Things have gotten very busy this last week. I am ready to go back to teaching a class at UNL this next week and it has really been a scramble to put together lessons and prepare. Travis' new work schedule will keep him home on Tuesdays to watch the boys in the morning and maybe give me some office time on Wednesdays, while my mom will watch them on Thursdays. I am looking forward to having time out of the house, giving me time to teach and work on my thesis. It is hard to make that time on my own, so taking up the class has kind of forced me into it. Leaving the house is the most difficult part of the day, but once I start writing up lecture notes or editing papers I remember how important it is to me to have an intellectual life that gets me out of the house and distracts me from dirty diapers, laundry, and toddler temper tantrums.
Caleb is still focused on eating and sleeping, not doing much else yet. However, from time to time he smiles in his sleep and we look forward to the times in the day where he watches us walk around the room or gazes contentedly at the lights.
For his part, Noah has started to find that not everything happens as quickly when the baby is with mom or dad and has become frustrated at times. If he wants juice, he may have to wait for a couple of minutes while dad finishes changing Caleb's diaper. When he wants help setting up his train set, mom may need five minutes to finish feeding Caleb. For the most part he handles this with grace, but there are times when he feels he needs our undivided attention...NOW! Noah will point to the baby carrier or attempt to bring it to us, saying "rock" meaning "put the baby in here and rock him while you play with me." Of course, Caleb is not always okay with this plan. They already know how to pull us in two directions at once. If you call and we don't answer, it's probably because our house has become a noisy place...two children screaming at once drowns out the ringer on the phone.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Sunday, August 12, 2007
At Home
As the visits, emails, and phone calls die down, we are readjusting to our day-to-day lives. Travis went back to work this past week and the boys and I are learning how to manage the daily routine with as little screaming as possible. In fact, things have been moving so smoothly that I have agreed to start teaching again this fall to fill in for another professor.
The smooth adjustment has been mainly made possible by the fact that Caleb sleeps. I never expected to have such a good child, though perhaps getting Noah though infancy was a trial by fire that I somehow passed and am being rewarded for. Noah had to be held every minute and even that wasn't enough to keep him from screaming or resolutely resisting sleep for hours on end. Until Noah was 10 months old, the most Noah ever slept on his own was 10 minutes. In fact, up to December, we still held Noah in the rocking chair all through his naps. Caleb, in contrast, will drift off and, after I lay him down, will stay asleep for 2 hour naps. Needless to say, I am really loving this.
Things have also been easier than I expected in terms of Noah welcoming the new baby. He doesn't seem to be too jealous, though he does order us to hand off the baby when he wants our undivided attention. From the first few days when we brought the baby home, if Grandma Beran was holding the baby, he would push her to me and tell her to hand the baby over so he could take her to play. Overall, though, he accepts that when no one else is around, he has to share his mom and is generally patient...well, as patient as a toddler can be.
He even has his moments of protectiveness. A few days ago my mother and I went shopping at SuperTarget with both Noah and Caleb in tow. My mom and Noah went around into the next aisle as I lingered over the diaper bags. All of the sudden Noah broke into cries of, "baby, baby, no! Mommy, baby!" and hear my mother trying to calm him. As I came around the corner I saw Noah pointing at a man holding a baby, perhaps two months old. It took a few minutes to get his attention, but we finally showed Noah that the stranger was not holding his baby brother and Caleb was still safe with mommy.
This is a story worth holding onto for after Noah and Caleb's first fist fight.
The smooth adjustment has been mainly made possible by the fact that Caleb sleeps. I never expected to have such a good child, though perhaps getting Noah though infancy was a trial by fire that I somehow passed and am being rewarded for. Noah had to be held every minute and even that wasn't enough to keep him from screaming or resolutely resisting sleep for hours on end. Until Noah was 10 months old, the most Noah ever slept on his own was 10 minutes. In fact, up to December, we still held Noah in the rocking chair all through his naps. Caleb, in contrast, will drift off and, after I lay him down, will stay asleep for 2 hour naps. Needless to say, I am really loving this.
Things have also been easier than I expected in terms of Noah welcoming the new baby. He doesn't seem to be too jealous, though he does order us to hand off the baby when he wants our undivided attention. From the first few days when we brought the baby home, if Grandma Beran was holding the baby, he would push her to me and tell her to hand the baby over so he could take her to play. Overall, though, he accepts that when no one else is around, he has to share his mom and is generally patient...well, as patient as a toddler can be.
He even has his moments of protectiveness. A few days ago my mother and I went shopping at SuperTarget with both Noah and Caleb in tow. My mom and Noah went around into the next aisle as I lingered over the diaper bags. All of the sudden Noah broke into cries of, "baby, baby, no! Mommy, baby!" and hear my mother trying to calm him. As I came around the corner I saw Noah pointing at a man holding a baby, perhaps two months old. It took a few minutes to get his attention, but we finally showed Noah that the stranger was not holding his baby brother and Caleb was still safe with mommy.
This is a story worth holding onto for after Noah and Caleb's first fist fight.
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