Now Entering Parenthood...

So, one of the thing about having two kids, including a newborn, is that it doesn’t leave you much time (or energy or creativity) to blog. If you are on maternity leave, then maybe you can find a hour somewhere, but if you are working, then no way. I really wanted to get Tom’s thoughts on here, so I decided to interview him.

Charlie, the one month old, how would you describe him?
Well, Charlie is pretty typical. He doesn’t seem colicky. But he is still an alien, and doesn’t have much of a personality yet. So its a little early to ‘assess’ him. 

Well, what about physically?
Right now? He looks like Lon but it is hard to tell who’s genes he got. He looks pretty unique and I have no idea where the red hair came from. Oh and he’s really cute… most of the time.

What about having two kids has pretty much been how you expected?
Really it’s just that our personal life is gone. It wasn’t gone with Simon, but now it’s pretty much gone. It didn’t really kick in how true that is until you are in it.

And what has been different, or not how you expected it?
Simon taking to him so well and not showing any sign of jealousy. We were all worried about that but it’s nonexistent. Simon is cute with Charlie. The other day, I had Simon in the bjorn and had to pick up Charlie because you were gone. They we’re pressed up against each other. Simon wrapped his arms around Charlie and went ‘hmmmmm’.

Aww… You didn’t tell me that. I like how he talks about ‘beebee’ as part of the family. Every night he goes through the family in bed, ‘Mama, dada, beebee’. The other night he asked for ‘beebee’ when I was tucking him in and when I gave him his baby doll, he hugged it and slept with it. 

So speaking of the baby, what had you forgotten about taking care of a newborn?
I had forgotten about constantly having to console them. What sucks the most is having two kids right now is having one that needs constant attention. There is just nothing fun about that. It’s draining, you can’t stay up late ever. 

Well there has to be something you forgot that was good too, right? Something you missed?
The snuggling, absolutely.. You can’t snuggle Simon at all without him looking at you like ‘Put me down… Now!!’

What has been harder than you remember with Simon?
Well, you keep saying I forget, but I say getting him to go to sleep… He goes down and everything is fine, then 5 minutes passes and he is pissed off again. Diaper is changed and belly is full but he is still pissed off. It takes a lot to get him down.

I can agree with that. He sleeps longer periods than Simon… Not consistently, but I know Simon was up every hour and half to two hours at this age. Charlie can get a good solid four hour sleep, but he then takes 45 minutes to get back down. It’s grueling, but maybe it will go away faster this time?

So what has been easier than you remember with Simon?
I have more confidence because I’ve been through it. Like we took him out right away and keep going out. Not that it is any easier but we are more willing to do it. 

What are you looking forward to in the near future?
When they can both understand what I say. When they can talk to each other. When I can say ‘come here’, ‘look at that’ and get a reaction.

But Simon does that. You can tell him to bring you something or look at something. Ignoring ‘come here’ is more an obedience issue we need to work on, but he’ll do it if he’s not interested in something else.

Okay, well… I just want consistency. And I want to know he understands. When I can ask ‘was that fun?’ and get ‘yeah’ as an answer. It’s just so limited right now.

So what about Charlie? Something you are looking forward to with him…
The smile, the giggle. Right now Charlie to me is just very angry and unhappy all the time.

He does smile! Actually, he’s been doing that for a while, but it is rare. But during the day he has been getting more alert and starting to ‘coooo’. I sang to him the other day and he gave me a big grin, it kinda freaked me out. It was creepy but cute, since you don’t really expect him to express emotion yet.

So Charlie doesn’t do much yet, but what about new things with Simon you are enjoying?
Well there is his new word ‘oppy’ (happy). I love that. He grabs his jukebox and said ‘oppy now’ meaning he wants to hear the song (‘if you’re happy and you know it’). In general, he’s just saying more words and showing more intelligence. 

Like what? Anything surprise you lately? Like ‘woah’, how’d he do that?

What do you mean? I don’t know, what about you? You spend more time with him during the day… Give me an example.

Okay. I guess I’m surprised by how easily he remembers things and how quick he is to imitate us. It’s adorable and I guess makes me realized I need to be a bit more conscious of what I do. So the first time we played with Mr. Potatohead, I stuck the glassed on my face and the tongue in my mouth. He thought it was so funny, and now he wants to do it to his own face every time the toy comes out. He also makes a little song (‘do do do’) when he stacks his blocks, because I did it without even realizing it once. He’s a sponge.

Yeah… Like when he wants to ride the moped and he goes and pulls out the bjorn and points to my keys. He knows the keys are needed to make it work, and I never showed him that. It’s crazy. It shows that he is paying attention ALL the time, even to what we consider mundane. He figures stuff out quick and is getting really good with his fingers, like when he plugs in the tiny AC adapter plug to the monitor or my PSP. I mean, that sucks, but it is still impressive.

Anything else?
Have you gotten any random hugs from Simon? Those are the best. I like that he likes love. He likes being loved and giving love. I guess you can’t ask for much more than that.