The Life of the B-man
There's always that adjusting period when somebody new comes into your life. It happened when Matt and I first got married and learned to adapt to each others' annoying habits (I'll just vaguely leave it at "OCD" for Matt). It happened with Niall, when we learned to function on a few hours of sleep and never leave the house without a spare diaper. And it's been happening with Brendan; getting 2 small boys on the same schedule and packing a bag comparable to what someone might take on a backpacking trip through Europe every time we go out for a few hours.
It's been tricky at times, but we're finally getting into our groove. My 2 little boys have lots of needs, many of them conveniently happening at the same time when I don't have enough hands to please everyone. But no matter how crazy things get, the B-man has definitely found his place in this family.
There hasn't been a day in my recent memory when Niall hasn't woken up and immediately asked where Brendan is, if he is sleeping, if he can wake him up (and then ignoring my pleading "NO!" and doing it anyway), or wanted to share one of his big, sharp edged trucks with him.
I am finally starting to get into a little bit of a schedule for my own sanity, which is nice. No official nap times yet, but I know that there's 1 long one in the early morning, a short one in the early afternoon, and a decent one toward the end of the day. And I've got the feeding times down to a tee.
It's really been fun now, though, because he's not just your average eater, sleeper and pooper (the infamous personality traits of a newborn). He's a total ham, smiling for anyone who glances in his direction; he has the world's worst gas (but always rips one with a smile); and he is the only person I know who is glowingly happy at the very second he wakes up.
Here's a typical day in the life of Brendan (or Brendy Bops as Niall and I like to call him):
The first hour of the day is what I like to call "happy time," where Brendan will sit in some kind of baby contraption without fussing.
And just being really cute, in general:
It usually buys me about 30 minutes of no-holding time... but on a good day, Niall will come over to play with him and I might get a full hour!
Unless something like this happens:
Ok, enough babysitting for Niall.
Then, we go out for a morning activity and Brendan people-watches from his shaded throne:
Then, Niall takes a nap and I try to get some small sliver of something un-baby/child-related... but, as fate would have it, Brendan has decided that this is the time of day that he will not be taking a nap and will need my undivided attention and cuddling.
So we have a photo shoot, instead:
Emails, blog entries, my marketing work, laundry and cleaning will have to happen at some other non-existent, undisclosed time.
Dinner time!
The B-man has started eating his first solids. I started rice cereal at 5 months with Niall, but I've been desperate for sleep, so it was 4 1/2 with Brendan. Unfortunately, rice cereal isn't quite the sleeping pill I thought it would be. My day still begins at 4am.
Next, it's off to the bath. But not before another photo shoot and simultaneously peeing on mommy :)
Finally, bed time stories with the boys. Brendan stares at the cover of the book in complete awe, longing for the day he can sit with his big bro on the other side of those pages:
Ahhh, bedtime... Sweet Silence... (but not until after pinning Niall down on the bed to brush teeth, the standard begging for extra stories, long discussions about how there aren't any monsters in the house, and a good 30 minutes of crying from Brendan).
I'm not gonna lie, the end is one of my favorite parts of the day... but I definitely can't wait to see these guys again tomorrow and start all over again.
It's been tricky at times, but we're finally getting into our groove. My 2 little boys have lots of needs, many of them conveniently happening at the same time when I don't have enough hands to please everyone. But no matter how crazy things get, the B-man has definitely found his place in this family.
There hasn't been a day in my recent memory when Niall hasn't woken up and immediately asked where Brendan is, if he is sleeping, if he can wake him up (and then ignoring my pleading "NO!" and doing it anyway), or wanted to share one of his big, sharp edged trucks with him.
I am finally starting to get into a little bit of a schedule for my own sanity, which is nice. No official nap times yet, but I know that there's 1 long one in the early morning, a short one in the early afternoon, and a decent one toward the end of the day. And I've got the feeding times down to a tee.
It's really been fun now, though, because he's not just your average eater, sleeper and pooper (the infamous personality traits of a newborn). He's a total ham, smiling for anyone who glances in his direction; he has the world's worst gas (but always rips one with a smile); and he is the only person I know who is glowingly happy at the very second he wakes up.
Here's a typical day in the life of Brendan (or Brendy Bops as Niall and I like to call him):
And just being really cute, in general:
It usually buys me about 30 minutes of no-holding time... but on a good day, Niall will come over to play with him and I might get a full hour!
Unless something like this happens:
Ok, enough babysitting for Niall.
Then, we go out for a morning activity and Brendan people-watches from his shaded throne:
Then, Niall takes a nap and I try to get some small sliver of something un-baby/child-related... but, as fate would have it, Brendan has decided that this is the time of day that he will not be taking a nap and will need my undivided attention and cuddling.
So we have a photo shoot, instead:
Emails, blog entries, my marketing work, laundry and cleaning will have to happen at some other non-existent, undisclosed time.
Dinner time!
Next, it's off to the bath. But not before another photo shoot and simultaneously peeing on mommy :)
Finally, bed time stories with the boys. Brendan stares at the cover of the book in complete awe, longing for the day he can sit with his big bro on the other side of those pages:
Ahhh, bedtime... Sweet Silence... (but not until after pinning Niall down on the bed to brush teeth, the standard begging for extra stories, long discussions about how there aren't any monsters in the house, and a good 30 minutes of crying from Brendan).
I'm not gonna lie, the end is one of my favorite parts of the day... but I definitely can't wait to see these guys again tomorrow and start all over again.
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