A little different

The second time around, parenting a newborn is a little different.

* Bram has been left to cry more than Ambrose ever was. Not because I'm letting him cry it out at a mere three weeks, but because currently, life is a giant triage room. The person with the most pressing and urgent need comes first, and usually, Ambrose inserting paper clips into the dishwasher, spraying the bottle of water and vinegar cleaning solution in his eyes or cleaning cherry tomatoes out of his pockets wins the most urgent award and Bram is left for a couple of minutes while I attend to the most urgent need of them moment.
*There is zero procrastinating. I used to check my email, warm up my cup of coffee or sit down and watch a couple of minutes of a morning talk show when I was the mom to one...but now. No way. Once Bram is asleep (which takes some serious skill with this kid) I gingerly lay him down and hit the ground running. The very few minutes I have to get things done without a baby in my arms are priceless and will not last long. If I procrastinate for even a minute, the house just seems to fall apart around me.
* Forget alone time, I'm striving to carve out one on one time now. It is so important to me to find one on one time to spend with each of my boys ( husband included), now, unless I make the conscious choice to play trains with Ambrose, stair at and talk to Bram, or have a meaningful conversation with my husband, the entire day can go by and I've spent zero quality time with the wonderful boys in my life.

* We get out. With Ambrose, it was just easier to stay in the house all day, but poor Bram has been schlepped across this town in search of the toddler cure for the stir crazies. While getting out with Bram and Ambrose together is hard, staying in and dealing with the discipline issues that come with a boy who has been cooped up all day are even worse, so out we go.