Last week I stayed with my sister and helped with my 2 year
old nephew and 2 WEEK old niece. They were so much fun and both so sweet I didn’t
want to leave! I mean – aren’t they cute?
{Ruffled Romper and Bow: Target}
But, let me tell you – I have a 9 and 12 year old at home
and I forgot how different life is when you have LITTLE little ones!! Here is a
brief list of things I learned (or relearned!) while I was there. Maybe you can
think of even more things!
THINGS I LEARNED WHILE WATCHING A NEWBORN AND A 2 YEAR OLD
- Apparently, you CAN sing “Ring Around the Rosies” all day for hours and hours and not get bored. (If you’re two.) Along with Frere Jacques, Ring Around the Rosies was was my nephew's favorite song. I learned that when we “all fall down” it is much easier to fall down on the couch with pillows than on the floor. And I also forgot how catchy those songs are. I was humming them in my head all week. In fact… I’m humming Frere Jacques as we speak….
- You talk about pee and poop – A LOT. When you have a new baby and a 2 year old that’s potty training all you do is discuss bodily functions, examine poop and ask “do you have to go potty?” Good times.
- At any given point in time in the day, someone in the house is naked – or about to get naked. Yep. This one is self-explanatory. Plus it was hot, so little ones run around in their diapers, or are eating, potty-ing, bathing or changing. It doesn’t matter if company is over, or not. Or if you’re in public.
- You plan your trips and activities in 1 to 1 1/2 hour increments. (Because someone is either going to need to eat, or nap, before that time is up!) So we became experts at getting the kids ready and out the door in the morning so my little nephew could play outside before his sister needed to eat again! (So I guess this one could also be titled “You learn to multi-task!!”)
- 9:30pm bed time? Sounds good to me! The first couple days I was still my old night owl self. After 2 days of playing with a 2 year old and holding a newborn between feedings, I found 9:30pm a good time to crash. Or rather, it found me. I TRIED to stay up, but my body and eyelids usually had other ideas!
- However ‘ready’ I was by 7am is how I looked the rest of the day. True story. I did not realize this on the first day. Sorry to anyone who saw me in public those first couple days. My nephew woke up at 7am. If I wasn’t ready by that time, forget getting my hair done, adding jewelry or accessories to my outfit. And if my sister wasn’t there, I very well probably would have ended up in my pajamas all day. PS – yoga pants make great PJ’s.
- When you hold a newborn baby – people often don’t see or hear you – they just see the baby. I held my newborn niece during most of our outings. She liked to cuddle in the baby sling and I would get lots of “aaaws,” smiles and comments. Example:
{Polka Dot Sunglasses: Target}
ME: Thank you! She’s my sister’s baby. She’s 2 weeks old.
KIND LADY: How precious! Congratulations! You don’t look
like you just had a baby at all!
… … …
ME: …Thank you!
(Sometimes it’s not worth the argument.)
But everything was worth it, because this sweet smile is what I woke up to
every single day:
How about you? Do you have little ones? Can you relate to
this list?
