It only gets better, right?

Today has not been the easiest of days. Mei-mei seems to have hit one of her developmental growth spurts, which is characterized by the need to be held, have a boob in her mouth, or both. Constantly. This is already exhausting, but it's made even more difficult by the fact that I have another child to take care of at the same time.

This morning, every time I tried to put Mei-mei down, she started screaming at the top of her lungs. Not the sweet mewling newborn whimper -- a full-out banshee scream. With red face, swollen eyes, tears and everything. At the same time, Z was in his playroom with a dirty diaper and an empty belly. Since I'm washing my Babyhawk carrier right now, I went through three other carriers* before I could finally settle Mei-mei down in the Ergo. Then I was finally able to take care of poor Z.

By the time I changed Z's diaper and made him his lunch, he was too tired to eat. So he had a couple sips of milk, a few bites of avocado, and then went down for his nap. The sweet boy -- in spite of being neglected most of the morning, he still said, "Awwww, Mei-mei" every time he heard her cry and he tried to help her by petting the top of her head and her leg. He's such a good boy.

I've been told by numerous people that having a second child (especially when you have "two under 2") is the hardest transition. You know it's going to be hard when you have your first, so you're somewhat prepared for it mentally. And with your third and any subsequent children, you're pretty much numb to it (those were the exact words of a woman I spoke to on Saturday who has four children). Plus, by then the older kid(s) are more mature and/or in pre-school already.

But the second child -- that's the tricky one. You think you know what you're doing because you've already been through the newborn/infant stuff with your first. But you didn't take into account that you have another child who is essentially still a baby and who needs your constant attention, regardless of how little sleep you've had and how distracted you are. So it can be a shock how thinly you are stretched, especially if you don't have anyone helping or your older child isn't in daycare for at least part of the day.

We've been managing pretty well so far and each day we settle a little more into a rhythm of sorts. But that all gets tossed out the window when Mei-mei goes through a growth spurt, which she will be doing at least 6-8 times over the next year. Plus we still have four molars to cut with Z. Regardless, my sweet babies are precious and I wouldn't trade a day with them for anything (although I might trade a few hours for a nice long nap).

*And yes, I am getting rid of those three carriers that are more of a pain than a help when it comes to carrying and/or comforting the baby.