In honor of Throwback Thursday, I thought I'd do a post about something that happened a long time ago...
Maternity leave was amazing for so many reasons. The two main ones were:
1. no work
2. new baby
...not necessarily in that order. Here are a few highlights of the time from when Declan was born to the beginning of March:
brother-sister time--I've said this before, but Carson was an amazing big sister even before Declan was born. We were curious if her feelings about big sisterhood would change once the baby was here in the flesh, but she was truly awesome. As in, we were in awe of her. We kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the adjustment period to happen...but she was so loving and careful and proud to be a big sis (side note--the adjusting happened when I returned to work).
One of the greatest joys in these past 10 months has been watching the 2 of them with each other. He is enamored with her, and she acts as if her sole purpose in life is caring for him. We couldn't have dreamed for it to go better than it did.
Declan time--We are very happy with the decision we made to keep Carson in preschool a few days a week while I was on maternity leave. Would it have saved some money to keep her home full time? Yes. But we would have paid that price tenfold in tears and heartbreak when she went from home full-time to school full-time after maternity leave was over. It was definitely good for her to get some time with the big kids at school too. The focus could be on her, and she didn't have to think about Declan all the time. She could do big kid stuff with other big kids, which we feel was really healthy for Carson.
The other bonus to this decision was that we got some time to focus on Declan. We knew him being the second baby was a trade-off--he wouldn't get nearly as much one-on-one attention as C did, but he would have all of the advantages that come from having an older sibling, like watching her try the hard stuff first and the social advantages of always having to share & always having another kid around. Carson being in school a few days a week gave Declan some good chunks of one-on-one time, which we were happy to give him. It was joyful to watch him learn new things and develop (or, often, just to watch him sleep).
Carson time--Being home on maternity leave allowed me to get some extra Carson time as well. She and I would make pancakes at least once a week, with her perched on the counter in her apron and PJ's, while I helped measure and mix. I was also able to attend a few of her class parties and ballet classes, which I had always wanted to do but couldn't, due to the middle-of-the-day nature of such events. Carson also started taking gymnastics--something we hoped she'd enjoy and that would again give us some time to focus on her. So far, she is loving it and was even invited to attend a 'big kid' class, where the class is twice as long and some of the kids are twice her age. She is doing great and keeping up nicely.
Christmas--While this past Christmas was a bit tough, due to some sort of virus that knocked Brandon & Carson flatly on their asses, it was still pretty magical having our family of 4 sitting under the tree that morning. Christmas prep, Christmas Eve Mass (my favorite service of the year), and family bonding took a back seat to trying to protect the newborn from whatever devilish germs were running amok in Brandon & Carson, while also trying to help them recover. I would bet that Carson barely remembers Christmas at all (and we did a terrible job taking pictures that would help her remember). We were blessed that everyone soon recovered--and especially fortunate that Declan and I stayed healthy.
Outings--One of the best parts of the sometimes-stay-at-home-mom gig I do as a teacher is the opportunity to take the kids out to experience new and fun things. We went to the zoo, to parks & playgrounds, Monkey Joe's, the Children's Museum, and more. I had a blast taking the kids out on the town and, as always, loved watching them experience new and fun adventures.
Road trips--We were even able to get out of town a couple times while Declan was all brand-new. Once, we went to visit Brandon's grandparents and aunt in South Carolina, which was fun and relaxing as always.
And then we got to visit our good friends Kristin & Marc and their kids in Raleigh, NC for a few days. It snowed (although not enough to stick) and we got to visit their local children's museum, play with all their toys, and hang out with other parents who had also recently entered the world of having two kids.
Sleep--While we weren't able to do the whole 'nap when the baby naps' thing this go-round, we definitely got more sleep while I was on leave than when I wasn't. Declan has never quite grasped the value of a nice long nap (largely due to acid reflux but also due to his determination not to miss any of the fun), so his 20-minute naps usually gave us just enough time to sit down and realize how tired we were before it was time to pick him up again. But really, there are far worse things than hangin' with your newborn, even if you're tired doing it.
Anyway, that was sort of a whirlwind summary of those 4 quick months. We feel like we settled quickly and fairly smoothly into being a family of four, and of course now we can't remember much of life before we were.
I think this is a link to our pictures.
Most of all, we are grateful that our kids are healthy, and we are excited to continue watching them grow together.
