The Too Easy Transition

I'm almost afraid to say it... to write it... but E's transition has been too easy.  She sleeps like a champ, out eats our boys, and isn't fussy.  She hasn't had a mourning period yet, maybe she never will.  In a phone check-up by our agency, we said we weren't trying to paint a pretty picture.  The picture is that pretty.  Brent came up with a cute tag line for this first week:  I'm not sugar coating it.  It's all sugar.

All of this new stimuli should be overwhelming her, but instead she feeds off of it.  She absorbs the new and energizes from it.  We were prepared for our lives and family outings to drastically change, but they haven't. Watch, as soon as I hit publish, poo will hit the fan.  She's fit right in... roughhousing with Daddy, entranced by the toy room overkill, crawling through blanket forts made by her brothers, and wanting Mommy more and more.  Dad is off duty.  His return to work on Monday didn't concern me at all.  Though he did call three times to check on me.  It has been so smooth.

Now, Penn has been a pistol.  That's a different story.  We expected him to react, but his emotions are inconsistent. And he must not have heard the word "No" all three weeks in Florida.  

I.ro.ny - noun -  Penn launching a nuclear bomb at Everlee when she touches his long lost favorite things but crying uncontrollably when she heads upstairs to take her nap.

He has had a hard time with the change.  Especially the first couple of days.  He wanted kisses when he saw us give her kisses.  He wanted carried often.  He tried to talk like a baby.  He lost his status in the family and would react too if it was a newborn from my belly.  I devoted my attention (thus no FB or blogging... or cleaning the casa for that matter) during her nap to Goochy.  He was particularly pumped about a train track we built that went under the coffee table.

We have seen improvement this week.  He is not competing for love anymore, is not asking to be carried, and talks like a 3-year-old.  The jealousy of her relationship with Beck also affects him.  He wants her to come to him and is constantly in her face offering hugs, kisses, and annoying songs.  She likes playing side by side with Penn.  Prefers him when playing, actually.  Until he oversteps her invisible boundary. Then comes pushing.  Thankfully, he does not push back. These exchanges are minimal.  Truly, I can not stress this enough, the transition has easier than anticipated.

The biggest changes I feel as a mom are the balance of attention and the burden of added laundry and dishes. She's so little, but with the drooling, we go through a number of outfits and changes of bedding.  And I've been far more intentional with my time.  I'm happy to do so.  That's it. Nothing taxing.  Nothing crazy.  I've taken all three to the supermarket, waterpark, aquarium, and a sit down lunch by myself.  It's been that easy.

I'm probably jinxing myself.

I'll take it while I have it.