What we've been up to

Yesterday was Tom's first day back to work from his paternity leave. Having him home for such a big chunk of time really helped ease our transition to a family of four. Jack loved all the extra attention, and I loved being able to take naps in the middle of the day. :)

Much of Tom's leave was spent getting caught up with errands and appointments. But we also had plenty of time for fun. It was nice that Tom had a chance to share in some of the fun that we have when he's normally at work.

Speaking of appointments, we brought Jack to another dentist for a second opinion on the cavities that the first dentist found. I'm happy to say that this dentist said that she didn't find any cavities at all. I'm so relieved. Even if the first dentist is right and Jack does have two small cavities, the second dentist's findings tell me that they're small enough that I don't need to get them filled right away. Whew!

Our first couple of days on our own have been ok. We're still trying to get into a groove. Jack has had an amazing last couple of weeks, where I feel that he has really grown and matured in some ways. He now runs up the stairs alternating his legs. This was a developmental marker that he consistently lagged on when he was being evaluated last year, so I'm happy to see him finally doing it. He can really boogie up the stairs now. He also can put on his own shoes and buckle himself in to the car seat. And just this weekend, we started going going to bed without diapers, which means that he is officially diaper-free! (KNOCK WOOD.)

But with this progress, there has been some regression. I feel that it's sort of his way of not letting himself grow up too fast. Unfortunately, the most obvious sign of his regression is an increase in his temper tantrums. We had a pretty nice run for a couple of months where the tantrums seemed to subside. I don't know if it's a reaction to the baby or having Tom home for so long, but they've been coming back with a vengeance. And I know this isn't fair to Jack at all, but seeing how much bigger he is than the baby makes me that much less patient when he behaves like a two-year-old.

The one thing I really can't complain about, though, is how he is with his sister. He is so interested and into her. When he sees me in the morning, the first thing he says is, "Where's Violet?" He always wants to see her eyes and is constantly asking, "What is her baby/Violet/sister word?" I have no idea what this means. He sings a song to the tune of "Freres Jacques" whose lyrics are always some variation of, "Violet is here, Violet is here, she's always here!" He always wants to hold her, and he is genuinely distressed for her when she cries.

A couple of weeks ago, we went to play with a friend who has an 18-month-old baby. That baby got a little too rough with Violet and ended up making her cry. Jack started crying too, which annoyed me because do I really need two children crying at the same time? But he said, "I'm sad when she cries because I love her." That helped lessen my irritation.

The other day, he was pretending to read a story out loud. I wasn't really paying attention, but I gathered that he was the main character in this story. I caught this snippet: "Jack-Jack has a baby sister that he really loves and he likes."

Violet is almost two months old, which kind of boggles my mind. In some ways, her first two months have felt longer than Jack's, simply because we've done so much more than we did when Jack was a baby. In others, it seems like it's gone faster, because I don't have the luxury of focusing all my attention on her.

I definitely am not taking as many pictures of her as I did with Jack. I told my mom that one reason is that she spends so much more time asleep than Jack did, but my mom debunked that theory when she found a bunch of pictures of Jack sleeping at the same age. I hope Violet knows it's because it's just so much harder to take pictures when there's an older one to chase around and not because I love her any less or think she's less beautiful than her brother. I do try to take pictures whenever I put her in a new outfit, because she is growing out of them so fast. *sniff* The only thing sadder than our children growing up is if they never do.

She continues to sleep well at night (KNOCK WOOD) but has longer periods of wakefulness in the day. Thankfully, she is starting to be more entertained by the swing and her activity mat, although Jack also tends to be more interested in these activities than I find helpful. And she's really starting to chub up. Her cheeks have really filled in and her arms and thighs aren't far behind. It truly is amazing to me that something that my body produces is enough for a baby to not only survive but thrive for several months.

My favorite development is that she is starting to smile a lot more, and Tom said he heard a little laugh come out of her a couple of days ago. She's also starting to cry with tears, which melted my heart to see the few times they've happened. The difference with having gone through this all before is that, while I'm not necessarily surprised by any new development, I can savor each one because I know where in the sequence they are and I also know how fast it all goes. It's kind of how I feel about the way that I love them. I was truly caught by surprise by how much I could love another person when Jack was born. With Violet, the wonder is replaced with a deeper sense of understanding that makes it as wonderful in an entirely different way.