Thomas at 2 Weeks

Tom is just a little over two weeks old now. He is growing into quite a substantial little guy, and already looks a lot more like a proper baby. Of course he continues to be largely nocturnal, and he eats round the clock, but so far he's similar to Martha in how easy and natural he seems to be. The big difference of course (and for those of you who know Adrian you know what kinds of witticisms he'll be making about now) is the fact that he's a boy: nappy changing is considerably trickier and we're contemplating investing in a 'pee pee teepee.'



I'd been apprehensive about time as a Stay At Home Mom but after the three weeks with Martha I knew I wouldn't often be bored--it is really fulfilling to see her develop and to challenge her to do more. With the advent of Tom I've been anxious about how to take care of the two of them; so far I've done three whole days (!) on my own with them and we have not come to any grief. I was worried about taking them out because Martha has become very fast and on occasion has been known to run away, but after some serious conversations and admonitions she seems to have understood that this is not safe (and it makes 'mummy angry'). I have also been concerned about Martha's feelings--not wanting her to resent Tom or to feel sad because of losing the special time with Mummy. However this seems an unnecessary concern, since she's been receiving nonstop attention from all of our visitors since her baby brother's birth, and even when it's just the three of us at home I can still focus a lot on her since his conversation is limited.


Daddy needs to catch up on some shut-eye, and Tom is always happy to join in the nap!

It's interesting to think about what it means to be an older sibling, and how their birth order will affect our children. And I continue to be amazed by how profound these experiences which so many people have are. The shifting of our family from three to four is something billions have gone through. But it's huge to us!


Here's Thomas wearing one of his first hand-me-downs from big sister M...

Who finds her little brother (whom she continues to refer to as her 'little brother or sister' because that's what we called him before he was born) nice enough as a kissee but not super interactive to date...


Three Martins...


At this point we're enjoying our family of four very much and thus find the option depicted above uninviting!