How is life with two kids? I did an update on how things were going being a mom of two kids at 9 months, so I figured it was time to write how we are doing currently. 14 months in, things are going really well, however, a lot more difficult than they were at 9 months. At 9 months, Zane was only doing a little crawling and was unable to efficiently get from one end of the room to the next. I was able to confine him quite readily and easily shower with him in my room. Hayley was able to play with her toys without her brother “stealing them”.
Now, we are in a whole new ballgame. Zane is officially running. He is into everything. I remember Hayley at this age and remember I can fully workout for an hour while she played in the playroom. With Zane, not so much! He will find the littlest toy that Hayley accidentally brought up and put it in his mouth. He will find a way to escape the gate and start climbing the stairs. He will open the pantry and take everything out. It is not him per say, but I do believe it is a difference in genders. Do you agree? Do you have a boy and a girl- was one sex totally different than the other? I am curious because in my household Zane is a true boy in every which way possible. Hayley is a true girl in every which way possible. Talk about polar opposites!
The past month or two has been challenging. Don’t get me wrong- I love both of my kids dearly but is hard to simultaneously take care of them. I have resorted to letting Hayley watch more television or playing independently while I attend to my little love bug, Zane. I also would love to get past the stage where I am constantly guessing why Zane is getting irritated. With Hayley, I taught her sign language and it readily enabled us to communicate with her. Of course, with Zane being the second child, I have devoted as much time to thoroughly teach Zane sign. I did a few signs but no where near what I did with Hayls. So in turn, I am having a hard time figuring out what he needs. I really can’t wait for him to start talking. I know what you are all probably saying- Count your wishes,lol.
Life is good! I love my kids but it definitely is more difficult than it was at 9 months. However, I know this is temporary and soon Zane will be speaking and learning what “No” means. I just want to go one day where I don’t tell Zane, ” Take your hands out of the toilet.” For those with kids in the 12-24 age group, do you find this age hard?
It is frustrating. Especially when they are sick and can’t tell you what hurts!
My fav age so far is between 2-3. They’re so cute then! 🙂
I’ve got 4.. they are 5,4,2, and 9 months.. my girls are 12 months apart.. my boys are 16months apart.. its rough. when one gets sick they all get sick.. they fight nonstop.. but they are also best friends. my 9 month old is cruising everywhere (walking holding onto things) and he is now trying to climb the stairs when his siblings do lol. its fun but hard 🙂
I think it instantly becomes more difficult once they’re on the move. I spend most of my time getting Lily out of trouble and reminding the older kids to keep small toys far away from her! I’m not quite sure about the gender thing. Dylan and Lexie were both pretty easy-going. Lily is too, but this girl gets into EVERYTHING, and doesn’t understand no yet!
Genders are different for sure.
For us, Charlie is already throwing tantrums and she is almost 13 months. Logan and Dominic really never did that until age 2. She is strong willed more so than they ever were at this age.
Dominic never really got into much. Logan still does. Charlie gets into stuff because Logan does. (so gender is not different there for us, just the age)
It is difficult to parent more than one child at a time. Logan plays by himself a lot or with her. Dominic is independent so I do not have to worry about him. The TV is on in our house a lot but the kids just listen to it more so than watch.
My favorite age is 2-3 because their personalities are awesome. Logan cracks us up every single day with what he says and does.
Best of luck with both kids!
Min are in the 12 – 24 age…13 years old, 15 years old, 18 years old & 20 years old. 😉 But I do remember when my two oldest were about this age. Lots of work, but so fun! Enjoy them now as they grow up way too fast.
Mine are a little further apart but boy I remember what a handful it was! The fun times are coming though :O)
there are days we struggle, I have 4 kids myself. But it’s all worth it! Keep up the good work mama!
I only have one daughter, she is 4 now bu t i had the most difficult time with her shortly after she turned 2 in the terrible 2 stage. Hang in their though it hard but well worth having our little ones
LOL! I so remember those days! My girls are 4 and 6. They are 18 months apart. It has been CRAZY to have two kids to close in age!
I have 4 kiddos, ages 9, 5 1/2, 4, and a year (next week). It is crazy busy, and there are times i doubt my decisions, but it also in some ways is easier the mord you have. You’re too busy to worry about some stuff that really seemed to matter with one or two kids. Now it’s really the business of juggling everyone’s schedule. We try to keep after school activities to a minimum, both for expense reason and scheduling. Since I’m blessed to be a SAHM, i take the littles to their activities during the school day (music and gymnastics). My bigs both do Scouts and my dd also does gymnastics. I have 3 boys and 1 girl. I notice the differences, boys seem way more active, girly more dramatic and irritable. My oldest and my youngest boys learned “no” easier than my middle boy. Then again, he has some minor delays overall, so he’s the most challenging most days.
Our children are 9 boy and 7 yr old girl, they are so different. We have diffcult days too but I try to remind myself to enjoy them when they are young becaue they will be gone in no time. Hang in there:)
Mine are 2 and 14. I am thankful EVERY day that I waited 12 years in between.
It’s a very tough age – you’re constantly chasing them! I have 4 kids and my youngest are 3 (next month) and 17 months. It does get better, but in the meantime, there will be plenty more “Stay out of the toilet!” moments. (We have those too, believe me!) lol
Mine are 26 months and 7 months… this is a great reminder to enjoy sitting while I can 🙂
xoxoMB
My two youngest are 11 1/2 months apart!
Sounds like my kids G/B twins. My daughter will play for hours quietly by herself. My son wants to be where the action is or he is also happy to create it.
We don’t have kids yet but I’ve heard the boys are harder to handle than girls. Good luck with them! 🙂
Luckily, Sawyer hasn’t found the toilet, but he gets into almost everything else! He just grabbed the small dish I used for breakfast and had it broken before I could get it from him. Clean up never ends when they are this age, for sure! 🙂
Just a word of encouragement..You are NORMAL. 🙂 This is a very difficult age..but you are doing such a great job!! Hang in there!
I had six. First the three girls, then the three boys. It got easier as more came! The older ones were able to help with the younger ones. Don’t sweat it! You are doing fine. It is amazing how well we adapt when we have children.
Oh, you should try THREE kids! lol. My first 2 were only 15 months apart in age. it was hard because they were both boys and yes, both definitely like Zane! BOYS all the way! You just can’t take a shower when they are awake, you will find something broken, or one of them has figured out how to sneak out of the house and is down the block.
Flash forward, and Now I have a baby girl added to the mix. Although the boys are older now, 8 and 7, and are helpful….at times. But my little girl is SO different, complete difference. She can sit and occupy herself quietly and sweetly for 40 minutes at a time! I find I can actually get cooking done! It’s so odd the differences between girls and boys!
And yes, even though my boys are 7 and 8, I STILL can’t leave them alone to play much longer than 10 minutes before they get into trouble. They are rough and tough and BOYS. lol.
Oh, the joys of parenting. You are doing amazing. Yes, 2 is definitely a big change from one! I think it was the hardest change with children. Harder than going from freedom of no kids to having a baby. I was worried that 3 would be even worse, but having the boys so much older has helped and having a sweet little girl as the 3rd…it’s made it a rather easy transition.
Kids are hard work but they grow up so fast. Mine are 33 and 28. Gosh I feel old.
Yes. AS you know mine are 18 months apart. So I have a 15 month old and a 2.5 year old. It is not easy! The little one is a climber like her sister. She is into everything and with only two words she does the same as Zane and gets irritated.
No advice…just in the same boat lol
I can only imagine! Good thing they’re cute 🙂
our son turned 2 in January – we only have one child. He is content to play on his own in his room, like your little girl. He does have the television on most of the time while he is in there but he watches educational programs like “Brainy Baby”. We have DVRd every episode. Honestly, we could not have taught him as much as he has learned from that show & the ipad. He knows how to count to 30, count backwards from 10, he spells small words (daddy, mommy, baby, horse, cat, dog etc), knows his colors & shapes and is starting to read. He didnt start walking until he was 18 months and he didnt start using words to communicate (ie: “go eat” etc) until this year. Signs would have been nice, but we made it through OK and we truly enjoy him (as you enjoy yours). Thanks for sharing such a personal post 🙂
My daughter is the one who is into everything. Maybe it’s a second child kind of thing rather than a gender thing! She is 2 1/2 and we are still in the dreggs of craziness. I am hoping by 3, she learns to stop upending everything just for the sake of making a mess!
I love the name Zane, that is such a beautiful name. I don’t have kids of my own, but when my stepdaughters are here, I do know that by the time they leave I am ready for a nap and can sleep for hours and hours because I am exhausted!
Aw, I LOVE this post! Your two little ones are SO CUTE, it’s ALMOST hard to believe that they can be trying at times. 😉 KIDDING! I always say I don’t know how people do it with multiple little ones running around! lol.
It was great hearing about your kids, Melissa! You should be so proud of them! 🙂
My kids are 20 months apart. I remember when my daughter was 2 and my son became mobile. It was quite interesting. He was interested in everything that his big sister was doing we taught her to spend a little time with her brother when he came over and then she could go back to playing when he left. Of course after we told him it wasn’t okay to take things from his sister but he also got into things from time to time. Definitely a work out.
I have no kids yet.. but one day! You’re very inspirational – I can only imagine how hard it is!
Keep up the great work momma! I would love to have 3 kids someday and I don’t even have 2 yet…I may need to reevaluate when the time comes, ha! I am not sure if gender is the issue because Zane sounds like V and they are pretty close in age. If boys are more active than girls, we are in TROUBLE if we ever have a boy. V is a handful! The toliet is her favorite too, do you have a toliet lock? It works really well and keeps her out when we forget to close the door!
This sounds so challenging! My 17-month-old wears me out all on his own! I’m sure you’re doing an excellent job!
My daughter is 6.5 and my little guy is just a bit older than Zane (16 Months). My daughter was always busy but it seems my son is into everything. He wants to open every drawer, stick his hand in every bin and even in the toilet. He climbs on everything. All in all he is such a little sweetie. I just worry that he does not get hurt and have tried to baby proof as much as I can. We are also lucky that my daughter is old enough to understand he needs constant watching and she engages him quite often in chasing and peek-a-boo which does tire him out. The baby will still play by himself for stretches in his pack-and-play. That is when I regain my sanity!
I think that life with two gets much harder when the youngest becomes more mobile. I know that was definitely the case in our household. Thankfully, my daughter tends to keep her eye on my son too…especially when she knows I might be focusing on something like dinner.
12-24 month range? We’ve gotten ours to 6, 4, and 3 yrs old now, and it seems like they’re still all 2 years old! They’re also alllll boys in every sense of the word. The eldest is into video games, the middle one is into sports and the little one is into whatever his older brothers are into. They fight, they go into the pantry, climb and run up and down the stairs. It’s a daily fight! I love it! They’re all so similar but they all have different personalities. It’s a learning experience every single day! The 3 y/o is now telling me No! Ha! So yes, Zane may not yet know the meaning of no, but wait until he does! It’s all so much fun, challenging, but definitely fun.
OMG!!! They are a whole other breed!! We didn’t have to do too much on baby proofing with Aiden, but there is so much more that we have to lock up now. Rebecca has eaten cat food, she gets into everything, we have to put a play yard gate around the tv because she gets in the wires, plugs and computer buttons, she also thought it a hoot to constantly pull open the drawers of the tv stand. She too makes bee line for the stairs or the bathroom or the office. And yes I did catch her once putting her hand in the toilet and then licking it. And of course she says like next to nothing. Her vocabulary is about 4 words right now. She understands everything and will do what you ask, but saying the words..not so much. Speak up girl!!!
Thank you everyone. All your comments mean so much to me!
I feel like your living at my house! Close any ways I have all boys 5months 2yrs. and 3 and my issues are very similar. My 2nd child doesn’t verbalize well at all we tried sign languge but he only learned eat! I am with you I love my children but there is never enough of you!
Mine are teens… driving,college….I miss what you are goig thru, lol!
Mine are now 11 and 14 but I can still remember how tiring and difficult it all was yet enjoyable at the same time. Lots of mixed emotions racing around at that time. You always need to enjoy every moment and it goes by so quickly that you wonder where it all went !
I think this age is extremely challenging! I don’t know how you do it with two little ones! Some days I really have to fight not to nap when she does, lol. Thank goodness Gwen is picking up new words everyday, it gives me hope 🙂
I wonder how different my two boys will be…I’ll let you know! 🙂 It is amazing how kids can be so different!
Melissa. This was a great post for me to read as I am a month away from having two children. AH! Ha ha. One, I can do. However, two I am pretty nervous for. I am hoping that with William being the oldest that he will set a good example for my soon to be perfect little girl. Ha ha. I guess we will see. I will definitely keep you updated! Thanks for the post! Have a great week!