on having two under two

Last weekend we willingly took on the pleasurable task of babysitting my nephew Noah while my sister and her husband wine-d in Napa and attended a wedding. The first two days were great because Noah slept through the night, and it was nice for Eddie to have a constant playmate. The TV never had to be turned on. They were too busy chasing each other through the house, pounding on the door to go outside and simply put, eating and pooping. There was one day where I swear they were tandem pooping; Noah had 4, Eddie 2. I felt like I was constantly either feeding them or changing diapers. And thank god for having a dog to help clean up all the meal messes. Noah is truly a messy eater; I never realized how good of an eater, both in terms of what is consumed and how it is consumed, Eddie was/is until I spent 4 full days with Noah. By day three, we were all a bit exhausted though. Noah had a rough night of sleep due to some arriving molars, and he became very clingy on me; he would only be held or changed or put to be by me. And that seemed to make little Eddie need me even more too. At one moment between the two boys and my needy dog Mara, I felt like I needed to have two more arms as my husband stood back laughing at the spectacle on the couch of Eddie nursing, Noah being fed a bottle and Mara cuddled up next to us. It feels good to be needed so much...but having two kids, especially two boys, under the age of two is not something I would wish upon anyone. It is seriously draining, and the only thing that gets you through it are those precious moments of child independence and tandem giggling during play.