2 under 2…
Having 2 under 2, lots of people say we are crazy, many say we are brave, some say we made the best decision ever. Was it a good decision? Is it as hard as it seems? Was it worth it? Since it would be a 10 page long thesis I decided to brake it up into a few posts outlining the positives and the negatives of having children that close together. Here are some of the reasons why we had our children so close and why we are loving it.
Ergo 360 is how i get things done.
Lets start by saying that we consciously made the decisions to have our children that close together. Our babies are not only under 2 years apart but they are actually under 18 months apart. Sophie was born when Ava was about 16 and a half months old.
We wanted to have our children close for a few reasons.
First I wanted them to be in the same stage of development more or less, have the same interests, be into the same movies, books cartoons etc. We envisioned our babies playing together and entertaining each other, sharing toys and having same friends. We didn’t really want to drag out the ‘having small babies’ stage for too long, just get that sleep deprivation over with, rip it off like a bandaid and forget about it. It just seemed, even though obviously hard and challenging in the moment, it would be easier while we were young rather than having kids later in life.
Honestly though I LOVE their age gap, I wouldn’t want them to be any further apart! Would I want them closer together? As much as I would I seriously doubt I would make it through the first months. If you read Kate’s smallthingsblog, her boys are 13 months apart and honestly she is my inspiration. Kate, you are way too cool and you will probably never read this, but if you do, girl you RULE and you are a SUPERHERO MOM.
Was it worth it? From where I stand now, my babies being 6 months and almost 2 years of age, I would say its starting to be. I can say I wasn’t one of those people that loves being pregnant. I get extremely exhausted and winded, with nausea for the entire 9 months. Since I am a smaller built person, it literally feels like an alien has taken over my body and by the end of my second pregnancy it felt like Sophie was wearing me like a puppet. So it was nice to just get it over with fast and not have to dread it, even though it was extremely challenging being pregnant and having a 1 year old in tow (more on that later). When we had Sophie it kind of felt like we JUST had Ava so we still remembered all our tricks from when she was a baby which was nice. To be honest with you, even though Sophie was not as laid back as Ava (didn’t sleep as good, was more needy and wanted to be held all the time) for some reason it felt like a BREEZE with her compared to Ava. I think that’s because we already knew what to do and when to do it.
We sleep trained Ava and she was always a great sleeper and we did the same with Sophie, and even though she took far more work, she now sleeps great at night (most of the time) so the sleep deprivation is starting to fade a little. Now that Sophie is getting a little older and more aware, the girls are starting to play together, and guys, it is the cutest thing EVER! Ava always looks out for her smaller sister and always wants to feed her and play with her. She asks for Sophie to come into her crib and hang out with her in the morning, and is always so concerned when Sophie is crying. Sophie also ADORES Ava, she has her always ‘locked on target’, and her whole face lights up when Ava comes into her room to wake her up after her nap. I cannot wait for them to play together more and see them grow together. Those two keep me on my tows and being a mother to them is the hardest thing I’ve done in my life, but thats a story for another time.
Sophies Crib is DaVinci Jenny and the bassinet is from Target, curtains are Pottery Barn Kids
Jolly Jumper for the WIN, Ava’s bike is Radio Flyer
Sophies high chair is Stokke Tripp Trapp
And a few from the last few days in the yard, just cuz its HOT out!!
Hope you enjoyed reading! How far apart are your kids, do you like their age gap or do you wish they were close/further apart in age?
Cheers!!
I have two boys who are 2 years and 4 months apart. I like their differences but also would have liked them a bit closer in age. However, seeing a true big brother is heart warming and I’m not sure that would have developed had they been closer…I guess I’ll never know!
Thanks for your comment, thats actually nice to know. IF we would ever go for a third i think we would aim for a similar gap as your kids are. My husband and his brother and 2.5 years apart, and they are still very close. My oldest is an older sister too for sure, but she doesn’t realize it as much as you boy does probably.
AHHH too sweet! My kids are 17,13,(the boys) our girls are 9 and 2 YEAH I have one in every stage you could say Ha… . They arrived when they were arrived the only one we planned for was our youngest and she ended being born at 27 wks and for us being that our other kids were older for the 59 day Isy was in the NICU it helped they were a bit older so they were AWESOME when it came to understanding why mom and dad was running like crazy people and went w/the flow and helped. NOW they fight over her and want to take care her.
You are so right about that, i was just writing about it in my next post. As much as i love them being so close in age, the biggest challenge is the lack of communication with the oldest one. Cant tell a 1 year old mommy is feeding the baby, they want what they want. But you sure are a trooper and a SUPERHERO!! 4 kids and a preemie. Good luck with all the parenting .
This is inspiring, especially for someone like me who is terrified of having two babies to chase after
DO IT!!! i am NOT going to say its easy, but i do say it gets easier as they grow. But i have to say it is the CUTEST thing watching them play together.
Great post and the pics are supercute! Only one so far for me, need to start thinking about when we want to start trying for the 2nd one…
Its always a hard one, its a life changer thats for sure. Different age gaps have different pros and cons. But as long as they have a sibling i think your winning
I have two that are 15 months apart and we did not plan that but I definitely wouldn’t change it for the world!
Whatever doesn’t brake us makes us stronger RIGHT 😛
I loved that my first two were only about 20 months apart. It was crazy but fun. Our 3rd came along 5 years later and though I thought I would have liked him to be closer to his older siblings, it’s been so fun watching the older kids love and teach their baby brother. And they’re so helpful!
Our two girls are 2.5 years apart. We wanted them a little closer in age, but that didn’t happen. I still love the age gap though. My oldest does a great job of helping out.
Seriously love this post ? I have three under two and we did not plan to have three under two I am so glad we did just get the baby thing over as well! We have 5 kids total and four are boys + 1 baby girl we were on the fence about whether we would ever try again for a girl and certainly if we did not until the twins were 3 or 4 but someone had other plans! No here we are with 20 month twins and a 5 month old but seriously as hard as it is I wouldn’t have it any other way ?
I’m SO GLAD you liked the post!!! Wow!! 5 kids, twins and 3 under 18 months !!! I bow down. I don’t know how you do it!!!