It has been two weeks since Patrick’s arrival into our lives. Already two weeks since heading to the hospital not sure if we would be staying or not. It was another short stay, leaving mid-afternoon the day after he was born. It was fun to have the older boys come and meet Patrick, although they were more interested in sharing my breakfast with me than getting to know their new little brother. 

We’ve had a great time with both sets of our parents visiting for a handful of days each. I’d say one of the only positives of living away from family is that when they come to visit, they are devoted entirely to you. They cook, clean, do yard work, fix things, take the older boys away to do things. It is really quite special, and I am so thankful for it. My sister-in-law, who lives within walking distance from both sets of her parents, said she was trying to think of how different it would be with in-home help and someone to cook; I know no different! I think we need to finish having our children here, before moving back closer to family. :)

It has been fun watching Calvin and Victor with Patrick. They are, for the most part, so gentle with him. I’m excited to see their relationships grow as the years go by. I can’t say that the older boys have been perfect through this transition though. Calvin has been giving us lots more attitude, which I think Victor picks up on and copies to a degree. Victor has also been getting some eye teeth in, so he’s not always happy. And you can also throw in the coming-off-the-grandparents-visiting-high. I’ve had a handful of bad moments when I wish it was easier to communicate with toddlers and preschoolers and that discipline actually works and works instantly. But I know that these transitional times will be gone before I know it.

Patrick himself is a trooper. It’s amazing what an infant can sleep through! He’s actually quite a sleepy baby. He slept through his hospital bath. He slept for about 8 hours on his first Sunday morning, without me being able to even rouse him to eat. And he sleeps fairly well at night, and can go 5 hours in his first stretch, and last night he even did 6 hours! This is a nice change from his brothers who weren’t so great. I think it’s because he’s a big baby. Slower metabolism. Lots of chub. He’s able to hibernate. However, he has difficulty with nursing sometimes. If he is tired, it can take upwards of 10 minutes to get a good latch. But he doesn’t get frustrated, and he knows when he has a bad latch, so he just comes off and tries again until we get it. And he nurses well once he gets going. It will come naturally to him soon. For a while I was thinking that there may have been something physically wrong with him, since I had no troubles nursing the other two, and I should know better, but he doesn’t know better, and he has to figure it out. 

Currently we are in the midst of being blessed by our church community. For every baby born, they set up a meal train and we have meals delivered for a week! I highly recommend this for any community – church or otherwise. It is such a blessing to a family with a newborn, or any other life event like a move or family illness, to have a plan for people to bring meals. When our week is up, my sister will come for the following week, and then we are all heading off to BC together. Yet another blessing for us in this time; my sister will be there to help us on our first road trip with three kids! Can’t wait!