This post is brought to you by the number 2...

Mr. Gus Lee is 2 months old today. In honor of that, I thought I'd share some advice I'd give to others that are going to have 2 little ones under 2 years old.

Ours are 15 months apart. So we currently have a 2 month old and a 17 month old at home. I think a few months can make a big difference and everyone has a different experience. This advice is, obviously, based on mine.

Lucille is excited about the baby. She constantly says "baby" or "Gus" it is one of the first words out of her mouth in the morning or after her nap.

The first day I was home alone with both of them, I started to nurse Gus and Lucille ran out of the room and tripped and fell right just out of my sight. She started crying and had a goose egg developing on her forehead. I put Gus down (which of course caused him to start crying) and went to check on her. She just ran away from me and pointed to the baby, saying "baby, baby, baby" over and over again.

So while she is excited and amazed by the baby, she also knows things have changed. She doesn't get all of our attention anymore. She has to wait to get things. She doesn't always get her way. That causes some jealousy of course, but she is so young I don't think she really understands jealousy. She has tried to hit the baby or throw things and sometimes its out of excitement and sometimes its out of no where and sometimes its anger. 

Of course I explain to her that "he's little and can defend himself" and that she has to "be gentle." But again, she's still a baby herself and doesn't understand all of that. But we are working on it.

My advice:

Stick to some sort of routine for your older child, especially at bedtime. They really do thrive off of routine and once we got in a rhythm, it made bedtime a breeze again.

Let your older child be involved. Ask them to help with diaper changes by getting you a diaper or holding something (like the diaper rash cream even if you aren't going to use it.) Ask them if they want to hold the baby and help them do it. Make them a part of the babies life.

Do activities your older child enjoys. We got into a daily routine where we'd wake up and everyone would get dressed, Lucille would have her milk and maybe breakfast (unless we were going out to breakfast) and then we'd go somewhere. The park, the zoo, her favorite breakfast spot, grandma and papou's house... it doesn't matter where. The baby doesn't know the difference and I learned quickly that while it was easier to be at home with the first newborn - it was almost easier to be out with the 2 of them.

Give it a few months. It really does get easier.

A lot of this advice isn't that different than having 2 children further apart. The difference is remembering that your oldest doesn't understand everything but at the same time you have to make them feel like the big sister or big brother.

It's been hard. But it's been fun. And its gone by so fast. And I can't imagine life without our Gus.