We are officially a family of four! Since we are still living in a pandemic, hospital covid precautions are in place and visitors are limited, so Tennyson didn’t meet Murphy until we brought her home. I’m happy we have photos in this house where we learned (Well… started learning. We’re not there yet.) how to balance life with two kids.
Ages at the time these photos were taken: Lucas 31, Melanie 30, Tennyson 2 & 2 weeks, Murphy 3 weeks.
We were slower to have kids than all of our friends so Tennyson is often one of if not the youngest kid in the group. He hasn’t been around a newborn since he was basically a newborn so meeting Murphy was a new experience for him. The first day she was home, anytime she cried, Tennyson cried. He kept saying, “Baby sister sad!” and was confused why we weren’t distressed when she cried. In his defense, a newborn cry is a little startling if you’re not used to it.
Murphy Roam Brook • Born July 11, 2021 • 8 lbs 13 oz 20.5″ long
I hope I’m not jinxing anything by saying this but… so far everything has been smoother for us with Murphy than it was with Tennyson. Delivery, my recovery, amount of initial sleep deprivation, nursing, amount of baby crying during the “witching hour”, everything! Some of this is because we knew generally what to expect and prepared accordingly (nothing can fully prepare you for baby #1), lots of credit is due to my mom for taking so many night shifts while she was in town, and the rest is because Murphy has been a wonderfully calm, easy-going baby. She is a beautiful gift.
Tennyson is excited to have a sibling but he’s still trying to figure out what that means. His friends who have siblings are all old enough to play each other. Murphy is not yet play buddy age so Tennyson is trying to figure out what exactly Murphy is and how she fits into his world : ) Despite the little bit of confusion, Tennyson is very sweet to his sister and often asks to help put her binky back in her mouth or says something like, “I want to go check on Murphy”.
“I hold her hand.” – Tennyson
I wasn’t sure how Tennyson would respond to the process of taking family photos. It turned out he loved it! He said several times, “Take mine picture!”
I’m in love with Murphy’s hair. I love that it’s longer on the back/top so it looks like a baby mohawk right after a bath. I love her auburn hair color. I can’t wait to see if her hair changes and becomes more like Tennyson’s or more like mine : )
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Tennyson still sleeps in a crib because he hasn’t tried to climb out of it yet. But he often tries to climb the outside of both his crib and Murphy’s… I don’t understand it but I’m grateful he stays safely inside his crib during sleeping hours whether he’s asleep or not : )
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This is my favorite wall of our house because it’s almost entirely windows and looks out to a backyard full of green. I’m excited to have these family photos by this wall as a way to remember living here. We’re not going to be living here for much longer so we have to document the memory now just in case we don’t end up coming back to this house. More on the toping of moving later…
We feel so grateful for both my mom (pictured here) and Lucas’ mom for taking time away from their own busy lives and flying to Portland to help us get situated into our new life as a family of four. It definitely takes a village! Tennyson loved all the one-on-one grandma/grandkid time. I think the loads of attention and love helped him with the initial transition out of his only-child role and into life with a sibling.
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Here’s a perfect example of Murphy’s chill attitude. In these outside photos she was hungry, tired, and had already been moved around a bunch with Tennyson loudly running all over and she didn’t seem to care. If she started to fuss a binky was all she needed to be happy again. Life with a newborn is demanding and hard, but Murphy makes it as smooth as it can be.
I love this little family of mine. Somedays I wonder how we got to this point of our lives. It feels like it all somehow happened overnight yet life without kids feels like a lifetime ago. Either way, I’m very tired and very happy.
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Photos by Elizabeth at Wild Wood Birth Collective.