Tomorrow Christopher will be a whopping 4 weeks old! Eventually he’ll get a few months under his belt, but for now we’re still measuring in weeks. Life with the new little guy has been sleep-deprived, but much more relaxed than when William joined our family. It is a combination of Christopher being a really chill little dude, and having some mommy experience under my belt. We’re just starting to see the hints of smiles, so things will get more fun very soon. Whereas William went from zero to screaming seemingly every time he woke up, Christopher really 
doesn’t cry much unless he’s decided it is way past feeding time. In fact I think William is still providing the majority of whining/crying in this household. It seems that right on schedule with our new arrival he has hit the terrible two’s with gusto. I’m sure it is partially the stress of having a baby brother and partially that he has reached the age where he wants to test his limits. Test he has! On the bright side, I can compliment Will for continuing to go to bed without a struggle and consistently sleeping from 8 pm to around 7 am. He skips a nap at daycare every now and again, but when he’s tired he will still nap 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours on his days at home. (NOTE: I said “if” he’s tired. One day while my mom was here he sang to himself in his bed for an hour while we were attempting to get him (and myself) a nap.)
After 2 weeks of paternity leave with Jason, my mom arrived for an 8 day stay. Having 3 weeks of full-time help was phenomenal. The week she was here I got a lot of small tasks accomplished while she held a baby and/or played with William. We also tried to make sure I took lots of naps. Although Christopher is chill, he’s still not sleeping more than 3-4 hours at a stretch and is pretty unpredictable. It was really fun to see William effortlessly play with his WI grandma even though they usually only get to chat on Skype. We took lots of fun pictures and had a great time.
The three weeks of extra help afforded us time to do some extra projects around the house and yard. Jason trimmed all the roses and tended the garden. I cleaned out a couple closets, donated some items to DI (the LDS version of Goodwill or St. Vincent De Paul), planted some flowers, and did some shopping without kids in tow! It was wonderful. Tomorrow marks my first day home alone with both boys (Will still goes to daycare 3 days per week). I am excited and dreading it at the same time. I really hope we all can take an afternoon nap.
I’ve stopped in and visited work a few times since I’ve been on leave. My speedy recovery has made going back in 8 weeks a little less daunting. It is hard to believe I am half way through my leave already. I am looking forward to going back, but still in denial about the increased daycare bill. For the summer I intend to work 4 days per week which will put me at around 30 hours. We will then see what the fall schedule brings.
In other exciting news we are visiting WI at the end of August! Booked our tickets yesterday. Really excited to bring the new guy to the Midwest and introduce him to friends, family, humidity, and mosquitoes. 🙂