Life with Littles | Transitioning from One to Two

I think I'm going to start a new blog series - Life with Littles - where I periodically talk about life with my two little girls and ask for lots of advice! Today is Joe's first day back at work since Naomi joined our family! And I have lots of mixed feelings and emotions about it all. It feels good to be "independent" but I'm also really tired...already...and it's barely noon. Of course, Naomi decided to sleep poorly the night before daddy went back to work which means I didn't get much sleep. Such is life, right? But besides the exhaustion, I've just grown accustomed to Joe being around the past three weeks, helping with anything and everything.

I can't imagine what it must be like for a toddler to go from being an only child and basically the sole object of her parents' affections and then bam, baby. A cute and cuddly baby, but one that's taking at least one parent away from her all the time. So, for this first Life with Littles post, I'm desperately seeking advice on how to transition from 1 kid to 2 kids. I don't want to overthink it, but I want to do it right.

The first two weeks have been rough. While Zoe LOVES Naomi and wants to smother her in kisses and play with her toes all day long, Zoe's also needed so much love and attention (thankfully Joe was here to devote hours and hours to her). I asked on instagram (and received some awesome advice), but I'm curious - how did YOU do it? Do you have any activity suggestions for Zoe while I'm nursing Naomi? How did you make your older child feel wanted and loved when so much of your time needs to be devoted to your new babe? What tasks (real or pretend) did you give your toddler to make them feel like a big kid?

Also....television. I'm trying to navigate this area carefully. It's SO incredibly easy to set Zoe in front of a show (she's easily occupied for at least an hour...sometimes more), especially with our new Intel 2 in 1 device. We carry it around the house and conveniently set it up wherever we're camping out...at the dining room table, sitting on the couch, in the kitchen, and I'm sure it will be helpful when I think about potty training. I have some meetings in the next few weeks, and I will definitely be bringing the tablet along to help entertain Zoe! It's so sturdy, I don't mind letting Zoe hold it on her lap, and she loves being able to touch the screen and pause the show all by herself! But I don't want to be that parent who just resorts to shoving technology in their kid's face whenever it's convenient. Did you let your toddler watch tv shows? If so, how did you limit it? Do you have any cute/educational/not annoying show suggestions?

Zoe absolutely loves helping in the kitchen. If I'm in there, she usually wants to be by my side or stationed at the kitchen table. She loves making dried bean soup, and pouring water from container to container. She also makes us tea (thanks to her great Nana for her fun tea set), and bakes with her wooden baking set. As soon as she's a bit taller, I think I'll let her "wash dishes" in the kitchen sink (it's too deep right now). At what age did you allow your toddler to actually help in the kitchen (stirring/chopping/setting the table/washing/etc)?

Can't wait to learn from you and hear how you dealt with a growing family!

Photography by Anna Clair Photography for A Daily Something (with exception of photos #4 and #7).

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