Parenting a preemie. So fragile at times. So precious. While babies are really hardier than a lot of new first-time moms want to trust in, I've heard it gets easier the second time around. The kid won't be harmed if you have to let them cry for a minute while dealing with the firstborn child, who is so clingy sometimes that they feel the need to sit in the exact spot their younger sibling is sitting in.

Among things I thought I wouldn't be saying for a while- Please don't sit on your little brother. You'll squash him like a bug.

Yet for all of that it's amazing how the experience of the first is coming back to guide me. It only took once of the old feed? reflux? fuss? quandary to remind us of the signs. Don't feed this kid more than a teaspoon or so right now, because he's going to puke. If you let him eat too much too quick, he will, and it's better to let that ickiness come up and out rather than fight it every feeding until it's passed through his system. We're not forcing the kid to eat the full feed every time. That leads to spitups, and other things, and makes everyone more stressed. Is it not easier to be laid back? To let it come in it's own time. The kid uses less of his calories snacking in a relaxed fashion than actively fighting the nipple for over half an hour. Not to mention that if he's relaxed and munching there's less spitup.

The sun has barely set. I'm going to bed now. Exhausted and tired and so are the kids.