Over the Last two & 1/2 months…

We have gone a lot of places, done a lot of things, and learned many new things over the last two months. It all started with Callen arriving. But, then when Callen was about three weeks old, for fear of going it alone, I followed my mom back to Texas for one more week of help. I got little snippets of insight into what life would be like with two kids versus one me. 

One memorable moment was when my mom was gone for a couple hours. During which time Callen caught me too slow in changing his diaper, and I got covered from every angle. After that, I was nursing him when I heard Rya fall down the stairs. Not to be too graphic, but it is difficult to run to one child while still nursing another. She was fine by the way, but by the time my mom got back I was completely worn out.

After a week in Texas we, along with most of my family, headed back to Arkansas in caravan where we met up with Cody’s parents in celebration of Callen’s baby blessing. It was a chaotic, wonderful, event filled weekend. Most everyone headed back home after that weekend, except we got to hang on to Cody’s parents for another week. We didn’t let them sit around too long, they ended up helping us put in a new tile backsplash in our kitchen. And it turned out amazing.

We had about a week and a half home alone after they left before we headed to Albuquerque to continue our visit with Cody’s parents. Despite a bug that was passed around our family, we had a wonderful time swimming and visiting several tourist attractions of the area. (PS, the Albuquerque tram was incredible…ly frightening if you have any issues with heights). But, most of all, we loved hanging out with family.

       
We have learned a few things over these two & 1/2 months:

1.  Callen grew 4 lbs and 4 inches in the first month of his life and slept so much we had to wake him up to feed him.

2.  Callen grew 1/4 lb. and 1/4 inch in his second month. And now, between Callen and Rya, they are reminding us how much we value our sleep.

3.  Rya has had to learn to share the spotlight with a little brother (who she adores), but has tried several techniques to vie for the attention- -some good and some bad.

4.  Callen, as a baby, requires much more personal attention, due to some tummy issues,  than Rya did when she was a baby. But, Callen sleeps better at night than Rya ever did or does now.

5.  Rya has become quite the nurturer, while constantly practicing her skills on her baby dolls and teddy bears, she takes cues from us on how to handle baby Callen. She has mastered the somewhat tricky binky insertion technique, the shushing method, and the calming bum pat, and just continues to learn.

6.  Callen has the sweetest little grin and a single coo from him can melt my heart.

7.  Both of our kids challenge us to be better parents, show us what love really is, and make us smile more than we knew was possible.