An Ideal Day:
5:00am- Henry, who sleeps in a rock n play sleeper by our bed, is squirming and grunting. I groggily check the time on my phone. 5 am?!? I sit up slightly and hold the phone closer. I put Henry down at 8:30, and he slept until 5. I smile. My boy is growing up! My celebration is cut short as Henry gives a short high pitched cry. I compare it to a baby animal, like a lion cub, calling for it's mother. It's loud and to the point. I stumble out of bed to shut the door. The last thing I need is William waking up too. I scoop up Henry and change his diaper. I give him his gas drops as he lays there calmly. I sit in my rocker and nurse him while I browse Reddit and check Facebook. He nurses himself back to sleep and after about 20 minutes I lay him back down and crawl into bed.
8:45am- Henry begins to grunt again. I can hear Will on the baby monitor quietly talking to himself. Brent is stirring next to me. I scoop up Henry and start our routine. He smiles as I change his diaper. When I talk to him he coos. When I rub his head his entire face lights up. I nurse him as Brent gets up to get Will. I can hear them getting ready as Will giggles and babbles. I then hear little footsteps running to our room. 'Momma, momma, momma!' Will repeats it until he finds me and triumphantly yells 'Momma'! Then, seeing that I am nursing, yells 'Bubba!' He then quickly signs that he is hungry. I tell him to go see dada and he will make him something to eat. He runs away yelling 'sausage!', his favorite food.
9:15am- Henry is wide awake after his feeding. I set him in his rocker and drag him into the kitchen where Will is eating. Brent is loading the dishwasher. I make my coffee and fix some eggs. Will eats all of his food and asks to get down. On his way to the living room he leans into Henry's rocker and smiles, then runs away squealing.
10:30am- Brent leaves for jiu jitsu. We post up in the living room as Henry begins to get tired. I turn on yo Gabba Gabba for Will and walk around the living room with Henry until he falls asleep. It usually takes a few dances with the Gabba gang before he is out. I sit on the couch while Will dances around to make sure Henry is really out. As I sit I drink my coffee. When I feel confident that Henry is out I lay him in the rock n play and leave him in the living room to nap. I take Will to his room to play. He loves the one on one attention.
12:30pm- Nap time for Will. I grab his bottle, change his diaper and put him in his crib. He loves his bottle, or 'baba', and happily gets in the crib. I give him a kiss and leave him. As I shut his door I hear the tell tell grunting in the living room. Time to nurse. I scoop up Henry change his diaper, he nurses and passes back out.
1:30pm- Brent calls on his way home from the gym. I relax on the couch and eat lunch. When Brent gets home we watch TV and hang out until Will gets up.
3:30pm- Will wakes up from his nap. Henry begins to stir as well. Brent goes to get Will and I get ready to nurse Henry. Brent makes Will something to eat and he eats a good amount of everything. When Henry is done nursing we all get ready to go out. If the weather is nice we go for a walk or to the park. If it is cold or rainy we go walk around a store or go to the grocery. Just something to get some energy out of Will.
6:00pm- Henry nurses again and it's time for Will's dinner. He happily sits in his high chair and eats. When he is finished he hands me his plate. Usually at this point Brent holds Henry while I cook something and eat. I eat before I put Henry down just in case it's a 2 hour ordeal. You do not want to be frustrated with a baby AND hungry.
7:00- I get everything ready for Will's bed time. I fill and put his bottle in the crib. I fill up his humidifier. I turn on his space heater and lay out his pajamas. I make sure his blankets and favorite stuffed animals are in his crib. I then switch with Brent. He takes over and does Will's bath and I get Henry ready for bed.
7:30- I change Henrys diaper while Brent puts Will down. I give his gas drops and change his sleeper. I then turn on his humidifier and we sit down to nurse. He nurses to sleep and I burp him and transfer him to his rock n play sleeper. He stays asleep and I leave the room.
8:30pm- I get a snack and snuggle up with Brent. We watch TV together and fold laundry or do a few chores. It's our grown up time.
10:00pm- Glorious bed time. Gently drift into dreamland.
A not so Ideal Day....
1:30am- Henry is screaming crying. I quickly sit up and reach for my phone. 1:30am, Noooooo! This means he will be up at least one more time tonight. I turn my attention to the screaming child. I rush and shut the door so Will doesn't wake up. There must be something terribly wrong with Henry for him to be making that noise. He sounds like a wounded pig. I scoop him up and shush him. His face is blood red and the veins are buldging out on his head. I hug him closer and rock back and forth. He farts loud and long, then instantly calms down. I check to see if he will fall back asleep but his little fist goes straight to his mouth and he begins to suck. Apparently farting works up quite an appetite. I change his diaper and we sit down to nurse. He nurses, cries a little, nurses, farts, nurses. I check the clock. 30 minutes in and he's wide awake. I rock harder in the chair. Still awake. I shush him. Still awake. Finally, at 2:30, he goes to sleep.
4:00am- 'WAAaaaaaaaaaaa!' Will's cry is amplified by the monitor. Brent checks the screen, sighs, and gets up. I here him make his way into the nursery and work on calming Will down. I work on going back to sleep. 30 minutes later, sans Brent, I fall back asleep.
6:00am- more crying. Time to eat. Again. I scoop him up. Change his diaper. Brent has made it back to bed. I sit down to nurse. 30 minutes later he's asleep and I am in bed.
7:45am- grunting is coming from the rock n play sleeper. I check my phone. 7:45am? Nope. I reach one hand out from under the covers and try to rock Henry back to sleep. The grunting intensifies. I rock faster. Then I hear the rumble that is a poop explosion. I look over the side of the bed and see Henry's bright eyes. And we are up.
8:15am- Will wakes up crying. I think I hear Brent whimper too as he goes to get him up.
8:30am- nurse Henry again. I hear Will crying in protest as Brent changes his diaper, then more screaming for his bottle, which he is not allowed to have once he is up for the day.
9:00am- Henry is up for the day. I drag his rocker into the kitchen. Will has decided that he doesn't want to eat his sausage. He throws it on the floor to the dog and signs for more. We give him avocado. One bite, then it's on the floor. Again he signs for more and points. Egg? No. A bar? No. Puffs? No. No. No. Fruit? Yes, but not all of it. He then asks to get down. I sit him down and he runs up to Henry, leans over, and snacks him on the head. I tell him 'No, we give Bubba kisses!'. He gets angry that I have mentioned kisses and growls at me, then screams and runs away. Ok then.
10:30am- Brent goes to jiu jitsu. I turn on Gabba and begin rocking Henry in my arms. As I do I realize I forgot to get my coffee. And eat. Crap. I look down at Henry. We are 2 Gabba songs in and his eyelids are heavy. I'm in too deep to stop now. He falls asleep and I sit down. Will is extra excited today and is squealing more than usual. Each one makes Henry jump. I try to quietly tell Will to use his inside voice. He instead picks up a plastic toy and throws it across the room where it creates the LOUDEST NOISE EVER.
11:30am- I try to lay Henry down. The second I do he opens his eyes. I pick him up and he's back out. Alright. I sit back on the couch and queue up Sesame Street. Will isn't amused. He try's to get me off the couch and I try tickling him with my feet. He giggles. We do it again and again. I realize my Will play time has digressed into poking him in the head with my feet. Whatever works I guess.
12:00pm- we all make our way back to the nursery to play. Henry has decided napping just isn't the plan today. I lay him in the crib while I sit on the floor and play with Will. We play cars. We play blocks. He starts to act sleepy so I start prepping for nap time.
12:45pm- I put Will in his crib with his bottle, give him a kiss, and leave the room. I change Henry's diaper and take him to the living room to nurse. I turn on the monitor and turn on the TV, finally some grown up time! Henry nurses and I check the monitor. Will is still awake. I check again and he has finished his bottle and thrown it out of the crib. Damn. He is standing and shows no sign of laying down. I stop nursing and sit Henry down. This sends him into a fit of baby rage. I go to the nursery where Will is waiting for me. He points to his bottle on the floor and tells me 'baba', which means refill my bottle, please. I refill it and give it back. Another kiss and back to Henry. We resume.
1:30pm- Will is still awake and is now throwing all of his blankets out of the crib. That can only mean one thing. I successfully lay Henry in his rocker and he stays asleep. I go check on Will, walk into the nursery and he says 'I pooped'. That you did. I change him and lay him back down then make some lunch for myself.
2:00pm- Will has finished bottle number 2 and is still not asleep. Looks like no nap today. As I prepare to go get him Henry begins to grunt. You've got to be kidding me.
2:30pm- Brent is home and feeds Will lunch. He snacks a little but doesn't want any real food. He would rather play.
3:34pm- Will try's to pick up a book that he is standing on. When he can't pick it up he falls over crying.
3:40pm- Will is still mad about the book. Henry is ready to nurse again.
5:30pm- Brent has to leave to teach. I nurse Henry and he feeds Will dinner before he leaves. Will eats a few bites. At the last bite he chews it a little before deciding he doesn't want it and spits it back out. Gross. He then throws his bowl on the floor.
6:00pm- was hoping Henry would nap on his own but we've established that's not happening today. I grab my carrier and strap him on. I walk around the house and try to entertain Will while Henry naps. We march, we play chase, I sneak some food while he plays blocks in his room. If he knows I am eating he will eat half of it. I am usually ok with this, but not tonight. Momma's gotta eat. Will rounds the corner and finds me stuffing my face. I freeze as if his vision is based on motion. Like a t-Rex. His little brain processes what is happening and he starts chanting 'cheese, cheese, cheese!' Which is his version of 'please'. He then eats half of my dinner.
7:00pm- bedtime! I get everything ready for Will while Henry is still strapped to my chest. Once the bath is ready I lay Henry in his crib and strip Will. Bath time goes smoothly until I tell him its time to get out. He acts like he doesnt hear me and keeps playing with his toys. I reach down to pick him up and he tries to curl into a ball. It takes all of my strength to pick up and carry his giant, wet, struggling body to his changing table. I lay him down and he is grinning. Turd. I lean in to kiss his adorable face and he punches me in the eye. Fantastic. Then it's jammies on and in the crib. Even with the rough day I still live for him to jump in my arms and give me a kiss before I put him in the crib.
7:30pm- Henry is next. Diaper and sleeper change, then it's time to nurse. He is restless. He latches and unlatches multiple times. I finally get him comfortable and he falls asleep. He then wakes up abruptly and screeches. I sit him upright and he HURLS all over me. This isn't a little spit up. It's enough liquid to soak my shirt, bra, pants, and boppy pillow. How? Why? WHY!?? I lay him on the changing table and change both of us. I take a deep breath, sit down and rock him. He finally falls and stays asleep.
9:00pm- Brent gets home. We watch a little TV and I eat a lot of food. There is laundry to fold but its not going to happen tonight.
10:00pm- glorious bedtime. I lay in bed for 2 hours tossing a turning, because who needs sleep?
And that's the jist. It is rare that we have a completely ideal day or a completely non ideal day. It is usually a mixture of both. And once you think you've got it figured out everything changes. Just when Will throws a temper tantrum he turns around and says a new word or gives you a hug. Just when Henry spits up so hard that he poops and it leaks on his clothes he then turns around and smiles. These kids are HARD, but this is my life. I am a mother. And I love, love, love these boys.
