6:45am
My body clock has decided this is the time for me to wake up each morning. It turns out though that this works out fairly well as I get a chance to escape the upstairs before the kids are up at 7. I keep the stairway gate closed and sneak down for some me-time on the computer. (And while Brent may not appreciate being stuck upstairs with the kids first thing in the morning, I think we both know that if I took the kids downstairs he would fall back asleep for who knows how long. Brent = not morning person.)
7am
Lydia is up and likely enters our bedroom (not sure on her exact routine because as mentioned above, I am happily downstairs). Upon waking Brent and realizing I am not there, she goes into Eli's room. Usually I have a monitor on downstairs so I get to listen to the two of them converse for awhile. Lydia looks at books and then drops them into Eli's crib for him to look at. They talk and giggle and I enjoy listening to my sweet babies getting along so nicely.
7:20ish am
Once I hear Brent is out of bed, it's time to go get water/juice for the kids while he rescues Eli from the crib. Brent opens the gate for Lydia and before long she is downstairs with me asking to play the caterpillar game (Cootie) or play on the iPad. I inform her that breakfast will be first, but turn on Disney (Mickey Mouse) for the kids to watch while they eat. Brent sleepily brings Eli down and puts him in his booster seat. Eli immediately begins asking for food. The boy loves breakfast! Lately he wants cereal bars and starts shouting out what color (flavor) he wants. One red and one green have been the trend. And after finishing those, he then wants a bowl of cereal with milk. Lydia, not nearly the big breakfast eater that her brother is, prefers toaster strudel or waffles for breakfast.
8am-11am
Our mornings are not routine at this point, though with Lydia starting preschool in just over 2 weeks we'll be force into one soon. The kids generally watch a show or two while eating breakfast, then play and do whatever in the house the rest of the morning. They are beginning to be really good at playing together alone (as in without me) and sometimes will go down in the playroom to entertain themselves. It's nice to get a chance to get a few things done... makes me almost wonder why I'm starting over with another baby!! Almost. :-) The temperatures have been nice in the mornings lately so sometimes if we can get everyone dressed and out the door we try to go out. Sometimes just running errands, but sometimes going to the zoo or just playing outside.
11:30am
Lunch time. While he loves his variety of breakfast foods, lunch and dinner are a much bigger challenge with Eli. His absolute favorite is grilled cheese and he'll hardly eat anything else for lunch. Sometimes he'll do okay with PB&J, but he has absolutely decided chicken nuggets are no good anymore.
Noon
Sweet freedom comes at naptime. :-) Once lunch is over the kids are upstairs for 1-2 hours. Eli usually sleeps, but Lydia doesn't sleep much anymore. She stays in her room (mostly) and stays quiet, but I can tell by the way she acts that she often doesn't sleep. This can get frustrating because I know if she would rest she wouldn't be so wound up and prone to getting in trouble later in the day. But anyway, the kids rest for awhile and I get a chance to catch up on work/couponing or just to rest/relax myself for a bit.
2pm-5pm
Kids are up from naps and we're on to the afternoon. Again, the agenda is relaxed and depends on what we need to do that day. Both kids love to be outside. Lydia is getting really good at pedalling her tricycle and Eli loves being in the cozy coupe. We also enjoy playing on the deck or in the backyard sometimes. Lydia likes running down the hill into the drainage area behind our lot pretending she's going to the jungle. She'll run down, then go back up the hill to her right where there's an empty lot, then make the journey back to our yard. Sometimes she'll just do this over and over and over again because she enjoys it so much. Poor thing isn't going to like it so much when we get our fence put in soon. But it will be much safer for the kids having a fenced backyard and eventually we'll put a swingset up too. Besides being outside, the kids have some favorite indoor activities too. Lydia likes to ask me to play "tickle bug" which basically just means she and Eli run around and I try to grab them and tickle them. So we play or watch movies or do chores for the afternoon while we wait for Brent to get back home.
5:15pm
We hear the garage door open and Lydia immediately runs to "hide" behind sometime so she can surprise Brent when he walks in. This is her new favorite thing... anytime anyone leaves someplace and then returns she wants to surprise them. Makes it not very surprising actually. Eli on the other hand generally runs to the door and starts trying to open it. Opening and closing doors is his new favorite thing. Often when I'm getting dressed in the morning he is going in and out the bathroom door telling me, "Hi!" or "Bye, cya later." each time. But anyway, both kids are excited for Daddy to be home (and so am I because I'm in need of a break at this point!)
5:30-7pm
Dinner, possibly bath, and bed for the kids. Eli's bedtime routine: He wants to turn all of his fans on and also his nightlight. He loves to do things by himself, so it's very common to hear him saying "Do it? Do it?" or "Turn? Turn?" as in, "I want to do it." or "It's my turn." And yes, everything he says comes out sounding like a question. Once his PJs are on, his teeth are brushed, and he has adequately turned on what needs to be on in his room, it's time for books. He always gets two books. Lately the Elmo books with buttons to push for music/sounds are his favorites. As soon as books are done Eli immedately yells, "Ginkle! Ginkle!" ... ie, his favorite song "Twinkle Twinkle." We can never get away with not singing this to him before bed. He'll let us sing a different song first, but "Ginkle" is asked for as soon as the other one ends. Once he's had his song, he's pretty content to give hugs and kisses (a hug on each shoulder followed by a kiss on the lips) and get into his crib. He usually insists on a final hug & kiss after being put into bed, then he'll grab his one and only must-have toy frog we call "Ribbit" and lay down to sleep. Lydia's bedtime routine: She also wants to do everything herself, so we usually stand by while she strips herself down, goes to the bathroom, and gets her PJs on (not always in that order and not often very quickly). We help her brush her teeth, then she gets one book and one Bible story. Lately she's had a bad habit of picking at her upper lip, so chapstick has become part of her morning & evening routine. Then she usually chooses to either "elevator" up to her bed (where we lift her off the ground from her feet) or to "blast off" (where she counts down, says blast off, and we jump her into bed). Hugs and kisses happen in here somewhere, but she changes when and where she wants them. She doesn't like to pick a stuffed animal out for herself and prefers that we choose her "friend" for her most times. We do bedtime prayers next. Sometimes she will repeat after us as we pray and other times she has us pray and then we pause so she can say some things she is thankful for. Lastly she gets a song which she generally asks that we pick one instead of her. Before we close her door, though, she always wants to say one last thing and it's always, "*click click* My light is on/off, and I'm as snug as a bug in a rug."
7-10pm
At last we can relax! Well, that is as long as Lydia stays in bed. She still occasionally gets out of bed to ask us some silly question, or we'll hear her get up to go to the bathroom 5 times in the hour after she is put in bed. But for the most part we get to enjoy some quieter time together in the evenings before I can't stand to stay awake any longer. I still struggle to stay up past 10. I guess pregnancy and toddlers will do that to you.
So that's basically what goes on around her day in and day out. Of course there are all kinds of little stories that could be told each day, but this captures the essence. Some other noteworthy things about each kid:
Lydia:
She starts preschool soon and is very excited. It amazes me how grown up she already seems. She converses very well and I'm often floored by how sophisticated her speaking is for a 3.5 year old! Lydia is an amazing big sister, looking forward to the arrival of the new baby and also teaching Eli so many things. For the most part she does well being patient with Eli when he doesn't understand her and she shares very nicely. She makes me so proud! I especially love how well she is doing with memorizing verses for church. She has done the memory verse every week for the past 3 months and even today she can recite all 3 of them with little to no help at all. It's going to be odd not having her around all the time when she starts school, but I'm really looking forward to talking to her about all she is learning and doing there. She's going to love it!
Eli:
He has become quite the chatterbox. He is realizing how many words he knows and never fails to point out people/objects/colors everywhere when he sees something he can say. A typical conversation may go as follows: "Fan? Fan?" "Yes Eli, that's a fan." "On? On?" "No buddy, it's off." "Off? Off?" "Yep, it's off." etc. His lately accomplishment has been mastering colors. He's 95% accurate with blue, red, green, yellow, orange, and purple. Whenever we drive anywhere I can expect various colors to be shouted out at random when he sees a car of that color. I know that he is super smart and wish I had more time to work with him on these skills. Perhaps when Lydia starts school. I'm really looking forward to that alone time with him for a few months before baby 3 arrives. Eli also has a super fun personality. He is just so happy most of the time and loves to smile and laugh. He can be a bit of a softy though and whenever he is sad or hurt even the slightest bit he comes crying to me saying, "Chair? Chair?" until I take him to the recliner and snuggle with him there. It's his comfort zone, head on my shoulder rocking in the recliner.
Baby 3:
Still in waiting mode with this one. Waiting to find out the gender and waiting to feel more consistent movements. I am happy to feel baby move a bit more often these days. Usually once a day, sometimes more sometimes less. But they are getting stronger and more like popcorn pops than tickly butterflies. My next appointment is in a week (I'll be 18 weeks) and hopefully I'll get to schedule my ultrasound. I'd love to get it done at 19 weeks, but they may make we wait until 20. Mom & Dad will be on a cruise that 20th week and I'm hoping I can sweet talk my doctor into an earlier ultrasound so I can be sure I can get ahold of my parents. People have asked me if I have a feeling either way about the gender. I really don't have any intuition about what this baby's gender is this time. Pretty sure I thought both Lydia & Eli were boys at this point, but this one I really don't have any clue. I'm just looking forward to seeing my peanut again! We haven't really discussed names yet and said we'd wait to find out the gender, so I'm really looking forward to that. Ready for baby 3 to have an identity all his/her own!
My body clock has decided this is the time for me to wake up each morning. It turns out though that this works out fairly well as I get a chance to escape the upstairs before the kids are up at 7. I keep the stairway gate closed and sneak down for some me-time on the computer. (And while Brent may not appreciate being stuck upstairs with the kids first thing in the morning, I think we both know that if I took the kids downstairs he would fall back asleep for who knows how long. Brent = not morning person.)
7am
Lydia is up and likely enters our bedroom (not sure on her exact routine because as mentioned above, I am happily downstairs). Upon waking Brent and realizing I am not there, she goes into Eli's room. Usually I have a monitor on downstairs so I get to listen to the two of them converse for awhile. Lydia looks at books and then drops them into Eli's crib for him to look at. They talk and giggle and I enjoy listening to my sweet babies getting along so nicely.
7:20ish am
Once I hear Brent is out of bed, it's time to go get water/juice for the kids while he rescues Eli from the crib. Brent opens the gate for Lydia and before long she is downstairs with me asking to play the caterpillar game (Cootie) or play on the iPad. I inform her that breakfast will be first, but turn on Disney (Mickey Mouse) for the kids to watch while they eat. Brent sleepily brings Eli down and puts him in his booster seat. Eli immediately begins asking for food. The boy loves breakfast! Lately he wants cereal bars and starts shouting out what color (flavor) he wants. One red and one green have been the trend. And after finishing those, he then wants a bowl of cereal with milk. Lydia, not nearly the big breakfast eater that her brother is, prefers toaster strudel or waffles for breakfast.
8am-11am
Our mornings are not routine at this point, though with Lydia starting preschool in just over 2 weeks we'll be force into one soon. The kids generally watch a show or two while eating breakfast, then play and do whatever in the house the rest of the morning. They are beginning to be really good at playing together alone (as in without me) and sometimes will go down in the playroom to entertain themselves. It's nice to get a chance to get a few things done... makes me almost wonder why I'm starting over with another baby!! Almost. :-) The temperatures have been nice in the mornings lately so sometimes if we can get everyone dressed and out the door we try to go out. Sometimes just running errands, but sometimes going to the zoo or just playing outside.
11:30am
Lunch time. While he loves his variety of breakfast foods, lunch and dinner are a much bigger challenge with Eli. His absolute favorite is grilled cheese and he'll hardly eat anything else for lunch. Sometimes he'll do okay with PB&J, but he has absolutely decided chicken nuggets are no good anymore.
Noon
Sweet freedom comes at naptime. :-) Once lunch is over the kids are upstairs for 1-2 hours. Eli usually sleeps, but Lydia doesn't sleep much anymore. She stays in her room (mostly) and stays quiet, but I can tell by the way she acts that she often doesn't sleep. This can get frustrating because I know if she would rest she wouldn't be so wound up and prone to getting in trouble later in the day. But anyway, the kids rest for awhile and I get a chance to catch up on work/couponing or just to rest/relax myself for a bit.
2pm-5pm
Kids are up from naps and we're on to the afternoon. Again, the agenda is relaxed and depends on what we need to do that day. Both kids love to be outside. Lydia is getting really good at pedalling her tricycle and Eli loves being in the cozy coupe. We also enjoy playing on the deck or in the backyard sometimes. Lydia likes running down the hill into the drainage area behind our lot pretending she's going to the jungle. She'll run down, then go back up the hill to her right where there's an empty lot, then make the journey back to our yard. Sometimes she'll just do this over and over and over again because she enjoys it so much. Poor thing isn't going to like it so much when we get our fence put in soon. But it will be much safer for the kids having a fenced backyard and eventually we'll put a swingset up too. Besides being outside, the kids have some favorite indoor activities too. Lydia likes to ask me to play "tickle bug" which basically just means she and Eli run around and I try to grab them and tickle them. So we play or watch movies or do chores for the afternoon while we wait for Brent to get back home.
5:15pm
We hear the garage door open and Lydia immediately runs to "hide" behind sometime so she can surprise Brent when he walks in. This is her new favorite thing... anytime anyone leaves someplace and then returns she wants to surprise them. Makes it not very surprising actually. Eli on the other hand generally runs to the door and starts trying to open it. Opening and closing doors is his new favorite thing. Often when I'm getting dressed in the morning he is going in and out the bathroom door telling me, "Hi!" or "Bye, cya later." each time. But anyway, both kids are excited for Daddy to be home (and so am I because I'm in need of a break at this point!)
5:30-7pm
Dinner, possibly bath, and bed for the kids. Eli's bedtime routine: He wants to turn all of his fans on and also his nightlight. He loves to do things by himself, so it's very common to hear him saying "Do it? Do it?" or "Turn? Turn?" as in, "I want to do it." or "It's my turn." And yes, everything he says comes out sounding like a question. Once his PJs are on, his teeth are brushed, and he has adequately turned on what needs to be on in his room, it's time for books. He always gets two books. Lately the Elmo books with buttons to push for music/sounds are his favorites. As soon as books are done Eli immedately yells, "Ginkle! Ginkle!" ... ie, his favorite song "Twinkle Twinkle." We can never get away with not singing this to him before bed. He'll let us sing a different song first, but "Ginkle" is asked for as soon as the other one ends. Once he's had his song, he's pretty content to give hugs and kisses (a hug on each shoulder followed by a kiss on the lips) and get into his crib. He usually insists on a final hug & kiss after being put into bed, then he'll grab his one and only must-have toy frog we call "Ribbit" and lay down to sleep. Lydia's bedtime routine: She also wants to do everything herself, so we usually stand by while she strips herself down, goes to the bathroom, and gets her PJs on (not always in that order and not often very quickly). We help her brush her teeth, then she gets one book and one Bible story. Lately she's had a bad habit of picking at her upper lip, so chapstick has become part of her morning & evening routine. Then she usually chooses to either "elevator" up to her bed (where we lift her off the ground from her feet) or to "blast off" (where she counts down, says blast off, and we jump her into bed). Hugs and kisses happen in here somewhere, but she changes when and where she wants them. She doesn't like to pick a stuffed animal out for herself and prefers that we choose her "friend" for her most times. We do bedtime prayers next. Sometimes she will repeat after us as we pray and other times she has us pray and then we pause so she can say some things she is thankful for. Lastly she gets a song which she generally asks that we pick one instead of her. Before we close her door, though, she always wants to say one last thing and it's always, "*click click* My light is on/off, and I'm as snug as a bug in a rug."
7-10pm
At last we can relax! Well, that is as long as Lydia stays in bed. She still occasionally gets out of bed to ask us some silly question, or we'll hear her get up to go to the bathroom 5 times in the hour after she is put in bed. But for the most part we get to enjoy some quieter time together in the evenings before I can't stand to stay awake any longer. I still struggle to stay up past 10. I guess pregnancy and toddlers will do that to you.
So that's basically what goes on around her day in and day out. Of course there are all kinds of little stories that could be told each day, but this captures the essence. Some other noteworthy things about each kid:
Lydia:
She starts preschool soon and is very excited. It amazes me how grown up she already seems. She converses very well and I'm often floored by how sophisticated her speaking is for a 3.5 year old! Lydia is an amazing big sister, looking forward to the arrival of the new baby and also teaching Eli so many things. For the most part she does well being patient with Eli when he doesn't understand her and she shares very nicely. She makes me so proud! I especially love how well she is doing with memorizing verses for church. She has done the memory verse every week for the past 3 months and even today she can recite all 3 of them with little to no help at all. It's going to be odd not having her around all the time when she starts school, but I'm really looking forward to talking to her about all she is learning and doing there. She's going to love it!
Eli:
He has become quite the chatterbox. He is realizing how many words he knows and never fails to point out people/objects/colors everywhere when he sees something he can say. A typical conversation may go as follows: "Fan? Fan?" "Yes Eli, that's a fan." "On? On?" "No buddy, it's off." "Off? Off?" "Yep, it's off." etc. His lately accomplishment has been mastering colors. He's 95% accurate with blue, red, green, yellow, orange, and purple. Whenever we drive anywhere I can expect various colors to be shouted out at random when he sees a car of that color. I know that he is super smart and wish I had more time to work with him on these skills. Perhaps when Lydia starts school. I'm really looking forward to that alone time with him for a few months before baby 3 arrives. Eli also has a super fun personality. He is just so happy most of the time and loves to smile and laugh. He can be a bit of a softy though and whenever he is sad or hurt even the slightest bit he comes crying to me saying, "Chair? Chair?" until I take him to the recliner and snuggle with him there. It's his comfort zone, head on my shoulder rocking in the recliner.
Baby 3:
Still in waiting mode with this one. Waiting to find out the gender and waiting to feel more consistent movements. I am happy to feel baby move a bit more often these days. Usually once a day, sometimes more sometimes less. But they are getting stronger and more like popcorn pops than tickly butterflies. My next appointment is in a week (I'll be 18 weeks) and hopefully I'll get to schedule my ultrasound. I'd love to get it done at 19 weeks, but they may make we wait until 20. Mom & Dad will be on a cruise that 20th week and I'm hoping I can sweet talk my doctor into an earlier ultrasound so I can be sure I can get ahold of my parents. People have asked me if I have a feeling either way about the gender. I really don't have any intuition about what this baby's gender is this time. Pretty sure I thought both Lydia & Eli were boys at this point, but this one I really don't have any clue. I'm just looking forward to seeing my peanut again! We haven't really discussed names yet and said we'd wait to find out the gender, so I'm really looking forward to that. Ready for baby 3 to have an identity all his/her own!
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