After a busy, writing-filled first week of Truman’s addition to our family, the last week has been quiet on the blog. Part of that came from trying to rest more, but also from trying to do more around the house to help out Ben and the kids. Because let’s face it – the sit and be served for his entire paternity leave thing was so not happening. And that’s OK. We found a rhythm-ish where I could sleep/nap in the morning and then in the afternoon and evening I was doing stuff around the house and tending to Mr. Evening Cluster Feeder (breastfeeding post still pending!). It did not make for a lot of honest downtime and Ben and I didn’t exactly feel like we got much (any?) time together, but we took our two weeks and made the most of them. If nothing else, I did not have to worry about logistics for anyone other than Truman and “scheduled” my days (and nights) around his feeding needs; that right there was a true blessing.

And now today…

Today I’ve been thrown into the fire a bit as it is Ben’s first day back to school. Do I dare say it? So far the day has been OK! Granted, I’ve asked for and received some awesome help, so even this week I’m not responsible for getting all the moving parts to all their respective places (just home some days). B is helping with that (for RL) and friends are helping (with HD), too. All I can say is THANK GOODNESS because this here/there/everywhere gig of school and preschool takes a village, much less when you add in a nursing newborn, and without family in town, we’ve had to gather our people on our own which we’ve been very blessed to do, so gratitude (and a rambling sentence) hardly begins to describe how I feel about their help, love, and support!

But yes – the first morning with “just” the two little boys….it started off pretty sleepy (the get up and get three members of our family out the door business is, um, exhausting!), much like today’s sky, and I’ll be honest – there was totally some PBS via Netflix involved before 9 a.m. for Linky so Trumy and I could doze a bit nearby, but then it was just nurse/hang out/watch Lincoln hurl himself around the living room from one piece of furniture to the next (have I mentioned what a character that kid is?!). Truman took his two-week-old-ness quite seriously yesterday and started the feed-me-non-stop two-wk growth spurt business Sunday morning (which included some long naps later in the day, for him anyway), and this morning was much the same. Again – SO glad I can pretty much just hang at the house and worry about “just” nursing!

Fortunately, Lincoln is quite fond of Truman and loves to come over and kiss the top of his head. I think the only one who “pets” TJ more is Raegan who asks at least a 100x a day if she can “hug and kiss” the baby. So yes – lots of kisses today from Big Brother, and lots of monitoring, too, as it has become quite clear this morning that what LT is not fond of is crying! Every time Truman
whimpers, Lincoln gets very concerned and either a) covers up his ears, b) points and says, “EAT!,” c) brings me the baby’s paci (which I just started using the last few days to buy myself a few extra minutes here and there), or d) some combo of all of the above.

It’s a little comical and a little crazy-making having all this “help.” (hmmmm….there are lots of “”s happening here today…)

But really, with the exception of a real nap and not just a catnap on the couch, I don’t think I could have asked for anything different this morning. Truman had his needs met, Lincoln got to play around the house and have snack/lunch, I got to have coffee(!), then Raegan came home in time for her lunch and LT to go down for nap (thanks, Ben!), plus I even managed to do something (two somethings, actually – double chocolate banana bread and banana muffins) with the bowl of bananas that got away from us over the weekend (Raegge helped bake and “do” the dishes), and now I am writing.

I’d say that right there is a recipe for a Boss First Day Home Solo!

Now….just wait for Friday when nobody but the hubs has school and I’ve got all four by myself in the house all day. I’m guessing that will be a post-inspiring day as well, and perhaps for entirely different reasons!