May Recap

We did it! We made it through another crazy May!

The Man: Joe finished up the semester and orchestrated the graduation ceremony successfully! Hooray! He's also got a couple improv shows this month, so that's fun for him. He spent most of the last two weeks of the month at home with us, which was really nice for me and filled Z with joy. Huzzah for paternity leave!

Me: I also managed to get all my grading done and everything submitted on time. My students did okay without me for the last week of class, but were more slack-y then I would have hoped. I also got all of my exit paperwork done, which made me sad. I'm going to miss teaching.

I also birthed a baby, but you all know that part. My recovery this time has been really great. My pain has been minimal and I'm handling the lack of sleep much better than I might have suspected.

Z-pants: Crazy month for this little guy. He had many doctor appointments and his ear tube surgery. We have already started noticing a difference in his language, so I feel hopeful that this will get him on track and we will skip speech therapy.
Z seems very enamored with his brother and likes petting his head, holding his hand and exuberantly exclaiming his name. He's had many visitors, an unpredictable schedule and a new brother, but is handling it pretty darn well. A lot more screeching and tantrums, which is not fun, but that's the worst of it.
Today is his last day at daycare for the foreseeable future. We're sad to say goodbye to Little Adventures, and I'm nervous about this big change for us, but I'm trying to stay positive.

Bear: Other than his jaundice issues and having to use the billiblanket for 3 days, Bear is doing great. He wants to eat all the time, had easily surpassed his birth weight at his 2 week appointment and already grown an inch! He's very physical- he's rolled over many times from belly to back, can scoot (be it ever so slowly) across (or turn circles on) a blanket on his tummy, and holds his head up and looks from side to side. Honestly, I find it terrifying. How is he doing these things?! What does this mean?!
He does have "hanger," as I suspected he might. When he is hungry he will suddenly awake from a deep sleep and let loose with one blood curdling scream of intense despair which will be followed by a cascade of wails if he doesn't get to me ASAP. He's settled himself into a pretty reasonable newborn schedule of eating every 2-2.5 hours during the day with wakeful time and giving me one 3-4 hour break at night. We've started having Joe give him one pumped bottle before bedtime, which is all the pumped breast milk I can manage to make time for at the moment.

A final note:

Thank you, village. I was really anxious about having our second baby so far from family and with very few friends. I've been completely overwhelmed by people's kindness. We had a list of people willing to watch Z when I went into labor, which was so comforting. Members of my mom group have been delivering meals and sent well wishes and cards which has been a huge help and encouragement. My parents came out to help us while Joe and I were in the final push to get our grades in and they made things much easier for me by entertaining Z and watching Bear so I could get some sleep during the day. My mom cooked every meal and grocery shopped for me, so I basically had to do nothing. My dad cleaned and survived an encounter with an angry, hungry, breastfed baby whose mom was not home and hadn't taken a bottle yet. Joe's mom came a few days later and once again I got to sit back while someone else helped entertain my toddler and hold my newborn. I've felt so much support, it's been great.