This Guy

Axel, 2014

Yesterday I pumped a bottle for Oscar so our nanny could look after him while I took Axel on a solo outing to the playground and then give him his bath at home.

We had so much fun...he was really chatty and sweet to the other kids and clearly in a very good mood after getting some one-on-one attention from his mama. It felt great to be able to get on the ground with him and go down the slide and pick him up and do all those things that were pretty tough in my last trimester. I'd been feeling really guilty at how much I wasn't able to do recently, and it's been a challenge when I've had to nurse and Axel has looked at me, thoroughly unimpressed.

Mostly, of course, Axel has been a real trooper about the big changes around here and hasn't shown any resentment towards the new baby. He has had a lot of uncharacteristic meltdowns when Will or I leave, though, and it's pretty sad. I think because he's just 19 months old, I underestimated how much he'd feel affected by a little sibling.

We're very luck to have help at home, and my plan was always that once Oscar could take a bottle, I'd carve out more time to hang out with Axel. Now that the weather is getting better, there are plenty of adventures to be had.

We are definitely getting into toddler territory though. This morning, when Will was trying to feed Axel oatmeal, he put his hand over his mouth and said "Cookie!" on repeat. So, there's that.