 21 3/4 inches
One Month check up:
10 lbs, 5 oz and 22 3/4 inches
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