Addison, 2 year 7.5 months. Taylor, just a day shy of 4 months.
I haven’t done one of these since I was pregnant with Taylor and it’s long overdue. As usual, I will warn you that this is going to be a really really really long post. With an insane amount of pictures. Beware.
It’s Thursday. Which means that I’m home with the girls since I started working part-time.
Last night was a little rough. The tot has been having some night terrors and just generally waking up at night again. The baby is hitting the wakeful 4 months and “playing” in the middle of the night. Needless to say that when I woke up I was tiiiiiirrreeeedddd.
This one? Not so much.
I am woken up by the sound of the baby on the monitor. I
gently
nudged the hubs in bed, begging for him to get the baby and bring her to me. He, in his sleepy state, obliged. I nurse the baby in bed while we listen to Jon’s alarm go off. Twice. He’s finally up and I entertain the baby and pump. Around 6:30am we’re all done and I change the baby and we play for a little while.
She’s learning to sit up on her own and can even balance for a few seconds, especially when there is an interesting toy involved.
Jon’s showered and getting dressed when the tot finally wakes up. Apparently a sleepless night does encourage a tot to sleep in. It does not, however, do the same for the baby. Noted.
I grab the semi-grumpy-mostly-sleepy tot from her room and bring her to the living room where I turn on the TV and Jon warms up some Pediasure.
Yes, she is in Christmas Pajamas. With no pants. You know what? Why don’t we just move on, k?
It doesn’t take her long to warm up because her sister is there.
They both zone out to some crazy but shockingly intriguing to a 2 year and a 4 month old. Something about colors. And crayons. Don’t ask.
After a few minutes of TV time, we move to the floor for some tummy time. Peanut is all about showing Taylor and us how great she is at rolling over. We’re very proud.
A little after 7 Jon is ready and gives me a few minutes to jump in the shower. I get washed up, stick some contacts in my eyes, kiss the hubby goodbye and grab the kids.
We play around for a little while longer and at 8am Taylor is ready for her first nap, 90-120 minutes after waking up. Right on schedule. I set her down in the crib and we all hang out for a little while. She’s got this things about liking to cover her face with a blanket to fall asleep. It’s cute. It’s weird. Don’t worry, I move it once she’s asleep. Moving on.
While the baby naps, Peanut and I head to the kitchen where she plays for a bit while I cook breakfast and pick up (pump parts, pump parts and more pump parts). I wash the dishes, cook some eggs, make toast, and entertain the tot.
At 8:45am we hear Taylor on the monitor. Peanut is the first one to bolt toward the baby room, exclaiming, “baby Tayor’s awaaaaaaaaake!”
Oh hey, Tay.
I have a headache. Just a few more minutes until my first cup of coffee.
I accidentally pumped more than I should have in am (I pump everything if I’m working and only enough to not feel uncomfortable if I’m home…I often mess up), so I warm up a bottle for Tay, struggle with feeding her, and then pump. The toddler empties the content of her room into the living space, the baby room and the kitchen.
I pack up the backpack with fresh diapers, snacks and lunch, extra wipes, and a mug of iced coffee. Mmmm coffee. But no time.
I struggle through the next feels-like-forever to pack everyone and everything up for our morning. It takes us way longer than usual to get out the door (around 10am) because of the whole pumping thing.
At 10ish we are finally in the car and headed to a gas station and the playground. Around .1 miles away from the gas station I realize that I left my wallet at home. Crap. The car has been on empty for 2 days. Double crap. I text my husband that there is a chance that he might have to come get us if my car stalls and head home. Wallet in the backpack, we head back out and make it to the gas station in time for the little needle to rest happily about an inch below the E sign.
After getting gas, we head to the town green. I unload the tot and tell her to wait on the sidewalk while I try to load the now-sleeping baby into the stroller. Upon seeing the stroller Peanut has a meltdown. I spill my coffee all over the stroller. I mourn the coffee more than the mess. I carry the tot to the playground and within 10 minutes we have to leave. Tripple crap.
With everyone crying, I load the car back up and head to our Pediatrician’s office for a mommy group. We are late but at least everyone stopped crying. The tot is entertaining herself by asking me “where we goin’ mommy?” over and over again while the baby is asleep.
The mommy group is especially busy which is awesome. I set the tot up with her lunch (I always pack it in the morning for group) while I chit chat with other moms and our awesome nurse practitioner, nurse the baby, and enjoy some time among parents of babies Taylor’s age.
My husband, who I have been keeping up to date on the day’s disaster, texts me that he’ll grab lunch and meet me home. Score. At noon I pack everyone back up and head home.
With the tot in bed for nap, we take turns holding the baby and eating our lunch. After lunch Jon kisses us goodbye and heads back to work while I settle the baby down for a nap.
She’s kind of sleepy, kind of playful so I stick around and we play pick-a-book with her blankey.
The tot is still playing in her bed.
Around 1:15 the baby finally falls asleep, the toddler is still playing (those are socks on her hands), and the house is a wreck.
I quickly assess the to-do list: clean house, do laundry, unload dishwasher, eat the rest of my lunch. Cleaning always wins. I pick up, run the vacuum, unload the dishwasher. No time for laundry, but I do stuff the rest of my sandwich down.
At 2 I have a conference call for work, obviously the baby wakes up. I plug the pacifier back in, turn on the sleep sheep, cross my fingers and leave the room. She falls back asleep and I call into the conference call.
Somewhere in the middle of my call, Taylor wakes up and get her quietly, nurse her, and bounce her while I finish working. By 3 I’m off the phone and ready to play.
We’re been dealing with this “screaming for an hour after nap time” for about a year now and recently I’ve made a new hypothesis that it’s the late nap thing. So just after 3 I open the door to the tot’s room and turn off her AC. She wakes, smiling. I add an “I’m totally right” mark to the hypothesis, give myself a high five, and bring her to the living room.
TV, Pediasure, and some playtime with her baby sister. We have a play date with a friend and her two kids this afternoon so I text to talk through some details and set the tot up to color.
The baby protests about being in the exersaucer while I repack our bags.
Long story made short: the wine delivery for my wine-of-the-month club is always when I am not home. I call FedEx for a re-delivery and to keep my playdate, Jon comes home the last hour of the day to finish his work from home. Did I mention how much I love this man? No? It’s a lot. Like an insane amount. I only had to beg for 5 minutes.
Also, a guy in business attire. Seriously. Ok…right…children-safe content. Moving right along.
Jon comes home and I pack up the girls for our playdate.
Christine and I have been friends since before any of us had babies. Her house is kid utopia and Peanut spends the hour running from one toy to another while we chat and I nurse the baby.
After what seems like 5 minutes, but is really an hour, we pack up the car (with some new additions to Peanut’s closet, thank you Christine!) and head home where daddy has dinner ready. If you’re feeling jealous, you should be. The man’s a saint. It’s 5:15 when we get home.
While we finish up the last pieces of our dinner, we play.
Dinner is always an adventure in our household. We bargain. Plead with the tot to eat her dinner.
And odd as it may seem to others, the following are bargaining foods:
Peas
Mango
Grapes
Caviar
In return, she takes bites of hot dog, meatloaf, potatoes, cheese. Yes, she’s an odd one.
Taylor gets bored with dinner quickly while it takes about an hour to get Peanut to eat her food (and since we have a lot of weight gain issues with her, we don’t take meal times lightly around here).
Once P has eaten most of her dinner, we clean up a bit and head outside for some playtime.
Just shortly before 7 we head back in and it’s time to put Taylor to bed. Jon gets her in her pj’s and a sleep sack.
And, obviously, the toddler has to help.
Once Taylor is ready, I nurse her to bed while Jon sets the tot up to watch a little TV and have some Pediasure. In case you’re counting, we aim for about a total of 1-2 hours of TV a day and 2 total Pediasures to supplement her calories.
Somewhere between 7:15-7:30 I’m finished with the baby and help get the tot in bed. It’s Jon’s turn to read books so I kiss the tot goodnight and settle on the couch to pump. After 3 books the toddler insists that I tuck her in so I do that, shower her with kisses and say goodnight. It’s 8 and Jon and I crash on the couch.
Wine for me. TV for both. Photo editing for me and now this post.
And that’s our life today!
If you do a Day In The Life post, I’d love to read it!