Parker's World

Parker is so far largely indifferent to Miranda and Elizabeth. He knows they're there, of course, and if you ask him what’s in your arms he’ll say a baby, and if you ask him what a baby says he’ll say wah wah wah, but I don’t think they’ve really made it onto his radar in any meaningful way.

Which isn’t to say that he’s acting as if they aren’t there. Parker has for 21 months been the one true center of the universe chez Long, but now the balance has shifted, and he’s been living on the edge of a funk since we got home from the hospital. He knows something is different, and not in a good way, although he hasn't connected it to the girls. He’s whining more, and slipping into tantrums more frequently, and wanting to be picked up and held. He hasn’t been a problem child, exactly, but he’s obviously out of sorts.

I've been determined to make the transition to a family of five as painless as possible for Parker, and so I've been inclined try to give him at least a close approximation of center-of-universe-hood at least for a little while longer. This has meant, in large part, being willing to sing The Little White Duck to him dozens of times in a row (no kidding) and going back into his room twice or six times after he goes to bed to remind him that yes, he really needs to go night night already, right after this one last verse of eeh eye eeh eye oh. Ordinarily I try not to let Parker play me, but this definitely feels like a situation where some indulgence is in order.

**Update**
I may have spoken too soon on the problem child front. Last night we had an hour-long bout of full-blown hysterics, at 3am, that only resolved when we brought him up to bed with us. Good times. And today he seems to have learned a new phrase: no baby! And the transition continues....

Ignoring the two sunning lumps in the basinet


Falling off the wagon after almost a full year clean


The full family's first trip to the park


Really not wanting to leave the park