The Munce Family: Grey hairs and a newborn.

Its no secret I'm 35, I'm really comfortable with where I am and how long it took me to get here. I remember fretting about not being married earlier in life, but it turns out, timing is everything. Four kids was my magic number, Dave's was six, until we had a couple and then his turned in to 4, too. I feel like I'm about two years too late for #4. Why roll the dice when we have three healthy great kids? My mom keeps calling me a professional mommy, get pregnant, deliver, nurse, and settle into a new routine. Granted, she is not around 24/7 so she doesn't know how hectic it is (although she did it, and she had twins on top of it! She also admits to not remembering those crazy 20 years of having small kids), but I do appreciate that she recognizes that I'm doing it.

We have had some regression from both kids since Piper's arrival, boy have we ever. Initially Sully was acting out and being more aggressive then we are used to, this has improved, although has not completely gone away. He had been coming in at night to crawl into bed with us and secretly Dave and I loved it. We were worried how it would go with an extra babe in our room, but Piper does great in her rock and play, so Sully has his spot secured in our bed. He continues with his school routine so I think that has helped him to adjust.

Greta had her 2 year appointment yesterday, she is 24lbs and 33inches (25th percentile for both). Her post Piper behavior has been more significant. The hitting, biting, pushing, kicking, and sleep habits have all taken a turn for the worse. The sleep, or no sleep I should say, is awful. She and Sully share a room and she has been up in the night at least twice, screaming. Dave and I lay in bed and hope she works it out before waking Sully, usually she doesn't. Dave ends up going in to provide some comfort, but we are tired. Between Piper waking to feed, Sully waking to come in to our room and Greta and her new sleep habits, nights are long. Dr Sam pretty much told us we have a normal 2 year old and there is no fix, more of a 'they call it terrible twos for a reason, hang in there.' It is reassuring that we are not doing something wrong, although the aggressive behavior towards other kids does feel like a direct result of our parenting which is both frustrating and embarrassing. This too shall pass.

Greta isn't all naughty, she is sweet, lovable, and silly, too. She wakes up smiling, she always asks for daddy first, and then her blankey and her baby Lulu, and then a pancake. Last week she brought a pad (mommy's diaper) to our painter who blushed as she and asked him if it belonged to Piper, I quickly took it away and said 'yes, that is Piper's diaper!'

Dave and I are exhausted, sleep and behavior issues are nonstop right now. I have moments of feeling too old for this, I can't imagine how he must feel ;). However, I can't imagine having to have sacrificed any of my single experiences in order to have done this part of life sooner. I'm nursing my baby one minute and seeking out grey hairs the next, but that's normal for me. I know Dave still holds out hope for one more down the road, but we are content for now, lets face it, we can hardly tell which direction is up half the time.

Thankfully I have an appointment to color those grey hairs next week.