My two boys are 19 months apart - Joel is 17 months old and Samuel will be 3 on Saturday. Having two close together is a lot of work. Well, I should say was a lot of work, because it is getting much easier as Joel gets older. Samuel was just 19 months old when Joel was born. That meant I had two in diapers, two boys to get in and out of the car, two schedules to manage and, finally, align. I know there were many days when I thought, "oh, man, life would be so much easier with just one child." One example is that I had Samuel in a gymnastics class. I am lucky enough to have a husband home during the day, so he could keep the baby. If I didn't have him, it would have been really hard to have Samuel in the class. It can be exhausting lugging a baby around to all of your toddler's activities. But I am now seeing all of the benefits of having two close together. Joel has changed from a baby to a toddler. The boys can play together for a long time and keep each other entertained. They are now on the same schedule, so I get the same quiet time during the day and evening. They are similar in size and can share a lot of their clothes. I love having "my boys". I look forward to watching them grow up together. They will only be one grade apart in school. They will be each other's best friend and they bring our family so much joy. There is nothing better than sitting at the dinner table together, laughing and laughing at what the boys have come up with. I wouldn't change having two close together for the world. Yes, there is a lot of work to do initially, but then you get over the baby phase and can move on to the next phase of life.
6 comments:
yeah Leah. I am with you on this one. It will be great when they are a little older. Mine are just almost 15 months apart and it's tough. It's great when I can stay home and do nothing all day but keep the kids, but that's not my life at the moment. Yesterday I almost cried twice trying to go grocery shopping. By the time I got them fed and in the car and out of the car and then in the store I realized I forgot my list...so we went back out to he car. It's hard to fit two babies in a cart, so i sling the 2 month old... By the time I finished, it was after 6pm and my 17 month old was having a meltdown. We got home and I tried to feed them both simultaneously but suddenly my really great eater (17 month old) decided he didn't want/like anything I was feeding him and I couldn't get him anything else while I was sitting there nursing. (This was the second time I almost cried.) But, we worked it out. I warmed his food again while burping the baby and fork fed it to him and voila. We live to see another day! When I hold them both and cuddle them, I think, man, I love these babies with all my heart. I wouldn't trade that for anything.
Leah and Margaret, thank you for posting about this! I have a recently turned 1 year old and have 2 more months before our second is due.
Are there any books you would recommend that you would say helped with the transition and trying to match up schedules, etc.?
I too would love to hear the answer to Courtney's post!!
Mine are 20 months apart and starting to entertain each other as well as drive each other crazy! My 7 month old just started crawling, so she always makes a beeline for my 2-year old and wants to play with whatever she has :) But its a lot of fun, too!
Melissa, I pretty much gave up on going to the grocery store by myself with the little ones at this stage of life. We go when Daddy is off work and can help us or I run out after they go to bed. I take my toddler to soccer and wear my 7 month old in the Ergo while I chase her around. Very tiring, but worth it. I love my close girls!
Grocery shopping will be easier when the baby can sit in the cart. I did sling the newborn before he could do that, but once he could sit in the cart, I tried to either get one of those neat car carts and they both ride beside each other, or I put my older child in the main basket (with the food, I have her sit on my diaper bag or purse and she loves to ride back there so much she usually doesn't touch any of the food) and youngest rides nearest me. I can't think of any books to recommend off the top of my head...I just tried my best to align the youngest to the older child's schedule. No schedule worked for us for the first five or six months though. After that it gets much easier!
mine are 20 months apart and at that time the toddler was dealing with night terrors, ear infections, and learning to sleep in a toddler bed (not by our choice). The baby had reflux and didn't sleep ...ever. It was so difficult I wouldn't recommend it to anyone - however, it is good now that they are 2 1/2 and 4 and can pretty much do everything together except ride bikes. For awhile there I would be stuck in the house all day long as one napped and then the other and then the other. I pretty much had post partum depression (looking back) from 3-9 months after. Very sad point in my life and felt very far from the Lord. I had our 3rd son 2 months ago and 27 months after the 2nd. I am thriving and loving it - even through the terrible 2's. It really depends on how easy your newborn is and what phase your older one is going through. I'm really glad it's over (those hard months after the 2nd) and hope they grow up to be best of friends.
Post a Comment