I don't know if Kate is super easy, or if the 2nd child just always feels easier, but she has been a dream. I know logistically, there is undeniably more to deal with with two children. I think with the first, there is so much emotionally to deal with - not being on your own schedule, being responsible and "on-call" 24/7, loving (and worrying) about a little person more than you can ever imagine. I felt like a zombie for at least the first 7 weeks with Ella. With Kate, I felt like myself already when we got the the recovery room even though I'd been approximately 40 hours without sleep. Personally, I thought being pregnant with the second child was much more exhausting than having two kids do deal with day to day.
Kate is fairly laid back about eating. She is quick (which I SO appreciate with toddler running around) but recently has become very distractable. She will look at me with the biggest smile when she should be eating - cute, but I'd rather socialize while I'm covered up. Until today, she's been perfectly happy to share my lap with Ella while I feed her and read a book. I'm afraid Kate is just getting a little too big and interested in the book and Ella to make it work anymore. Kate still wakes up a couple times during the night to eat, but she goes right back to sleep. She's had stretches where she'd consistently go 6-8 hours at night without eating, but has reverted back to every 3-4 recently. (Although, last night we had a sixer, so... fingers crossed.) After Jon had a hard time getting Kate to stay asleep while I was out the other night, I broke out "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" again. I'm not ready to require her to put herself to sleep at night, but I have been putting her down awake for naps for the last couple days. With a maximum of maybe 3 minutes of crying a two naps, she's out like a light. I'm not completely surprised; about half the time she is not already napping when it is time for Ella to go down, I've laid her down with the mobile on, and when I come back she is asleep. I'm not sure if I ever gave Ella this opportunity at this age; Ella's nursing and napping were so intertwined. I'm sure the first time Ella actually put herself to sleep, I cried because I was so proud of her. This time I cried because Kate doesn't need me. I won't complain though, this is much easier. So far, Kate is a champion napper. The two things I worried most about handling with two - nursing, and napping - have been easy. Now what I worry about it how to get them to share a room at night and not wake each other up.
Kate is quick to smile. She doesn't mind other people holding her. She seems pretty easy going. There are many times Ella scares me with what she does to her, but very rarely does Kate mind. Ella's probably only made her cry twice - once by accidentally hitting her in the head with a book, and once by throwing (intentionally) a toy at her. Not too bad for 5 months. I was so protective of Ella when she was this age, but it nice to see I probably didn't have to be. I think Kate is going to have to be pretty tough to survive her older sister.
Kate has a whole head of hair. It is really cute, and makes me want a pixie cut. (Except that I would have to keep getting it cut frequently for it to look good - and I haven't paid for a haircut in. . . maybe ten years. I might have to wait till I go back to work.) The downside to having this much hair on a child that takes two or three naps a day is there is constant bed-head. These are the times I put it in one or two pigtails (that look like antennae) which is also cute. Upside to having this much hair on a child this age, she can't put the rubber bands out.
(Jon just got home, and I asked him how he would describe Kate. "She is a little girl and she is cute. She is cuter than most; our doctor confirmed that." I'm sure our doctor tells everyone their child is cuter than most - "breathtaking" if you will. I'm also sure Jon appreciates more about Kate than that she is cute. He just returned from "Chocolate Day" at his middle school, so I don't think he has the mental capacity to dig much deeper than that.)
