Sorry for the lack of updates, but my life is just a bit crazier nowadays. =)
I am back at work now. My first day was Wednesday, February 1st. It was a hard decision to make. If I didn’t come back to work this week, I knew it would be another month before I could make myself do it. Now that I am here, despite being exhausted, I know I made a good decision. Just like with Ricky, Carter is being cared for by both sets of grandparents, so I know my babies are in good hands.
I feel like there is so much that I missed telling yall. Ricky cut his right canine tooth on 1/13, but the other one has yet to make an appearance. I his gums are hurting him. He has been such a doll since Carter arrived. At first he was a little freaked out with the crying, but he has really warmed up to him, and Carter’s eyes follow him all around the room. He likes to come hold Carter’s hand, bring him bottles, throw away his dirty diapers for me, and name every part of Carter’s body that he knows (which includes poking him in the eye!). He sometimes isn’t careful enough around him… Carter has been trampled a time or two (no worse for the wear!), but never on purpose. I love Ricky’s little voice when he says “baby Carter”, which sounds like BAY-bee CAR-uh. So sweet. He also likes to sit on the potty now. He isn’t ready for potty training, and he has never actually used the potty, but he knows what it is and what it’s used for now.
While I was out on leave, I usually walked 30 mins to an hour every day with Carter in the k’tan. It was nice to get out and get some exercise and breathe in the fresh air. So far, I miss that the most, other than seeing Carter’s sweet face all day every day. I also made it to the park a lot. On my mom’s days, I would call her and she would bring Ricky up there to meet us (she lives literally 3 mins down the street from the park I go to). We would walk the kids in the stroller and then let Ricky go wild on the swings and the slides. It was really nice getting to spend extra time with him while I wasn’t working. Having only two full days with him on the weekends isn’t nearly enough.
Carter was rather difficult for me to handle for about the first 6 weeks, but I think we have come to an understanding with each other at this point. He was very needy and wanted to be held all the time. That would have been fine if he were my first baby, but having Ricky to care for and play with also, made it quite stressful. It was hard to put him down long enough for me to pump. Oh yes, about that. I have a whole post that is sitting in draft about my breast feeding experience, but I will tell you briefly that it was a bust… again. We had to supplement with 2 to 4 ounces of formula for a few days when Carter was in his second week of life, which maybe ruined him for nursing. Once he got the instant gratification from the bottle, he was too impatient to nurse. He will only nurse now for comfort or when he wants a “snack”, lol. By week 3 he was back to drinking only breast milk, though, which I am proud of. I only use maybe 2 ounces of formula a week if I haven’t brought enough milk with me when I am out running errands. That’s a huge victory for me. I may dislike having to pump 5-6 times a day (which is down from 7-8 times a day for the first month!), but the benefits far outweigh the annoyance of the whole pumping process.
Carter is a sweet baby, though. He is very different from his brother in many ways. I don’t want to compare and contrast them because they will be compared to each other by society for the rest of their lives, but I will say I love their differences. Carter has his daddy’s skin tone and dark hair. He is so proficient at tummy time and rolls from belly to back daily. He doesn’t like to lie on his back, prefers to be held, and won’t sleep at night unless I am holding him. He started smiling at 6 weeks and he has the sweetest little coos. He is very strong. His neck and back grow stronger every day. He likes to bat at the toys that are hanging from his infant carrier. He doesn’t spit up nearly as much as his brother did, which is awesome. At three weeks he decided he was a big boy and didn’t need to be swaddled at night anymore, but by five weeks, I had to start doing it again. Life is much easier with him being swaddled! He eats about every three hours. His hands are ridiculously strong and he still likes to keep them in fists. The only problem he has is a clogged tear duct, which results in his right eye being a little goopy and it drains all day. We are supposed to massage it and put a warm compress on it.
I am out of time for now, but I will post some pictures below of my little one’s first two days as a dynamic duo. Pics are courtesy of Nana!
