My Baby, Eli

I have a 13 month old- did you know that? I didn't! No, I really do know but I feel like I barely know him. (BTW- he is walking!) I have been struggling with this feeling for months now. Just recently after talking to Russ about this, wouldn't you know, this article showed up on Twitter:

http://www.parents.com/advice/parenting/better-parenting/how-can-i-deal-with-the-guilt-of-not-being-able-to-spend-as-much-time-with-my-second-child/

Now, it isn't exactly my case in that the youngest is already talking, but it still drives home the same ideas Russ and I came up with- dividing up the time. This might seem like an obvious idea but honestly, Aiden is very demanding of me. He is finally starting to get comfortable with the idea that Russ can put him to bed too. With us working, there is a very small window of time that we get with the kids that isn't revolved around tasks like dinner, bath and bedtime. We all sit down to eat together, I give the boys baths, Russ gets them dressed, and usually, we both play with the kids. Eli prefers his daddy for his bottle, and Aiden prefers I bring him to bed. I feel like Eli gravitates towards Russ because often, Aiden is not well behaved these days, so I am doing one on one activities in the kitchen with him to keep him from hurting his brother. In the end, it is hurting my time with Eli.

Tonight, Russ is taking Aiden to the circus. I am jealous in that I won't be able to see how excited he gets or how he reacts to the clowns, but I also am excited because I get to have a few hours of one-on-one time with Elijah.



BTW- I tried to find a recent picture of me with Elijah but not one has been taken in months and months!