Baby times three
read more about: always the baby. being brothers. the middle child. mom of a few.
Because I was asked by Mona and Crunchy, life with a third kid…
I used to think that I was a pretty good parent, you know, the kind who seldom gave her kids chocolate or candy, who always fed them enough vegetables, who had creative solutions to disciplinary issues, and then I had a third kid! The one, who at 1 and a half years old, eats and does things that my eldest didn’t until he was 3!
A third baby really changes the family dynamic, it’s the start of ‘them’ vs ‘us’, it’s no longer an equal battlefield, and the hardest thing is sometimes trying to give each one the attention they deserve. The most obvious changes for me was that my middle child seems to be the one that is always left out and the little one is about a million times more spoilt than his brothers.
Having a few kids under 4 is a real test of patience, and I think that’s when parents really figure out what they are made of! My husband, who used to be the patient one at the beginning, has completely lost his cool (and a little of his mind 
), he freely admits that he cannot handle any more kids, and I can’t judge him for this, at least he does recognize that this is hard for him. I, on the other hand, still feel like I can have about 2 more! Yeah, I know!! I wanna be like Cakes! 
I couldn’t tell you specifically what makes having 3 kids seem like sooo much more than just having 2 kids, but for sure this number seems to really deter babysitting volunteers! While my first and second babies had frequent sleep-overs at my mom’s home, my third baby, who is referred to as “the baby”, is almost always within arms reach of us. My first and second babies were both saying words by 10 months, the third refuses to talk, even little words, although he is a year and a half – instead he has chosen “point and uhh uhhh” as his preferred method of communication. My first and second babies both had home made baby food and no chocolate at all for their first 2 years (I might have cheated a little with the second one though), the third – well, umm, I think this picture kind of says it all!
(yes, that is chocolate all over his face at 10am this morning!)
The most touching, fascinating and amazing part is watching these babies grow into brothers. I am always completely in awe when my older 2 sons treat the baby with incredible love and compassion, when they both try to explain to him the danger of climbing on the shelf or standing on his toys, when they hold his hand to help him find his way.
I love how, with this baby, I can completely enjoy his ‘babyness’, because unlike the first, I am not keeping track of milestones or having developmental competitions with other kids in his age group, and unlike the second, I am not falling apart from insecurities and fear about myself and my ability to care for multiple children. I am relishing every moment of his 1-year-old-cuteness, his chubby cheeks – which I rarely spare from tiny little bites every time I hold him, his baby laugh, his complete innocence, even his “uhh uhhhh” is endearing – sort of.
