Supermom?

My son has spent the past two and a half hours doing his best imitation of Jack Nicholson from "The Witches of Eastwick". No, he hasn't been floating around a ballroom or a tennis court. Rather, I was thinking of a scene near the end where Jack Nicholson's character is standing in the wind and, clearly enraged and in pain, says, "Why are you doing this to me, why?" My poor baby has had some bad gas pain, and he was standing up on my lap screaming at me with a similiar expression on his face.

When he was a newborn I would be frustrated by this. Our DD was never that gassy, and so dealing with a baby who screamed for several hours from gas was just a bit nerve-wracking. Now I know what the problem is, and I know some strategies for coping, but when he was a few weeks' old it was very frustrating. I'm sure the poor kiddo knew he was annoying us because DH and I got a "tone" to our voices when dealing with it at 3 am. Maybe that is why he is so much more smiley than his sister was at this age--sort of apologizing for the inconvenience and showing us, "Hey, I really am loveable despite the whole gas thing."

I wish there were a way to reassure him that just because he's different from his sister, doesn't mean we didn't love him from the start. It just took us some time to learn his differences, and perhaps a reminder that one newborn doesn't fit all, haha. I hope he never feels like I love him less than his sister, I just love him differently, because he is different from her. I hope that makes sense. I love him because he's his own person, different from me, his dad, his sister, everyone. I find it fascinating discovering those differences, and I know already that things that work for his sister aren't going to work for him. I suppose it's one of those things I didn't really think about before his birth, that he would be so completely different. I do see similarities, but for the most part I think these two kids are quite distinct from each other.

Of course I feel a strong connection with DD because she is older, and I have had more time to get to know her. As I try to figure out this new little guy in our family, I hope he understands when I have to spend time with his big sis and maybe let him fuss for a few minutes when I put her down for her nap. I don't want him to feel neglected, but she needs her mommy too. It's a tough balancing act. I hope I'm not screwing up!