What are you?

My nap juggling worked beautifully and Noah slept both to and from Collegeville. I am a nap planning genius. At least this time.

We had a nice afternoon yesterday visiting my cousin Tammy and her kids Aelan (2.5 y.o.) and Evan (8 m.o.). And Evan scared the bejezus out of me. At about 7 weeks older than Noah, Evan is completely mobile. He was cruisin’ all over the damn place. And when he took off on his own I asked Tammy what I should do and she said “He can go wherever he wants. This place is totally baby-proofed.” Crap! I’m going to have to do that baby proofing thing, aren’t I? It seems like such an insurmountable task. I’m sure our house is like a pit of death for a grabby, moving infant. Our three story city row home is all steps. First and foremost we have 3 large staircases and two small ones – only one of which has a railing. And most of the staircases are difficult to gate because the walls are cut away from the tops and bottoms– so you can’t use a tension gate. Our house is predominately furnished with rickety Ikea which can easily be pulled on to oneself because we never bothered installing the wall anchors. Our coffee table is a sea of pointy angles and glass. Our upstairs toilet doesn’t have a lid. And some of our outlets (including some in the nursery) don’t have proper covers on them. Not to mention the dust bunnies probably lurking in the corners. Maybe if we all live in one large rubber room together we’ll all survive. I’m ready to move in now.

Evan can already pull up to standing. When he wakes up from a nap and Tammy goes in to get him he is standing in his crib. I’m certain it would not be safe to keep a child in this stage in a bassinet – and I reiterate that I am not ready to move Noah to his nursery. Supra-genius me decided to make one of the rooms farthest from us into the nursery. In my defense I thought it was a quieter room – away from our noise and some of the street noise. And I thought in the long run it would grant Mark and I more privacy – but I hadn’t realized what a clingy biatch I was – or that I wouldn’t want to traverse the distance at 4am to nurse the baby.

Noah probably won’t be as mobile as soon as Evan – who had to learn fast so he could escape the clutches of his big sister Aelan. She is apparently beating the crap out of him. Tammy kept telling Aelan to be gentle with Noah because he wasn’t used to her. She kept telling Aelan to stop touching him – and I kept saying “It’s alright. He’s fine.” On the way home I remembered that contradicting a mother’s orders in front of a child is improper – so that was poor behavior on my part. I had good intentions - I just wanted Aelan to enjoy playing with Noah and didn’t think she was being too rough. Until she punched him in the stomach. Terrible twos indeed. But Aelan is really adorable. When we got there she kept pointing to Noah and saying “This is a Noah.” And then she asked me what I was. Because she is my cousin’s child I’m never quite sure what she should call me – so I just told her I was a Nicole. She asked me what my nose ring was. I told her it was jewelry just like my necklace. She said “Is it nice?” And I said “I think so.”

Aelan was a bundle of energy and sang, jumped and danced for me. It’s obvious she is working overtime to regain some of the attention that has gone to her baby brother. If Mark and I have another baby we have that to look forward to. Two seems like a challenge – but so is one and I’m loving it.