So with a 22 month old in the house, you always have to be diligent. Our son is very, how can I say it wisely, rambunctuious. Now with a newborn added to our family dynamic, we have to be especially careful. So what have we dealt with in the first week we’ve been home…

First of all, our son didn’t think he was real. He would just point and say baby. But when he decided to start grabbing the baby, we knew we had to work with him on his gentle nature. Our son has no gentle nature so we have been working with him constantly on being gentle and not trying to rip his toes off.

In addition, we think our son has become somewhat protective of his brother. He is very worried about where his baby is, and always trys to share. This has led to numerous attempts to throw cars at his brother while he snoozes in his bassinnet. We’ve definiely had to become more diligent on that front.

The kicker came today when the kids and I returned home from breakfast. We came in the door, my seven year old went and sat down at the kitchen table, arguing as usual with me. The 22 month old started playing with his cars and my sleeping newborn was happily in dreamland, still strapped in his car seat on the floor. As I argued with my daughter I walked over to the couch to pick up some laundry that had to be washed for the baby. When I walked back, my toddler was pointing at the baby’s car seat, saying baby. He had flipped the baby’s carseat upside down, the poor sleeping baby was upside down, dangling from his secure harness. No harm was done to the baby, just my heart as I almost had a heart attack.

The lesson? Never turn your back, even for one second. From that point on, the newborn was in a sling on my side or the toddler was no where to be found. Ugh!