Double the trouble

We’re off to a slow start. Logan is almost 6 weeks old and this is the first post. My first post about Hannah went up when she was 2 weeks old. To be fair to myself, I did write a post already for this blog, but for some reason it didn’t save. I don’t know how long it was or how far I got, probably because I was writing it in the middle of the night, sleep deprived, but determined. This may be a foolish endeavor, starting a second blog just for Logan, but dammit younger siblings get the shaft when it comes to recording memories and I’m not going to do that to the boy. They say you take less photos of the second one and you don’t save as many mementos; hell we didn’t even have a shower for this one so all the cute decorations that Sam saved for Hannah – none of that crap for Logan. I am a younger brother, and while I don’t remember not getting my picture taken as much or whether my macaroni necklaces meant as much to Mom as Josh’s (I’m sure they did), I still think it’s worth the effort to have something like this for Logan to call his own. So we have a second kid now. The title of this post is deceiving. Saying it’s “double” the work because we have double the kids is misleading – it feels like 10 times more effort, but with 10 times less stress. What I mean is, not only do we have a baby that needs constant attention, we have a toddler that also needs quite a bit of attention competing with the baby. It used to be if Hannah woke up in the middle of the night one of us could go sit or lie with her and it would be fine. Now we have to be strategic. I have to hear her before she makes it to the bedroom or she’ll wake up Logan and Sam, and since Sam is up every 2-3 hours feeding Logan, her getting actual unbroken sleep is essential. Luckily, if our door is open I can hear the creak of Hannah’s door before she gets too far out of her room and I can cut her off at the pass. Well, except for this one time. Funny story: It was a rare moment, about 3 weeks into Logan’s life, when everyone in the house was sound asleep at the same time. And I mean we were out. But my dumb ass left the garage door open. A thoughtful FWPD officer happened to drive by and notice, so he stopped to let us know to close the door. Only none of us heard the doorbell, or him knocking on all the doors, or our phones ringing. Finally, I woke up to my phone (happened to be on vibrate), saw some missed calls and voicemails, and realized what was going on. I went downstairs and opened the door to the garage to shut the garage door and I hear “WHAT’S YOUR NAME!?!?” from a commanding voice. It was the cop, he was in the garage at that point, I assume to close the door himself. After I identified myself and he lectured me on leaving my door open and unlocked at night, he left and I went inside and cleaned up the pee running down my leg. This is going to be quite an adventure. We’re beyond thrilled to have a baby boy, but nothing prepares you for having a second rugrat in the house. I’ll never understand what my brother and Jill went through having two at once, that had to be just craziness, but this is challenging and exhausting as well. Hannah has come a long way since the first couple of weeks when she couldn’t stand the idea of sharing the spotlight and attention. She still acts out a bit and is as dramatic as ever, but she’s not using Logan as a step-stool or trying to tear him out of our arms anymore, so that’s a win! Logan was born on March 6, 2015 at 7 lbs 14 oz. This birth was waaay different than Hannah’s. I think a lot of that had to do with our actual doctor was there this time, and he’s a pro’s pro. Plus, Sam had been through it once and she’s a pro, too. Both of them did amazing. I watched much more of the actual birth this time, which is pretty much tug-o-war between the doctor and Sam’s nether-regions. I won’t get too graphic, but let’s just say there are images you cannot erase from your memory. And I wouldn’t want to, it’s an amazing thing, birth, but wow. Just wow. Logan is already up to 10+ lbs – he has a great appetite, wanting to eat constantly, so he’s growing fast. One frustrating thing is he doesn’t care for a pacifier, so he’s a little more difficult to comfort than Hannah was. However, I remember her crying for long stretches at a time for no reason, and he doesn’t seem to do that as much as he grunts, whimpers, hurumphs, and screeches – and we can pretty much tell if it’s because he’s tired, hungry, needs a new diaper, or is gassy. That’s probably because we have some experience – everything with Hannah was so brand new and confusing and we probably over-analyzed everything. With Logan I think we just have a lot more confidence knowing what he needs (or so we think). So here we are. Almost 6 weeks in. It’s going to be quite a ride, but it will be well worth it. I’m so proud of my family, I couldn’t be more loved and it’s an amazing feeling. But damn am I tired.