1m2aSandbox

For everyone who’s been reading my blogs which rhapsodize endlessly on Maddie’s love affair with her sister and who have been wondering when the other shoe would drop, I think I see it falling from the sky.

Madeleine’s starting to realize that, while Baby Sister is a fun toy and good for a snuggle, she’s also a potential rival for Parent Time or, even worse, a Lap Usurper. Madeleine’s beginning to see the downside to having a sister, and wondering if she’s going to regret this life change.

When Maddie was born, the hospital sent us home with a new-parent packet that included a handy little sheet for recording feedings and diaper changes for the first week. We were instructed to fill it out in detail and bring it to our one-week check-up. In addition to space for noting feedings and changings, it helpfully described what the poop should look like each day (black tarry, brown tarry, yellow seedy, etc.) and how many wet and poopys we should have that first week.

When those seven days were up, I continued using the sheet of paper, making notes in the margins for feedings and changes. I found the written log to be not only comforting (look! I am keeping her alive!) but helpful in my sleep-deprivation; I couldn’t remember from one feeding to the next what time I’d started or which breast was used first. I also found solace in seeing my life laid out on that timetable: there was actual proof as to why I was so exhausted all the time, and even a rough pattern emerging.

Since Madeleine was a c-section, the whole vaginal-birth-and-recovery thing was totally new to me. And just as I mentioned in a recent labor blog, I definitely learned a few new things:

Maddie’s second birthday is over and
done, and has left a field of wrapping paper and AA battery-laden
debris in its wake.

I have to tell you, I really enjoyed
Madeleine’s first birthday, but it didn’t even compare
to her Birthday Weekend Extravaganza that we just witnessed.

Madeleine’s second birthday is
coming up and we’re celebrating this weekend with a few
friends at – where else – the zoo. Nana and Papa are
flying into town and it’s going to be a big shindig, I
guarantee it.


I remember how I felt last year at this time: weepy, nostalgic, not
wanting to see my baby grow into a toddler. I was digging in my
heels and being dragged kicking and screaming into Maddie’s
toddlerhood. This time around I stand in disbelief: where has this
year gone?

Since Madeleine was a c-section, I went into Cora’s birth as a first time laborer. I took a Lamaze class with Maddie, a refresher class geared specifically towards VBACs with Cora, and read all my books. I’d coached my girlfriend Abby through both of her births, and felt confident I knew what was in store though I’d never experienced it.

What can I say? I learned a few things. As much as you know that there’s a difference between reading about something and experiencing it first-hand, you don’t really get it until you go through it. Here are some of the fun facts I discovered I’d missed in all my research:

As I mentioned in an earlier blog,
Maddie’s first meeting with Cora was an unqualified success.
This didn’t happen by accident, though: we spent a lot of
time talking to friends about what worked with new siblings, and
getting advice on how to help Maddie transition during the
pregnancy. I now pass this advice along to you!


First, a recap of the pregnancy –