Beware the Binky/Bed/Blankie/Bouncer Bandit

As expected, the new baby transition has been especially difficult for Lincoln. Lincoln was the baby. Lincoln loved being the baby. Lincoln loved to be held. He constantly had my attention. He had a good life.

Until Jonah. 

Jonah came in and stole everything Lincoln thought was his. Suddenly his mom is overwhelmingly less available, his position in the family has been altered, and a new little creature began stealing all his attention.

In fact, all the boys kind of went through a rough week or so of fighting, arguing, hitting, wrestling, and basically acting like a pack of dogs trying to figure out who the alpha male is going to be now that we've added another pup to the litter. 

I'm not sure if the role of alpha male has been successfully won over, but the mischievous male role was quickly filled by a certain toddler who took it upon himself to transition into a full-blown two-year-old once he realized his baby title had been taken. 

My sister ran into us at the library a week into our becoming-a-family-of-6 adjustment. Lincoln was running around, not minding any of Jeff or my requests. He was shouting orders at people, belligerently shouting "No!" just because he could, and it was here he discovered he could run and I could not while I was recovering. 

My sister, who had just watched old, innocent, sweet, baby Lincoln for 3 days, looked on with disbelief as she saw first-hand the drastic transition our toddler had made. "He acts like he's the big man on campus now!" She said with a laugh upon watching his hyperactive library shenanigans. 

And so it has continued at home. Lincoln is a tornado of trouble. Every morning as Lincoln barges in while I nurse Jonah, I try to convince Lincoln that he's too big to lay in the baby's pack-n-play while he dangles his feet threateningly into the bed. 

Then I shower and come out to a little munchkin who has plopped himself in baby's bouncer with baby's blanket, convincingly claiming them both as his own. 

After I burp Jonah and lay him down next to me, Lincoln wedges himself right up next to me as close as possibly and then slowly makes efforts to shove Jonah away with his feet. 

This is how we nurse in the afternoon. 

And this is where I find Jonah's binky before bed.

Poor Lincoln. He's even tried to steal Jonah's name. For as quickly as he grew up, he's sure wanting to go back to being the baby. 

We're all thankful when Jeff comes home from work to help everyone wrestle out their new baby anxieties. I am happy to sit on the couch with peaceful new baby and watch the chaos, wondering if I will ever grow to understand the appeal of wrestling as I raise all these boys. 

 Now here are a bunch of pictures of Jonah to make you feel updated on the first 3 weeks of his life:

The folded ear in all its glory.

He looks very Jeff-y to me here.

His umbilical cord got really stinky, fell off super early, and then wouldn't stop bleeding for a week! I put a band-aid over it because I thought it was bleeding from rubbing against his diaper. At his 2-week appointment the pediatrician put silver nitrate on it and it's finally on the mend.

I said prayers and prayers that this baby would sleep, and sleep he does! Hallelujah!

My friends came to visit and swoon over baby one evening.

They were so nice and brought dinner and gifts with them. I opened the gifts up after they left and put one of the outfits on Jonah. It wasn't until I had it all the way on him that I laughed out loud upon noticing the symbolism.

The jammies are super cute, but he's still so small that he's a little swallowed up in them.

 Jeff's been enjoying Jazz games with his newest sports fan.

I've started venturing outside with the little guy. I've been feeling great and have had a smooth recovery! It's hard to feel great but still give my body time to heal. Luckily the weather has been nice so we aren't going totally stir crazy while we're cooped up resting and recovering.

 We're 3 weeks in and we are starting to function as a normal family instead of a pack of dogs. :) Everyone's finding their place and we're slowly figuring out how to do the 4-kid shuffle.