Friday, March 26, 2010

Adjusting

Leah is adjusting pretty well to having Mr. Parker Man around. 

I know he's only been around for three weeks, but I feel very encouraged with how Leah has been dealing with life since Parker has come home. We feel quite lucky that Leah seems to want to be involved rather than not. Of course, that can be very frustrating at times, but Matt and I are quickly learning Redirection Verbiage rather than saying no all the time. 

Leah seems perfectly content to share our attentions with Parker. Remember the conversation she and I had about crying babies? She's actually quite the little rockstar when in comes to that.  We have had a slight upturn in disobedience lately. But Leah is a fast learner and picked up on the whole Disobeying Gets Me A Time-Out idea. We're still working on it, but she's spent less time on Time-Out this week than she did last week. Once again, I feel encouraged by this. 



This little guy had his two week check up last week. He weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs. 15 oz. (still 2 oz. below his birth weight) and measured at 23 inches. Cute little guy. I expect him to start fattening up again now that we're figuring out his eating patterns a little more. Recently we figured out that if he's crying within five minutes after eating three ounces of formula, he might still be hungry. I know, what a novel idea.

Matt and I are re-figuring out how to be parents to a newborn. Once upon a time, soon before I delivered Leah, I asked my oldest sister (pregnant with her fourth) some question about caring for a newborn. She replied, "I don't remember, it's been nearly three years since I had a newborn." At the time I recall thinking, "How can you forget what it's like to take care of a baby?" You know about the Bike Riding Theory, you never forget, right? WRONG! I really feel like I'm learning everything again. I did not see that coming. 

All in all, things are going really great around here. Much better than I expected at this point. We're happy. Who could ask for more?

6 comments:

Dynamic Chiropractic said...

He is so adorable! I think one reason you have to relearn how to parent a newborn is that they are all different, so while the diapers go on the same way the skills needed to diaper each baby is different. Getting deep :)

Katy said...

You are a pro Mel! Such a cute family I am so happy for you and I LOVE the name Parker.

Unknown said...

It's true, you do have to relearn it all. I remember freaking out about labor the second time around, because I couldn't remember how I did it the first time. LABOR. How do you forget something like that? I guess that's part of the reason we put ourselves through it all over again.
I love Parker's little striped outfit! He looks so cuddly! That's a really sweet picture of him.

Marc and Miriam Deru said...

Great pictures! I just want to scoop him up-- he does look cuddly. I'm glad to hear Leah's adjusting well-- that's what I'm most worried about with having a new baby. She sounds like an eager helper, though. Way to go, Leah!

Becky Lowe said...

Congratulations, Matt & Melanie! He's adorable. I remember feeling like you do. I also remember that the second (and third, and fourth...)baby was easier to enjoy and moments spent with her were even more precious because I really knew now how quickly she'd grow up and leave this tiny, sweet, helpless state. Enjoy him!

Andrew and Lori said...

He is so handsome!!