The Routine

As a parent, the "routine" is something I know, with total certainty, I cannot live without. I'm already hanging by the thinnest of threads, teetering on the edge of the proverbial precipice. Without a routine...it would all go to hell in less than a millisecond.

A typical day looks like this:
1. Alarm at 6:33 - snooze hopefully 2x - though that rarely if ever happens.
2. Nurse R while T goes downstairs to sterilize the breast pump parts and make sure R's bottles are ready and B's lunch is made. (how in the world do people do this without a "team" of support?)
3. B wakes up and scours the house looking for Daddy and immediately requests his daily cup of milk and yogurt and breakfast (i.e. cereal bar, cheerios & milk, oatmeal - or as B would say "oatmealk.")
4. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or Between The Lions is now heard throughout the house and captivates both of my children. I tend to hear the theme songs in my head at random times throughout the day. Like in meetings or on a conference call.
5. R is brought back to center and re-distracted away from crawling over the entire expanse of the house and digging in the plants like sand on a beach.
6. Nudge and prod B so we can do his daily allergy prevention which consists of Zyrtec, antihistamine eye drops and steroid nasal spray (did I mention he is 3.5?) and give him his chewable vitamin. All the while T is slathering his body with sunscreen in prep for his trek to camp at school.
7. Meanwhile I'm checking both kid's bags to ensure they have clothes, etc. for the day. Blankets, sheets, nappers, loveys...
8. Buckle R in his car seat carrier - not much longer though...the kid is creeping up on 20 pounds...
9. On my way out the door grab: purse, breast pump, work bag, R's bag, R's bottles, B's back pack, B's napper AND B's swim bag if it's a pool day (which is M-W).
10. Put both kids in the car and T and I both trek over to school to drop them off. It's a bear of a time with that much gear for one person...Though, on some days, the kids go over to my Mom's house. Then - T and I split. Me with R to my Mom's, T with B off to school.
11. Off to work.

And that's our morning. Every day. Without fail. And no deviations. Even the slightest hiccup throws the whole ordeal out of whack. What I need to figure out is...where do I take deep breaths? It should happen multiple times within each step. And I just realized that I forgot to include the step where I shower and get dressed. Gee - how insignificant must that be?? Just add that in somewhere between 4 and 5.

Now - for the evenings...I typically try to leave work between 5 and 5:15. Which means I hit my Mom's house about 6pm.
1. Pick up the kids at Mom's house. I thoroughly enjoy the big bright smiles and running-into-my-arms hugs. Or in R's case...crawling-into-my arms. This his a highlight of my day.
2. Grab all said bags and gear that was taken to school that morning and put it in the car while B is picking up his toys.
3. Buckle R in his seat.
4. B opens and holds the door open for me and R as we leave Mom's heading for the car. He does this expertly and then moves swiftly to the car and places his hand on the back fender waiting for me to put R in the car, open his door and help him climb in.
5. Ask B all about his day and sing songs on the way home.
6. If needed, stop at grocery store or get gas. The store gets tricky...and is therefore done sparingly...
7. Arrive at home and take at least 3 trips of getting everyone and everything into the house. B does an excellent job of distraction with R. He makes all kinds of goofy faces and noises and they both crack up laughing. It's quite entertaining. And is my first glimpse into how my boys are going to grow up loving to play with each other. It's going to be awesome.
8. Change into comfy clothes and into my glasses. Ahhh...that's nice.
9. Proceed with making dinner of some kind...some fast, some not so fast, some delivery or take out.
10. Feed R his solids while eating dinner - trading off nights with T.
11. Play for 5-10 minutes before heading up to bath.
12. Bathe both kids in the tub together with R going first.
13. T takes R and slathers him with lotion and puts him in his jammies while I bathe B.
14. Dry off B, help him brush his teeth and bring him into R's room where I trade with T.
15. Nurse R and put him down for the night. This is where we will begin to incorporate stories with R when he is not exhausted. Some days we do now, others he just launches his body sideways ready to nurse and go to sleep. This is one of my few moments of relaxation as I watch Friends episodes while nursing. I started on season 1 when R was born and am now on disc 2 of season 10. Look at me go...
16. Meanwhile - T is slathering B with lotion, doing eye drops and saline nose spray, cortisone on his knees where he has broken out with allergies (DAMN ALLERGIES) and blow drying his hair. Yes - my child has so much hair that without a blow dryer he would look like Kramer every day, all day.
17. Then T is reading stories to B. This used to be me...and I miss it terribly. B just LOVES books and I have a real weakness for getting him new stories. I'm looking forward to when both kids are old enough to read stories together. I hope we can make that happen soon.
18. Lights out for B. This is where we get to snuggle. But not just haphazardly. No way. Per B - T must go first BY HIMSELF. Then me. Always. Every night. No deviations whatsoever. Though I must say it is nice one-on-one time with B. Telling us about his day, doing Eskimo and Butterfly kisses. Telling us that he loves us, loves me two, loves me three...loves me infinity!
19. And then...it's about 9:30...and quiet.
20. Time to head downstairs and once again sterilize pump parts and bottles, make bottles and tomorrow's lunch.
21. At last, I'm off to pump on the days that R passes out before a long feeding due to short naps during the day. Or - on those rare occasions - I may actually be able to sit down for a moment.
22. It's about 10:30 and I am starting to wind down...time to turn out the light for me.

And it'll all start over again at 6:00 am...I'm exhausted already. No wonder the weekends are heavenly...

Our Songs

We're a creative family. We just can't help it. It's something we were all born with. And something we completely enjoy. So what do we do with that creativity? We make up songs. They make us laugh. They make us calm. They help us keep our sanity. I wish you could hear us sing them for you in person...but the lyrics will just have to do. Hope you enjoy.

Nite Nite Songs (by Mommy)
For B:
Close your eyes, and go to sleep
Cause little B is tired.
Take a nap, and get some rest
We will play again in a little while.

For R:
It's time to go nite nite, little R baby
It's time to close your eyes now, little R boy.
It's time for sweet dreams, little R baby
Good night, sleep tight, little R boy.

The Doody Song (by Daddy)
(This song is sung while the kids are in diapers. So it has been sung for B in the past, but now is all about R.)
R's got a doody in his pants, and it makes him want to dance
Makes him want to scream and shout.
R's got a doody in his pants, and it makes him want to dance
Gotta get the doody out!
R's got a doody in his pants, and it makes him want to sing
Makes him want to do, just about anything
To get that doody out
To get that doody out
To get that doody out, of his pants!

Row, Row, Row (by Mommy for R)
Row, row, R cass
Eatin' from the boob.
Slurpin, smackin', slurpin', smackin'
Gettin' all his food.

Coo Coo Pants (by Daddy, assisted by Mommy for B)
Coo Coo Pants, he likes to dance
All day long he sings his song.
Coo Coo Pants, he likes to dance
All day long he sings his song.

Kikoman, he claps his hands
All day long he sings his song.
Kikoman, he claps his hands
All day long he sings his song.

Bumble Bee, he's flying free
All day long he sings his song.
Bumble Bee he's flying free
All day long he sings his song.

Booger Butt, he struts his stuff
All day long he sings his song.
Booger Butt, he struts his stuff
All day long he sings his song.

And on top of the songs we make up ourselves, we have to remember we have quite the little performer in our household. As I'm sure you have learned, our little parrot likes to be the center of attention. Which does make for entertaining song memorization. My stepdad, has taught B the following two little diddies:

Little Chicky
I have a little chicky and he wouldn't lay an egg
So I poured hot water up and down his leg.
And the little chicky cried, and the little chicky begged
And the little chicky laid a hard boiled egg.
Dum diddy dum dum, dum dum!

Pajamas
I wear my pink pajamas in the summer when it's hot
And I wear my flannel nighties in the winter when it's not.
And sometimes in the spring time, and sometimes in the fall
I hope between the sheets with nothin' on at all.

I wish with all my heart all of you could experience the singing in person. We'll have to get it on YouTube soon...

Faster Than A Speeding Bullet

So...here I am. Alone. In a hotel room in Chattanooga,TN awaiting dinner and a meeting with my client in the morning. Really - not so interesting. But it does give me a few moments for me to ponder my 1st June blog entry. Sweet.

My little one, R, is 7.5 months old. I truly can't believe it. Talk about time flying. I feel like I'm whipping around in a wind tunnel with all the world zooming past me and I can barely catch a glimpse of what is going on. But those glimpses...they are awesome.

R is so mobile...he's like lightning. He's been crawling for over a month now and once he's down, he's moving. So much earlier than B which has T and I a little freaked. Just cause he's still so little. That when we say "No", he just looks over at us and smiles and proceeds to do whatever his little heart desires. We can distract him, thank goodness. And he does appear to listen - for a second or two. We've read that his memory is somewhere along the lines of 30 seconds. HA! How entertaining...

He's also pulling up on anything and everything that is higher than a few inches off the ground. AND moving from one piece of furniture to another with one hand and a single step. Truly - I'm amazed. B started doing this at like 9+ months. So - we feel sure we are in for mass hysteria sometime in the near (very near) future.

I tell you though, I am enjoying every single second of watching this child grow. R is the happiest child I've ever encountered and just loves anyone and everyone. Such a blessing. He has a smile that lights up the room and he loves to cuddle which melts my heart. But I tell you...his favorite person in the world is B. So - all those parenting stories about siblings are true. Luckily - B is an entertainer and loves an audience. Any audience. And he is currently thriving on R's total obsession with every move he makes. He plays the goof and R cackles like the perfect audience.

I knew that having two kids was going to change my life. And I knew this first year was going to be a challenge. Just trying to adjust to a new routine. Getting back to work. Not having any vacation. Dinners. Baths. Stories. Bikes. Strollers. Pools. Good lord the list goes on and on and on.

But just in the last couple of weeks I have really seen how much my kids are growing. They are starting to play together. Cracking each other up. And that laughter is the most beautiful sound I have ever heard. It's amazing. I wish I could bottle it up and keep it in my locket alongside their pictures to have with me...always.