Adjustments

Gosh I'm tired :) A good night is waking every 3-3.5 hrs. A bad one; little A is not sleeping more than 1 to 1.5 hrs at a time, and it takes long and involved efforts to get him back to sleep before another feeding (he's not hungry; just up). At this age Owen was zoinked pretty much all the time and it was hard to rouse him to eat. Not so this time! I really wish we were going to be able to go to Ohio for my grandmother's memorial, but the 12 hours of driving each way, 2 younguns and the lack of sleep don't work too well together we decided.

Well, Owen is definitely a big fan of baby bruddew Asher, and wants to be right there for diaper changes, feedings, etc. It is fun to see him already affectionate toward him and enjoying him. He loves to hold his hands on Asher's head while he's nursing and to pat his back like he sees me doing when I'm trying to get him to sleep. He also thinks giving him a binky is great fun. On the other hand, Owen has no idea that it is this delightful little creature who is rocking his world and making him a little rough around the edges the last few days. After a marvelous run with Nunu Spain in which he behaved like a gem, in the past few days there has been a pretty constant drone of whining from him all day, and he is quite tantrum-prone over silly things. I think the buildup of less mommy time and not being able to pick him up is getting to him, poor fella (and I can't say I like it any better! I miss our one-on-one days in many ways!). Hopefully it will be a season that will pass and give way to a better dynamic. It's hard to know how to keep that balance of not tolerating atrocious behavior while understanding that he's under some stress that makes it understandable. And I'm just too tired to fight him sometimes too, which doesn't help.

My mom is leaving earlier than expected on Tuesday to go to my Grandma's funeral. I am not feeling desperate like I did the first time about her departure, but on the other hand, yikes!! She's been manning one child while I've manned the other and I'm not sure how on earth Asher's going to get any sleep when I have to deal with Owen. Which leads me to my next thought. I DO NOT GIVE BIRTH TO SLEEPERS. Aren't newborns just supposed to sleep easily without much intervention? Don't people just sort of put them down in a chair or carseat and they nod off? Not mine!! Mine will start to drift off and then startle himself awake at least 10 times before finally hitting some deep sleep. If I am not there by his side to keep those arms pinned, hold, pat and shush him through that whole process (which seems to take up to 45 minutes, even when I'm there the whole time), he heads straight for the slaughtered-pig squeal and then he's really awake. Ugh. How does one do this all day with a toddler in tow. I was so sure I was going to do the 'drowsy but awake' strategy with this 2nd baby and get it *right*, but it is not happening. He is not a cooperative subject :} I have almost come to terms with not getting a much easier sleeper this time; I think I really had my hopes up for a wildly different experience. Asher *is* wildly adorable, though. The little grunts and squeaks and snortles are just delicious. And I think he looks a lot like Reuel...and I'm in his fan club.

Owen's been coming up with some super-cute moments himself lately. I jotted some of them down so I'd remember them...

-When Reuel gets ready to head to work in the morning Owen has started saying, 'OK my peeps!' Reuel's usual segue from house to car goes something like, 'OK my peeps, it's time for me to go! Give me a kiss goodbye!' It was pretty funny to start hearing the phrase preemptively from Owen.

-If I ask Owen to find a book on his bookshelf at nap or bedtime, he has taken to scanning his head back and forth across the room and saying, 'Where is it? Is it missing?' The other evening Reuel found the book in question and set it on the floor where Owen could see it. Owen took the book, set it up as high as he could reach on the shelves and proceeded to scan his head saying 'Where is it?' Then he went and 'found' it with a huge smile and said, 'You FOUND it all by yaself!'

-I could not figure out what 'en-oats' were at breakfast a few days ago. Owen was asking for more 'en-oats'. We finally realized that he was requesting 'More 'n Oats' which was his memory of the name of a cereal we eat called 'Oats 'n More'.

-Owen has a new vocab word: Shangwe. He really likes this word and uses it in sentences like, 'Shangwe go inside now, it's raining' and 'Shangwe get a juice bag' and 'Shangwe watch a movie?' Finally hit me that he is saying 'Shouldn't we'.

-Owen likes to get his face right up close to Asher's head while he's nursing. Here's a conversation from yesterday:

Owen: [Look] How little he is.
Me: Yes, he is so tiny! Look at those tiny feet!
Owen: Smell baby Asher.
Me: Does Asher smell good? What does he smell like?
Owen: Baby Asher smell like...umm...sugar.
Me: Really, he smells like sugar?
Owen: Nn-hnn. Smell like...lemons!
Me: What else does he smell like?
Owen: Ummm...smells like...flowers.

This morning, while hugging my knees as I was dressing after my shower.
Owen: Smell mommy.
Me: Does mommy smell good? What do I smell like?
Owen: Mommy smell like...umm...ketchup!

So there ya go.


Say Cheese Owen style!