Friday, September 19, 2008

When Asher was a newborn, I was, um, focused on his schedule. Focused, obsessed, you know, whatever. Whatever I needed to do, or anyone else needed from me, had to happen in between Asher's naps. If it didn't fit, it didn't happen.

That's what I was dreading about having a second child - trying to combine two different little lives with completely different needs, and continuing to function on some level on my own as well. I was right to dread it - it's hard.

But we're getting there. Asher has been learning about how we're a team, and sometimes Brother has to give for Asher, sometimes Asher has to give for Silas, sometimes they both have to give for Mom and Dad. He hears things like "patience" and "wait your turn" a lot these days. It's a hard lesson when you're twenty months (or twenty years) old, but we're learning, all of us.

Lately Silas has had several late nights, busy mornings, interrupted bedtimes - and I kept remarking how well he was doing, how probably Asher could have done that well, too, had I ever given him the chance to show me. But last night and today I am reminded that I am right now, but I was also right back then to be so stringent about sleep. Yes, babies can bend. But too much bending and we all pay for it later. Both of them can do whatever is asked in the moment, but when we get home, it all hits the fan.

So today little Silas is exhausted. He's done all the bending he can do. We had to cut our morning short to let him rest, and even then it took him over two hours to settle down into a real nap, not just fussy dozing. It's our turn now to let that baby get the sleep he needs, and let everything else fit into his schedule for a few days. I guess our "team" is kind of in tune to each other. We all get hungry together, we all get overstimulated together, we all get tired together. And today, we're all ready for the weekend.

Happy Friday everyone.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I went through exactly the same thing when B was a newborn. It happened also that Z needed a schedule more than B did, but B sure appreciated that we did our best to provide it.

I think that is a wonderful way to describe it to a child -- we are a team and must work together to give the baby what he needs.

Laura Mielke said...

babies need naps?