Mommybrain and Third Child Syndrome

I have serious Mommybrain. There was the day I forgot to pick up the girls on a half day of school. There was the day where I went into school to write a lunch check and would have walked out without my checkbook, had a friend not been standing next to me and reminded me. Later that day I went to Walgreens with all 3 girls, and nearly walked out without my purchases until the cashier stopped me.

Other than that, I just can't focus. It's the culprit of my lack of blogging. When I have my few moments to write something, I'm blank. I've forgotten to do some of my jobs. If a customer asks for files over the phone, I can nearly guarantee I won't remember to send them.

Meanwhile, this poor third child. She has to be much more flexible than the other two were. I've found I'm able to tune out the fussing a lot of the time. So Captain America often has to wake me up to go feed her. Just now, I had Zoey under an activity gym staring at the toys she can't reach. She started fussing. Natalie said to me, "Mom? Can you give her the nuk? I'm busy right now." Oh. Right.

I blame the lack of sleep. For all of it. Zoey's a decent sleeper, it's just that her day/night is a little shifted. Day seems to start around noon, and end around midnight. We're working on that. Well, Captain America is working on it. I'm too tired.

All the baby-ness

Oh my word but it is a delight to have this child on the outside. I know they're not all that fun at first, but I do enjoy cuddling a squishy baby. I'm enjoying her immobility as well, since I know it will be short-lived.

I'm also loving the age gap. Ella & Natalie are somewhat self-sufficient, and they're great helpers. Don't get me wrong, I'm so happy Ella & Natalie are close in age to each other. But it's making babyhood much more fun than when I also had a diaper-wearing toddler running around. It's been so fun to watch them love on their little sister. I'm sure there will be days when the novelty wears off, but for now we're still all head over heels for her.

We're sort of settling into a bit of a routine, and Zoey has proven to be fairly flexible in that respect. The whole SuperMom thing is a little overwhelming, but I'm accepting that I can't get it all done right now. There's a baby, two school-agers who need to be transported, housekeeping, cooking, and plenty of work to do. I'm inclined to let the housekeeping & cooking go, since that's an easy place for Captain America to pick up slack (and there's always pizza or McDonald's). And let me tell you, he steps up his game. Every time Zoey's up at night, he gets up first to change her diaper. He also spearheads the clean up movement on Saturdays, after making sure I can sleep in.

So the routine is evolving. Zoey's gathering nicknames (not from me): Zo-Zo, Zoester, Lil Z. We're getting used to our new normal. And as it was with the other two, it's hard to imagine Zoey hasn't always been a part of our lives.