Everyone knows that having a newborn means you’re not getting a ton of sleep, but you do spend a lot of time watching someone who is. I guess I could get jealous of all that quality sleep the baby is getting, but instead my mind wandered to another spot - how amazing it is to be a baby that gets to feel so secure and safe at all times. Due to both of us being home on leave right now, this baby spends almost 24 hours a day in direct contact with one of us. Assuming you believe that a newborn can smell their parents, what an awesome gift we’re able to give to let her know we’re always there.
Scatterbrained
This year has really been an experiment in the minimal amount of brain power required to still function as an adult. Something about this pandemic and repetitive home monotony has turned my brain to mush. Add in all the insane things happening in the world, and my brain just wants to shut down, instead of think of the consequences of an attempted coup.
So of course it’s super fun to add in pregnancy brain, plus nausea medication that includes a time released sleeping pill that keeps me in a never ending fog.
Toddler Speak
Our littlest toddler talks, quite a bit actually. You might not know this, because I haven’t posted recent videos, but he often speaks in full sentences now. He’s long had a large vocabulary of words, but now he’s starting to put them together more and more.
A recent favorite is to ask for us to put music on, and then ask the name of ever song that comes on. “What this song? What this song?” Over and over. Even if you just told him. And then he’ll ask the other adult in the room to confirm he gets the same answer. If you’re lucky, he’ll start dancing to it. He’s been unanimously named the best dancer of the house. When he feels a song, boy can he move!
A Baby Toddler Update
These days all blur together and disappear so quickly that I’m worried I’m going to forget everything about them. Besides the fact that my brain doesn’t seem to be working right now, I feel like I haven’t written anything down in a while. So bear with me as I try to put together some semblance of an update on not so baby G.
Currently G is napping, but I just heard “leh-low!” over the baby monitor. I can’t tell if he’s dreaming about his favorite color, or he just woke up and decided to start naming things he loves.
A Toddler Update
Let’s do a toddler update, shall we? Toddlers are a ball of distraction and energy, two things we could use right now. Also, does anyone know what comes after “toddler?” Since the baby is quickly claiming that title, I need a new stage for E. He tells me that he’s a big boy, and that I’m a super big boy, but I’m not sure that feels right… preschooler? Elder toddler?
E’s a little introvert who cares deeply for his family and friends. He recently told me that his friends make him happy in his belly. When baby G is crying, E likes to bring him a pacifier and give him a hug. He also likes to tell me “Baby likes me” which I’m pretty sure is true. He also requires lots of downtime (or space as he calls it) after big events and outings.
Songs We Sing
I don’t really enjoy singing. I rarely sing hymns at church, unless it’s a song I really like. I’ve already admitted that I never do more than mouth “Happy Birthday.”
But there’s something about having tiny children that has changed that.
I’m still not sure that I enjoy it, but I definitely do it a lot. Half the time it’s because I get asked to sing a specific song. “Old McDonald! Horsey! Cow! Horsey! Duck! Cow!” Over and over again. You never realize how short and weird a song is until you’ve sung “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” a couple hundred times. But the other half of the time? They’re made up songs that have popped into my head and stuck.