Baby: Side Effects

It is not just difficult for me to adjust having a baby.  I forget that there are other creatures in my house that are affected as well.  True, they are not sore from pushing the 14cm head out of them, but they still have to deal with a lot of changes too.

Tyson has been amazing and taking care of the three older kids pretty much all day, ever day.  Especially for the first few days when I felt like I was a complete train wreck and couldn't remember how to feed a newborn, or change him, or get him to stop crying.  Oh and deal with pain, pain in lots of areas that are unpleasant.  Then the milk came in and that is always a blessing and a curse.  All I could think of was "I am never having another one," and "how did I convince myself to do this AGAIN?"

But it has only been 5 days and things are already looking much better.  I think me and the wee one are feeling much more human and in less pain.  We kind of have a routine and we are both kind of sleeping.  So things are looking up.  :)  Plus, holding that little bundle of love, I just melt.  He is so cute the way his whole body scrunches up into a little lump and he just falls asleep.  I love the weird open one eye just to a slit and look around, then shut it again, like he is checking to see if it is safe or worth waking up for.  Or how if anything brushes his cheek or mouth he starts freaking out with his mouth wide open like a baby bird.  I just love him.  The whole 9 months of discomfort and the post-birthing adjustment are totally worth it.

His big brothers adore him.  This morning, they all huddled around his little bouncer and just kept oohing and aahing over him.  "His lips are so tiny!"  "Look at his hands Mama, they are so little!"  "Isn't his face just so cute?"  "Haha, did you hear that noise, he sounds like a squirrel!"

Every morning, Matthew comes running into my room with his arms spread wide and says "Bebe?"  He kisses and kisses his head when he finally finds him.  The other day I realized Matthew wasn't in the front room with me and found him in the back trying to feed the baby a water bottle.  I am so thankful I found him when I did because poor Andrew was basically being water logged.  It is terrifying, but so sweet how they all just adore the "bebe."

They also are having some not so fun side effects.  Like how Josh is freakishly emotional.  I know it is the age, and the fact that he is scared and excited for school to start, but I think having just one more change as huge as adding a new kid in the house, has really thrown him for a loop.  I tell him to go get dressed and you would think I told him we were shipping him to Africa to live by himself.  He wailed and collapsed to the floor and then ran around the house screaming and moaning.  Yesterday he was so upset by something he cried until he puked.  I just kind of sit there with big eyes, totally mystified as to how I should handle the situation.  I don't even know where to begin.

Then there is Caleb, who suddenly has forgotten how to be a little boy and cannot remember how to do anything we have taught him.  He can't sleep through the night without wetting the bed (okay, not every night, but a few), he can't open child locks anymore, he can't turn on the water, he can't clean up or do his chores.  "I can't do dat!  I just can't!"  How do you forget how to do things just because a baby was born?  Someone please explain how that happens.

However, Matthew has been surprisingly normal.  He even seems to have matured a little bit.  He gets whiny sometimes, but nothing unusual.  The only thing is now he seems HUGE to me.  I can barely lift him.  Hm, maybe I am like Caleb, I have lost my strength because I am used to just a little weight in my arms.

So today, Josh and Caleb were playing with some blocks on the window sill and Matthew kept bugging them.  That is totally normal.  The two older rug rats start whining and pushing Matthew away.  So Matthew wanting to show them just how mean he can be, walks up and just swipes their whole building down.

"MATTHEW!!!  That was MINE!!!  He WWWWRRECKED IT!"
He just smiles a sneaky and proud smile.

So naturally, we put him in time out.

Matthew sits in the corner pouting, looking remorseful as he always does but never really is.

Tyson mentions something to him about how if he doesn't shape up, we will sell him to the gypsies next time they come around.  That of course leads Josh to ask a million questions about gypsies.  Tyson continues on that we would still get a good price for Matthew, but Andrew would sell for the most.  Caleb, we might make some money on, but Josh wouldn't be worth selling (I guess the younger the kid, the more money you make on them.  I am not totally sure, I would have to check with the next gypsy I meet).

So then Josh looks around with a giant smile, spreads his arms and says "Then all these toys would be mine!"

Apparently he is all for selling off his brothers.

I think he normally likes them though, but who knows.