Siblings

One thing I didn't anticipate with the baby was how much help the other kids would be.  I just knew that five kids would be hard, and it is, but the older kids really help out so much.  I've said it before that Calista likes to be held so it is pretty impossible for me to get anything done.  Except when Tucker, Penelope, or Scarlett holds her, and they love to do it!  At first it made me pretty nervous to watch them because Calista would cry and they would bounce her or try to give her the pacifier and just keep trying.  I expected them to give up when she cried but it doesn't really bother them that much.  And they quickly got better at it.  After about a week of me letting them hold her more the've improved a lot at calming her down.

I'm also surprised how happy Calista is to go to them.  Sometimes they seem to be holding her in a really awkward position or it seems like they bounce her a little too hard.  I tell them to go slow and be soft.  Calista likes it when the kids hold her almost as much as when I do.  She really just wants to be held and doesn't seem to care who is doing the holding.

Several times a day Scarlett and Penelope ask to hold her.  They hold her the most with Tucker shortly after that.  Once one person is holding her the others all ask if they can hold her too.  If they see she is crying when she is laying in her swing they will run and wash their hands then ask if they can pick her up.

We needed to do some yard work and weeding outside on Saturday.  So instead of me just holding her and watching everyone else pick weeds I was able to help out and the kids took turns holding her.  It was the job they all wanted because whomever was holding her wasn't doing yard work.  She even got pretty sleepy and so I wanted the kids to put her down to sleep so they could help, but of course they would rather hold a sleeping baby than pull weeds.

Between the kids help, and her sleeping more in her own co-sleeper bed, I feel like I have so much freedom!  In actuality I am pretty bound to her and went somewhere without the kids for the first time in 3 weeks.  It was the store to try to find clothes to wear and I had to rush back to feed Calista.  I still spend most of my day/night feeding and holding her, which can be hard sometimes.  But I feel a little like I'm getting things done now.

p.s. I didn't drive around like this, sometimes I put her in her carseat to nap even when we are at home.