A month of Ellie...

More thoughts on being a mom of two, after a month of Ellie:

1. If you leave your toddler's unfinished breakfast on the kitchen table, it conveniently becomes their lunch when you are nursing your baby and can't get up to make them anything else. Excellent parenting tip for all.

2. It doesn't matter where you put your baby down to sleep in your house, no where is safe from your toddler. Wren has managed to figure out how to get into Ellie's crib, or will simply find her in our room, in the swing, or anywhere else that Ellie tries to sleep peacefully. 

3. All major injuries and accidents that could possibly happen to your toddler will happen while your are nursing your baby. This week Wren tripped over the base of the swing (see in background of photo) and went forehead first into the front window ledge while I was feeding Ellie on the couch. Consequently, Wren had to be okay with only receiving a side hug from me for comfort. 

4. The only time the phone or doorbell ever rings is when you are nursing your baby. 

5. After one month of breastfeeding, some skills are mastered such as making one hand free to do important tasks while nursing. These include drinking from a glass of water, texting, and that's about it.

6. Your baby teaches you that you can no longer control the noise in the house anymore at naps or bedtime...or anytime for that matter. The baby doesn't care that your toddler is sleeping and will cry regardless. I have been shocked to discover that Wren can sleep through Ellie's crying at night. And here I was getting annoyed at Kenton in the evenings for trying to do dishes or use the microwave after Wren went to bed for fear of waking her up. Silly me.

7. Getting your toddler ready to go on an outing consists of her picking out her clothes in her room while you are busy nursing the baby in the living room. When she shows your her choices, you secretly hope that people in public just know that your toddler dressed herself today and make a mental note to burn that shirt later. 

8. You can no longer go for a walk without pushing a stroller in front of you because it feels weird not to.

9. It dawns on you that at the present, your toddler takes one nap in the middle of the day, and eventually your baby will take two naps a day at the opposite times of your toddler. You begin to wonder if you will ever leave the house again.

10. A "date night" now consists of leaving your toddler with a sitter while you go out for dinner with your baby sleeping in their carseat next to your table. You then spend the majority of the meal discussing with your spouse what a luxury it was to only have just one child before the second came along. Ha!