The Struggles of the Second Born Child

 
For the first year of a baby's life, parents are preoccupied with making sure their baby sleeps enough and isn't bothered when they are catching those zzz's.  With Shepherd, this was fairly easy.  I would rock him to sleep in the peace and quiet of our room and then tip-toe softly out the door.  Lydia, however, doesn't get the hours of rocking or the quiet nap times or really any peace whatsoever.  Turns out, when you are the second child, the first child is like a little tornado wreaking havoc all over your bedtime.  Here are just a few of the ways Shepherd has interrupted Lydia's sleep:

-Ever since Lydia was born, Shepherd has enjoyed identifying all of her body parts, especially her facial features.  Imagine being woken because I toddler is picking your nose while proudly yelling, "Nose," or poking you in the eyes and ears for his own personal anatomy lesson.  From Lydia's reaction, I deduce it is unpleasant.  And very hard to sleep through.

-While putting Lydia down for a nap this past weekend, Shepherd stormed into the bedroom with my pie crust shield around his neck screaming, "Pie hat! Pie hat!"

-Shepherd is like every other human being on earth: he wants what he can't have.  This means that if I close a door, and he and I are on opposite sides of that door, he officially wants me more that anything ever ever ever.  Every night, I close my bedroom door so that I can get Lydia to bed, and on those unfortunate nights when Shepherd sees me do this, a scene soon follows not unlike Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire.  However, instead of wailing "Stella," Shepherd is screaming in utter agony, "Mama, Mama!"

-Most of the time, Shepherd does realize that when mommy is putting baby to bed, he is supposed to be quiet.  However, when he thinks "quiet," he doesn't think "no talking." Instead, he thinks "whisper," and if you've ever heard a toddler whisper, you probably know just how loud a whisper can be.  I can't count the number of times I've had Lydia asleep only to have Shepherd tiptoe in with his little pointer finger over his mouth, look at me very seriously in the eyes, and then whisper in the loudest whisper I've ever heard, "Baby sleeping."  Baby doesn't sleep long after what might as well be the cacophony of her big brother's well-intentioned whispers.

So if the next time you see Lydia, she seems a bit sleep-deprived and grumpy, cut the girl a break.  She has a tough time catching a nap around this place.