2u2- the good, the bad and the ugly.

[biblionerd]

Ohhhhhh, let's see. Disclaimer though that mine might be different because Linus was only 11 months so he wasn't nearly as "helpful" as an almost 2 year old. I think of having a newborn right now and he is completely different than he was 9 months ago, but good and bad. So it's hard to compare:

Pros (because I have to think of all the good things before I list all the cons)

1. They LOVE each other. I get cheesy warm fuzzies every.single.day watching them play together. They have already become so close.

2. Built in playmates their age. Having them so close means they're interested in all of the same things. Fiona skipped a lot of the little baby toys and just wanted to play with WHATEVER Linus was playing with. So there's no fighting over what they want to play with (yet) because they both are very similar developmentally. They like the same type of shows, so no fighting over an older kid wanting a bigger kid's show, etc. Awesome when we can't get out of the house for whatever reason. It's not like they're totally isolated since they already have a playmate their age.

3. The closer you have them, the sooner your babymaking years are over.  I REALLY like knowing that we're going to have all of our kids and then be done. I'm not one who enjoyed pg though, so maybe that's a part of it. I'm just not the kind of person to have a 5 or 6 yr old and go back and have a nb again. Once we have our 3 we will be DONE with sleepless nights (for the most part), diapers, potty training, etc.

4. Easier to match them in matching outfits. That one's for you Trudy lol. When they're in totally different size ranges it's harder.

5. They're experiencing a lot of the same things/firsts at the same time. It was both of their first trip to the zoo, both of their first trip to the museum, etc. Just really fun that they're having a lot of the same life experiences.

6. Don't have to worry about where to store all of the baby crap for years since you'll be using it so soon!

Cons

1. SLEEEEEEEEEEP. I freaking miss sleep. DS was a god awful sleeper the entire time I was pg- talking like up 5 or 6 times a night. I.was.miserable. It gave me some fantastic judgey laughs at all of the FTM though who were complaining about being OH SO EXHAUSTED that they just could not function. Please. *-) Then DD was an amazing sleeper when she was first born and now I'm back to being exhausted being up all night. I'm telling myself it's molars so I have something to look forward to.

2. Chaos. It's really chaotic. Like, lots. I still LMAO at how I thought I never had free time with one. I just really can't comprehend now what on earth was so hard. You just develop a different frame of reference I guess. Especially with a nb, there's no "me time" when baby is sleeping and you can do whatever you want, because all of a sudden you have two taking up every spare minute of the day. It gets much better as they get older though. I would say crawling was a big milestone for that. Once she was mobile and could "chase" after her brother they started playing together and didn't need me 24/7. This is one of the things that I don't really know about 2u2 vs 2u1 though. When DD was born, DS still couldn't even spoon feed himself. He wasn't even walking!! So a 2 yr old will be much more capable, which will probably make things much easier.

3. PG was much harder. Just the 2nd pg in general was very physically hard. Then I had to lug around a 25lb baby all day long. Yours will be walking though, so hopefully the physical part will be easier. And Linus was ginormous. It just really sucked to not be able to sleep when I needed to. It was so hard to keep my eyes open some days, nonetheless be solely responsible for another little human's life who can't really tell you what they need still.

4. Going anywhere is very hard. It's just recently gotten much easier now that she's on one nap and a little more independent. DS isn't at the point of walking next to me independently without running away so they both have to be contained at all times. It's not like an older kid who you can trust to stay in the same store aisle (hell, same STORE) as you. He doesn't come when called. Then once DD got mobile they're going in opposite directions. I just pick the quicker one to chase down first.

5. Temper tantrums. One baby throwing a temper tantrum is hard, both is insane. They just feed off of each other's crying. And until DS could talk neither could tell me what they wanted except for to just sit there and freaking cry. It was very nerve-wracking.

6. DS was a very hard baby and is turning into a very hard toddler. Thank god DD is sweet and easy (so far). Their personalities are night and day, and honestly if I ended up with 2 that had personalities like Linus I would have gone insane by now.

7. There aren't enough hours in the day it seems like. No way am I getting a shower every day. I'm envious of those who do. Part of the problem is our house though. We have a closed floorplan so I can't work in the kitchen and do dishes, for instance, and watch them play in the living room. And DS isn't old enough/trust worthy enough not to try and pick up his sister or push her over. So they have to be supervised so I'm stuck with them a lot when I could be more productive.

It's really worth it though. Promise. I found the switch from 0 to 1 WAAAAY harder than 1 to 2. We still want 3u3 so it obviously hasn't been that traumatizing.

[biblionerd]

wow, that was huge. And a lot of smiley faces. woops

[dixeedeluxe]

My kids have also been wearing the same SIZE diaper for a few months. So it's really like nothing.

Being pregnant with a kid who was learning to walk was rough. Then a kid who was learning to run. Then a kid who was learning to do cool stuff like play outside and color. I had a really really difficult pregnancy and I hear some women who had no problems with such things. But, you can't predict it. I have a very supportive partner, so I have no regrets about that. She never wanted for anything.

[Deleted]

Apr 9, 2013 10:03:05 GMT -5 @pcloadletter said:

Apr 9, 2013 10:01:31 GMT -5 TrudyCampbell said:

Oh man, Violet was the easiest newborn. I'm going to be screwed next time and get some annoying, crying BOY who never sleeps.

Hey my groddy ol' boy is an angel!!! Serious, there is no baby sweeter than Owen. Maybe you'll get one of those boys.

Elias wasn't a super easy newborn. He didn't cry a lot but was gassy and napped shitty. But he is the sweetest boy ever. I swear boys just have a different sweetness to them. Girls are sweet too, but I feel like they have the evil grin to them sometimes.

[Deleted]

I wish one of you 2U2 moms had twins second so you could prepare me!

[Deleted]

Apr 9, 2013 15:50:06 GMT -5 biblionerd said:

wow, that was huge. And a lot of smiley faces. woops

Your number 3 con is my life right now. So. Hard. I can't imagine how it'll be in 20 more weeks!! 

[jaime183]

Apr 9, 2013 10:10:11 GMT -5 irishsara said:

Awww... you just don't know how adorable sweet and awesome the boys are! They love their mama's oh so much! And that drama that most girls exist in? Boys don't do it. They are freaking awesome. Trust me!

DS 1 and 3 were awesome. DS 2 was a holy terror. But, he is just the sweetest thing ever and loves me soo much. I swear some days if he could crawl back in to the womb he would. When those little boys look at you with their sweet little voices and say "mommy, you look so pretty today." I swear, you'll melt. You just wait.

after teaching 3rd grade... I would have to say boys have drama too!

but i love having a son!