Your first baby is a unique, special creature. He was showered with attention. His life is documented in great detail. He only consumed organic, homemade foods. And then your second comes along and you get a little more realistic in your parenting goals. Here are a few signs you’ve loosened up a little for Baby #2.
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Photo: Jim Champion via Flickr
1. With your first baby, you would NEVER disrupt their nap time for an outing. And if you were out, you would rush home to settle them into their darkened room while they drifted off to whale sounds from the white noise machine. Now you’ve got school pickup and soccer practice to go to, so baby learns to sleep whenever, wherever!
2. During your first pregnancy, you read every single article and blog post you could about the size of your baby, your symptoms, what to expect and what was happening inside your tummy at that stage. This time around, you pop your prenatal vitamins and just let your body keep doing its thing.
Photo: Mark Doliner via Flickr
3. You swear by hand-me-downs. Why buy new footed PJs when you have bins full in your basement from your first little?
Photo: Tia Henriksen via Flickr
4. Baby #1 watched no more than a half hour of educational TV a day, and not until after his third birthday. Baby #2 has his own streaming videos account, and he is six months old.
Photo: Family O’Abe via Flickr
5. Your first had 247 photo albums dedicated to her. Baby #2’s life is documented on your phone during feedings.
6. When your first born dropped their soother, you boiled it or washed it thoroughly in hot water before returning it to them. When your second drops a soother or a toy you give it a quick wipe on your pants and think to yourself, “He’ll have a strong immune system!”
Photo: Kona Gallagher via Flickr
7. You catch Baby #2 licking the TV and instead of thinking, “Oh, no!” you think “No way! My toddler turned on the Bachelor?” By now, you’ve seen your first kid lick much, much worse.
Photo: Caroline Tran via Flickr
8. “Sleep when the baby sleeps” seems like some sort of sick joke.
Photo: Bjorn Giesenbauer via Flickr
9. You rocked your first to sleep every night — and sometimes fell asleep right there with him. For the second it’s bing-bam-boom … to the crib he goes!
10. Baby #2’s jumper/activity center is affectionately known as the ‘Circle of Neglect’ around your house. And you feel very little guilt about it.
Photo: Moke076 via Flickr
11. Your partner, parents, in-laws and other family members never missed a single sonogram appointment the first time around. Now you fly solo! (And you use it as an excuse for some extra alone time.)
Photo: Anothony J via Flickr
12. When somebody asks if they can hold the baby, instead of being skeptical, you say “YES!” as if you have just won the lottery.
Photo: Donnie Ray Jones via Flickr
13. You had no idea how you could possibly ever love another baby as much as your first. And then you met your second and your breath was taken away. You realize love has no limits and you couldn’t be happier.
What do YOU think are the signs that you’re on your second baby? Let us know in the Comments!
–Heather Dixon
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