In a nutshell

It seems Oscar's first month of life will go largely undocumented, but on the bright side, there wasn't much variety to these first 4 weeks. He basically slept, ate, pooped, ate, pooped, slept, pooped and ate, usually in that order. He's now seeming more of a "baby" to us and less of a little alien parasite, albeit a cute one. It's been a challenge figuring out how to entertain a 3-year-old and keep an infant alive without losing what little sanity I have left, but we're managing. Some days better than others. I have to say though, the second kid gets the shaft. I can count on my fingers the times Oscar cried for only a second before picking him up to nurse, more likely, he's cried for at least 5 or 10 minutes while I raced around trying to complete whatever task I was in the middle of before scooping him up. I can say though, that I've become quite adept at nursing and doing many other household tasks at the same time; something I never would have done with Annie when she was an infant. Such things as cook, dress, make beds, type, and play doctor with Annie. Oscar doesn't seem to mind. He's sadly used to the lack of undivided attention.

Annie's in love with her little brother and will adopt that "he's soooo cuuuute" tone of voice usually reserved for grandparents when addressing him. She'll say things like, "Oscar, don't worry, food's comin'," when I'm having trouble getting to him for whatever reason and she helps burp him, brings me diapers and pacifiers when asked. She's a big help. It's been hard for her though to adjust to not being the center of my world every second of the day. I guess it had to happen sometime. We've noticed a little more acting out and disobedience than usual, a little potty training regression, but the last few days I see a little more of the "old" Annie coming back. We had her three-year checkup and she's right where she should be, so that's a relief. She had to get a H1N1 shot the other day and was quite brave, as she always is. Since then she'll say at random points of reflection, "I don't like shots, Mama." But we've talked about how they're necessary to keep us healthy and she seems to get it. Her vocabulary grows every day and she now uses verbal pauses, like, "well," and words like "actually," often now, which always cracks me up. She'll explain if she's upset when I put something of hers away by saying, "Mama, that's important to me." She loves to dance, play doctor, pretend "school" with me. She's into puzzles (the big floor kind), playing store, and I'm always amazed at her capacity for imagination. She has made the space between the wall and Oscar's crib her "Mexican house" (we don't know why). Basically, she's becoming a pretty cool little person and an extremely patient 3-year-old. We still have it pretty good, despite the occasional tantrums and emphatic "NO!"s. I can't wait to watch her interact with Oscar as he gets older. I have a feeling she'll be a pretty fun big sister.