Everyone said once you've gone from one to two kids, you can then have countless children, because nothing will ever be more difficult than the transition from one to two. I realize I'm only 5.5 weeks into this, but so far I have to say that going from zero to one was a harder transition for me. Zero to one meant"All 'Me-Time' All the Time" to extremely limited "Me Time", and most of that included dried barf on my shoulder. Now I don't feel fully dressed without dried barf on my shoulder, but at least I'm not used to having glorious "me time" whenever I please, like I was prior to Max's arrival! I contend that, although I am at a loss for how to share myself with two children who both need me at all times (Which often means I find myself standing at the front door with Max to wave "bye" to daddy in the morning while Sammy is nursing and then realizing I'm flashing the neighborhood. Then I realize, "who cares?"), I still don't feel as crazed as I did at this point when Max was a newborn. It was a lot harder to give up all the freedom I had prior to his arrival than it has been learning wrangle two children.
Part of the reason it might be easier this time around is that Sammy is a much better sleep than Max EVER was. He wakes about twice a night, unlike Max's five-to-six time a night habit. I am so thankful I had a fussier baby first! It makes this seem like a cake walk.
I'm not going to sugarcoat it. Two children is pretty challenging. I want to take Max outside as soon as he's done eating breakfast and play outside all day. If we're not doing that, I want to put him in the car and gallivant around doing errands or going to see friends. When I get the notion to do those things, I realize it's time to nurse Sammy again, and, what do you know? It's time for him to nap again. So there we are, still hanging around the house at 11 a.m. having done nothing. I tell myself this season won't last forever. Max won't be scarred for life because he didn't get to play outside this morning and everything is going to be okay. That's probably the biggest difference between child #1 and child #2. The first time around, I thought the bad parts were going to last forever. Now I know, for better or worse, this time in our lives is going to fly by.
