The only child transition

Remember how obsessed I was with how Maddie was going to take the upheaval of a new baby in the house? I think I obsessed over it a few (thousand) times.

Well, I'm not going to be one of those moms that says "Oh she was great, took to it like a champ, no real issues." Because really? That would be a lie...

In fairness, Maddie has been more than loving and accepting and mothering towards her new baby sister. To the point of coming over to her and petting her face whenever she cries, saying, "S'okay Katie, shh-shh-shh, s'okay."

How friggin' cute is that?

And towards Daddy there hasn't been a large change - in fact, I'd venture a "nothing has changed at all" in their relationship. She's still a Daddy's Girl, relishes his attention when he's home from work and wants to be near him most of the time.

But with me? Well, it varies. Luckily I'm not getting a tonne of aggression - in fact, she hasn't been nearly as pissed at me as I expected she would be. Instead there's a lot of, "Mama do it!" going on instead. "Mama read me another story." "Mama pick me up." "Mama take me to the potty." "Mama come outside to play with me."

Usually this only happens while I'm breastfeeding Katie or doing something equally as difficult to multi-task with.

Of course, right?

So there's been a few challenges behaviour-wise. Bedtime recently has been exceptionally difficult. But on the upside: there's been no major regressions in behaviour (unless you count the requests to be carried around and the one request for "boobie milk" she made one night - erm.... yeah, they might count, right?) and potty training has continued without a hitch. I don't want to jinx myself and say she's "trained" - but she does (often) go to the potty without being asked, hasn't had an accident in almost a week and can navigate the whole potty experience on her own (especially as she refuses to wear anything but dresses nowadays).

As long as the meltdowns go away (or at last subside slightly), I think I can handle this two-kid-gig. It`s a bit precarious at the moment, but at least leaning to the side of manageability...

And that's a good thing, since I'm pretty sure they didn't come with a "return policy".

xxoo.S