First Ten Days as a Family of Five

It doesn't seem like it was just ten days ago that Levi was born. I remember this feeling when we brought Noah home from the hospital: It was as if he had somehow always been a part of our family. Same with Ava two years later and Levi now; yes, family dynamics change and we all have to adjust to a new routine as a family of five, but from the moment he was born, he fit right in and it felt, again, as if he had always been a part of our family, just waiting to be born. 

Levi is doing great and everything a newborn is supposed to do: eat, poop, sleep, repeat. Like his siblings, he's a very chill baby unless he is getting his diaper changed which he doesn't like at all. While he doesn't mind being swaddled, he much prefers to sleep on or next to me instead of his crib. He is still in newborn and 0-3 months size clothing, but has already outgrown a few things. While many have commented that he looks like his own person and not like his siblings at all, I see a lot of Noah as a newborn in him. His facial expressions, the little sounds he makes, and the way he lifts his head searching for milk and pushes his tiny body up towards my neck remind me of both Noah and Ava. Time will tell who he resembles more, but even though it may not be obvious to many, he does fit right in. 

Ava and Noah are great with their new baby brother and while our routine got shaken up a bit and mornings and evenings became a bit more challenging, there really hasn't been any jealousy or attention seeking. "Where is Levi?" has been the very first thing Noah asks when he comes home from daycare, and Ava starts looking for him first thing in the morning. Her face lights up with so much joy when she sees him, it's so sweet. Though she has a few other words she kind of says sometimes, "baby" is her first real word (it's extra cute when she pronounces it bay-bay) and her teachers have commented that she loves playing with her doll babies at daycare these days. We didn't expect this excitement for her new brother to last this long and fade after a few days, but Ava still wants to hold and touch him all the time. It's sweet, but also requires a lot of additional supervision which isn't always easy to do. My favorite is when she "talks" to him; it's nothing that makes sense to me, but it sounds like she knows what she is talking about and I love it. Noah also thinks Levi is pretty cute, but he's not nearly as excited about him as Ava. Instead of showering him with lots of love, he has a million questions about everything and anything these days which includes his new brother ("Why does he have legs when he can't walk?", "Do you want to drink milk out of my breast?"). 

After another fast delivery, I recovered pretty quickly and went on my first trip to the grocery store with Ava and Levi when he was just one week old. After a long and painful recovery after Noah's birth, I now make sure to take it easy and listen to my body, ensuring I get plenty of rest in between our little adventures. It feels great to be doing so well physically which is most definitely contributing to my positive mental state as well. As much as I enjoy spending the day in bed or on the couch sometimes, I hate the feeling of being stuck inside and enjoy when I get to feel like I'm contributing. Of course Levi is typically hungry right when it's time to eat breakfast and get the kids ready in the morning, or right after dinner, when it's important for our evening routine to move kids towards bathtub and books, so Tony has been doing more than his fair share again lately. I know he's looking forward to me taking over as I had the couple of weeks of my pre-partum leave before Levi was born, so he can get up and head out to work right away in the morning. I know we'll get there, but for now, it's hard to do with a baby attached to me. So I like being able to contribute in other ways - by doing the weekly grocery shopping, preparing dinner, and keeping up with the laundry. I'm not a big fan of doing dishes and am still working on keeping the kitchen clean. 

While overall things are good, adjusting to a new dynamic and finding a new routine isn't easy and I feel like we all are a bit more tense, less patient, and quicker to snap at each other. Noah and Ava's small fights escalate more quickly (thinking of two screaming kids at the dinner table last night here), and Tony and I are both less patient with Noah when he doesn't do what he's told (such as getting dressed in the morning) and things aren't moving along as quickly as we would like them to. I'm hopeful that once a new routine settles in and Levi's eat/sleep schedule becomes a bit more predictable, things will get better. 

A few more highlights from our first ten days as a family of five: 

All three car seats fit into my car! We had purchased new car seats (Diono Radian RXT: http://amzn.to/2pzvVJi) for both Ava and Noah before Levi's arrival, knowing we'd need more narrow ones. What we hadn't done before he arrived is make sure that the infant car seat, which I think is pretty bulky, would also fit in the backseat of my Ford Escape. It's tight, but it fits - a huge relief. 

We ate fresh shrimp! Tony, his brother, and Noah went shrimping last weekend and came home with the most delicious fresh shrimp. Not only are they super delicious, but I love that they only take minutes to cook - perfect for a quick but fancy weekday dinner. 

Spring is here! We've had some really nice days and I love seeing all the different colors in our backyard. It's also great when the kids can play outside for a bit before dinner or we go on a short family walk after. 

I took baby pictures! Levi had a fun little baby picture session yesterday. I still need to go through all of the pictures, but I feel pretty confident that I have a few good shots.