third time around

 

 I have realized how different things get with each baby you have. We're on the third baby, so this certainly isn't our first rodeo. By now, I've learned a lot about which things are really important: a bed for the kid to sleep in, clothes for the kid to wear, some diapers.  I also realized some things that were not really necessary by the time Cheney arrived: little containers for pacis in my diaper bag (forget it. PACIS ARE EVERYWHERE), paci wipes (I promise this is a thing. I let pacis have a general 30 seconds on the floor rule before they get a good ol' wipe on my shirt), pee pee teepees (Cheney didn't need these, obviously. But if we're being honest, neither did the boys. Being peed on is a right of passage for any mom & I guarantee that a little felt teepee wouldn't protect you)

 

It is just so funny now that I think about how I acted when Grayson was a baby to how I act now with Cheney. I was SO SUPER scheduled with G. To a fault. Cheney definitely has a nap schedule and a bedtime but I have realized that she will survive if we get her off of that schedule.

 

I think I let things slide a lot more with Cheney too. As in, don't freak out about much. When Grayson would put anything in his mouth that didn't belong to him it would make me crazy. I just KNEW he would get sick. Cheney found old bubblegum at the splash pad this summer and decided that it looked tasty. Yes, you read that right. SHE PUT SOMEONE ELSE'S CHEWED GUM IN HER MOUTH. Now, I may have gagged a little at the thought, but we threw it in the bushes and that was that. She also frequently eats dog food. Luckily, I think we are at the end of that fascination/obsession....but for awhile, Beneful Fiesta was her favorite snack. Oh well. It has to be safe if the dogs eat it, right?

I'm glad I've loosened up during this parenting thing. Maybe a little too much at times, because we definitely ran completely out of diapers last week. That certainly never happened with the first two.  Oh well. Hopefully Cheney will make it in this life despite me not obsessively wiping pacis off, keeping her away from the dog food, and allowing her to wallow on the floor of Monkey Joe's (see above).  Something tells me she will be just fine.