The blessed moments of peace and quiet

The house is a mess, I should be packing for the trip to the coast we're leaving for tonight, or cleaning, or doing just about anything but writing, but the fact is that my house is quiet. It's amazing what a brain can do when its thoughts can be heard!
The fact is that the normal noise level in our home has elevated this week due to the fact that a certain someone seems to be entering the "terrible twos", four months early. Yes, yesterday my fun-loving, cute-as-can-be child erupted into that screaming, throw-yourself-on-the-ground monster that every parent-to-be swears their children will never be like. Luckily, there are a few "I've been there" parents around who know what you're going through. As one person said on a blog I just read, it's as if "[t]he formerly cute baby in my arms had suddenly morphed into a red-faced, furious monster. Kind of like Jack-Jack at the end of 'The Incredibles.'"
It began when we had to leave The Play Factory. I had already had a rough morning. The library's annual Teddy Bear Picnic had been written on my calendar for weeks, and I was looking forward to spending quality time with my girls. We wrestled out the door with teddy bears in hand, only to leave the house 30 minutes after the concert started. Clearly I have not figured out how long to allow for getting two little ones out the door. Once we arrived at the park, there was no parking close by, meaning that we would get to the concert 45 minutes late. Considering that it was a children's concert, I thought the likelihood of having music for more than one hour was slim. Feeling like a failure, I called Josh on the phone and cried to him about what a bad mom I am. He suggested The Play Factory.
The Play Factory is a wonderful playroom set up in a local toy store. This is one of those toy stores that is fun to look around in, but hard to buy anything from because of the exhorbitant prices. However, their playroom includes all of these toys, with only the cost of $3.50 per visit. Iris loves it there. She loves it so much, that she never wants to leave. Thus, the extreme tantrum that left me with no choice other than to take her out to the car and head home immediately, instead of buying her the one thing inside that I was originally planning getting for her. My embarrassment was probably as apparent to the other moms looking at us as her screams were to the whole store and I carried her, arm around her waist with Linnea's carseat in my other hand, out the door.
What happened to make my easygoing, fun-loving child blow up like Vesuvius? I called my mom in tears a few weeks ago for the assurance that this is normal. Even though it is, however, it doesn't make it easier. No one told me that I would hate disciplining my child, that it would hurt when she would disobey and refuse to apologize. I guess that's what we get for loving. Along with the incredible joy that comes with children are the times of heartache. I wouldn't give any of it up to spare the pain, but that doesn't make it too much easier. Even so, while Iris is going through this difficult stage, I do get to look at Linnea and realize that it will be a little while before we have to deal with her in the same way. This makes me savor the her smiles much more, and makes the happy times with Iris even more precious.

Getting to Know You

I am sitting here in the peace and quiet (finally). Actually, it’s not so peaceful or quiet, with the windows open and the wind and rain tearing through the neighborhood, and the thunder crashing. But those are very peaceful sounds when you are used to two young kids who together usually make even more of a racket.
Even while the two little ones make a lot of noise together, I’ve found that I have a relatively quiet new one. Iris has always been loud and demanding, and I suppose that I had prepared myself for another in the same vein. Linnea has surprised me. It’s not as though she doesn’t cry at all—she does when she’s hungry or really wants to be held (she wants to be held all of the time, but she only cries for it sometimes), or when she wants to sleep (she’s a bit more sensitive to sleep than Iris ever was). But she’s not demanding. In fact, she’s rubbish at crying. We noticed this right from the get-go. When she works herself up, her voice gives out. It’s a bit pathetic, really, but so cute. You actually feel quite bad for her crying, so it’s rare to feel frustrated with her at all. Besides the fact that she never went through a crying-for-no-reason-we-could-discover phase the way Iris (and most babies) did. It’s wonderful to be able to understand what she wants the majority of the time!
I found out just how little Linnea cries yesterday at her two-month check up. I have not been looking forward to this appointment at all—I remember Iris’ first shots, and the betrayed look she gave me while screaming in pain. It made me cry to see my baby like this, and I was dreading seeing my second go through this as well. I held her on the table, feeling like a traitor, while the nurse held down her legs. The nurse gave the first shot. Linnea looked at me, her forehead wrinkling. The nurse gave her the second shot. Still not a peep. Only after the nurse started putting the band-aids on did Linnea’s bottom lip begin to stick out in a desperately sad look. But that was it—no crying, at least not from her. I cried while she looked at me curiously, but I was incredibly relieved that she didn’t seem to mind the shots too much. We’ll see what happens next week when we have to go back in for two more.

We also got a great sleeper in Linnea. I always thought that Iris was a good sleeper—sleeping through the night at nine months, waking up sometimes when I go in to check on her, but always saying “night-night” and going straight back to sleep. She has nothing on Linnea. For a week now, Linnea has been sleeping through the night. And I’m not talking the six-hour sleeping through the night. I’m talking about putting her to bed at 8 pm, and not waking up until 6 or 7 the next morning. Ah, bliss. How did I get so lucky? Who could ask for more from a two-month-old? Even before that, she had been sleeping that same pattern for about two or three weeks, only waking once at night. It’s been ages since I slept so well.
It’s been fun so much fun to get to know Linnea. I had so many worries about having a second—worries about not loving another as much, about not having enough time for her. But I’m finding that those worries are disappearing, and I’m enjoying being a mom of two even more than I enjoyed being a mom of one. And even though I definitely appreciate the current quiet, I appreciate the girls I was blessed with more than I could ever say. They are the light of my life. Sorry to all of you other moms out there, but I have the two best kids that have ever lived on this earth.