As I mentioned on Facebook, the last time I did a post like this was in August of 2014, when Molly was 2 months old. Rereading it was strange. First, I realized that she ate a lot more often than he does, and that took up A LOT of time. Second, I was back at work, and I can tell based on the overall tone of the post that I was not happy about it.
It’s been so long since I’ve written a blog post, I know. Apologies in advance for typos or weird sentences. I need to start writing more before I go back to work (where I’m literally paid to write coherently) because seriously, just two months of staying home and already my brain is just mush.
12 midnight
I’m starting this at the true start of Friday because I went out Thursday night, which is such a rare occurrence. A friend who lives very close by invited me over for wine and snacks and girl time, which felt really good. I took Liam along, figuring he’d sleep in the Moby wrap or in my friend’s baby swing. Ah… no. He was wide awake the entire time… not fussing, just observing, and clearly thinking he was one of the party guests (which I guess he kind of was). Normally he’s asleep “for the night” around 8 or 9. I got home about half past 12 and settled him into his Rock ‘n’ Play (RNP) and he was out before I finished brushing my teeth. Too cute.
5 am
Liam starts fussing in the RNP. When we first brought him home from the hospital, I tried swaddling him and putting him in the bassinet like we did for Molly, but he totally hated it. I think he has some digestive/reflux issues, which is why the RNP’s slight elevation probably feels better for his tummy.
I sleepily reach over and pull him into bed with me and nurse him back to sleep. He skipped his 2 am feeding (probably because he was exhausted from staying up so late) so my left boob is rock hard and in pain. It quickly subsides as he eats. Both of us drift off to sleep. Eric’s alarm goes off and he turns it off without getting up.
7:30 am
I hear a little voice talking to her stuffed animals in the next room. For a couple of minutes she’s content amusing herself in her crib, then she starts yelling, “Mommy! Maaa meeeeee!” I turn over and notice that Eric is still in bed, which means he’s calling in sick to work. I figured he would since he has picked up the cold we were all fighting off the week before. Or as he calls it, “the man flu.”
7:35 am
I transfer Liam out of bed and put him in the RNP, then drag it into the hallway. I shut the door to the bedroom to keep the dogs in there with Eric. I go rescue Molly from her crib and push Liam in the RNP to the kitchen while carrying her.
7:37 am
Discover Bird has peed and pooped on the living room rug (which at this point is completely destroyed and needs to be replaced ASAP). He also peed on Molly’s chair, which is weird because he sits in it like it’s his chair, so why pee on it? I take apart her chair for like, the second time this week to wash the cover and vow to be better about keeping the bedroom door closed at night to keep this from happening.
7:45 am
Breakfast time. Molly gets watered down apple juice, sliced strawberries, and a pouch of strawberry Greek yogurt squeezed out into a bowl. She’s gotten really good with using a spoon and refuses to let me help. She also won’t eat the yogurt squeeze pouches the way they’re intended to be eaten, but they don’t sell the kid-portioned Greek yogurt in regular yogurt containers, just pouches. This morning I’m also making gluten free pancakes because I feel like it, though we usually have bacon and eggs. At the last minute I throw in chocolate chips just because why the hell not. I start coffee and throw the chair cover in the washer.
8:00 am
On my hands and knees scrubbing the living room rug. For like the hundredth time. While my breakfast gets cold. Contemplate throwing the rug or the dog or both out the back door.
8:15 am
Eric’s awake and takes the dogs out, then I feed them and give Ryder his pills when they come back in. We finally broke down and went to the vet for his itching problem, which turned out to be severe allergies. He’s currently on high dose steroids, which were $120 but totally worth it because they’re working and he’s no longer scratching himself raw. We also love our new vet, who costs wayyyyyy less than our last vet, expensive prescription notwithstanding.
Molly is done eating so I release her from her high chair. I glare at Bird and return to my cold coffee and pancakes.
8:40 am
Liam has dozed off in the RNP. I text my sister to see if she still wants to go to Kohls with me, but her daughter isn’t feeling well so she says she can’t make it out. I start the dishwasher as Molly wanders around the kitchen, and starts whining to go bye-bye even though I haven’t mentioned it. She hates being cooped up in the house (just like her mama!) and we didn’t go anywhere Thursday. I need to get a present for a birthday party Sunday (assuming we’ll be dug out of the snow by then) and socks for Molly because all of hers are way too small. Plus I have to run to Wegmans for groceries in anticipation of Snowmageddon 2016.
9 am
I get Molly dressed. Liam’s awake so I change him and force feed him a little since I’m taking advantage of Eric being home and leaving him behind, so I want him as full as possible. After feeding, I throw on my mom uniform of yoga pants, black tunic hoodie, and moccasins (as Eric calls it, my weird Assassin’s Creed outfit). I’ve reached the point of showering every other day, and this is the “other,” so a ponytail completes this very fashionable look.
9:08 am
Coats on and ready to go. Molly and I kiss the boys goodbye and depart.
9:20 am
Shopping at Kohls. We find a gift for the party, socks, and a new winter hat for Liam, whose big head has outgrown the one I bought when he was first born. I also find some slippers on clearance because I desperately need a new pair. I note how glamorous my life is now that clearance slippers at Kohls fill me with such joy.
9:45 am
We drive across the street to Wegmans, which as I figured it would be, is insanely crowded for a weekday morning. The huge snowstorm is scheduled to start in a few hours and everyone and their grandma is stocking up for French toast (Milk! Eggs! Bread!). We wander around and take our time, and I keep forgetting things and backtracking. This is not one of my more efficient trips. I think the crowds are distracting me.
10:45 am
Text from Eric: “Where are you? This boy is awake. And hungry.”
11 am
Ok, seriously. We need to get in line and check out. Did I even remember the eggs?
11:15 am
Home at last. I make Molly walk and carry all the groceries in at once, counting this as today’s arm workout. Since Liam isn’t really crying in earnest, I quickly put everything away before tending to him.
11:30 am
Nurse Liam and give Molly some string cheese. She’s started saying, “Eat! Eaaaat!” when she’s hungry, and it’s actually quite convenient knowing what she wants.
12 noon
As I was nursing I was also assessing the state of the dog hair, and determined it unacceptable. As soon as Liam has his fill I take out the vaccuum and begin an epic battle that I know I’ll never win. When I’m done, I flip the chair cover from the washer to the dryer. It’s still really wet and I don’t know why.
12:15 pm
Molly typcially goes down for a nap anywhere between 11 and 1, but if she’s still awake around noon she usually wants lunch first. Today she’s sleepy and hungry but opts for the food. For lunch today she has turkey lunch meat, a slice of cheese, a sweet potato, and apple slices.
Liam starts fussing in the RNP so I rock him with my foot while I eat leftover Thursday Soup, my new favorite meal to make. It’s so easy! You literally take all your leftovers from the previous few days and throw them together in some chicken broth to make a soup. Every week it tastes different based on what you’ve made prior. This week’s soup has pork roast, Italian chicken, some peppers that were going soft, half an onion, and baby purple potatoes. I left it simmering a little too long so it’s technically more like Thursday Stew.
12:30 pm
Molly did pretty well eating her lunch so I give in to her demands for a cookie. I eat the other half of her apple with my new obsession, maple sunflower seed butter. When Molly finishes her cookie she makes me give her the last apple slice. I hand it over even though I know she’ll just take two bites and throw it on the floor. How do you say no to a kid asking for an apple rather than another cookie?
12:50 pm
I unload the dishwasher. As I’m doing this, Molly gathers all of her kid utensils out of the silverware caddy and walks off with them. Liam is drifting between napping/fussing in the RNP nearby.
12:56 pm
Liam is screaming in earnest. I grab Molly and quickly put her down for a nap before settling down on the couch to nurse him. I briefly contemplate how often I solve problems with my breasts. Can’t imagine that will be so effective back at work.
1 pm
He only nurses briefly before drifting off to sleep. This has been a thing lately – he really wants to be held and cuddled to sleep, not left in the swing or the RNP. It’s just funny because I was constantly holding Molly at this age and she didn’t care one way or the other, but for Liam, who wants to be cuddled 24/7, I’m so much more likely to try to put him down in favor of doing chores or caring for Molly. Their birth orders should definitely be reversed.
Immobilized by Senor Cuddles-a-Lot, I pick up my Nook and start reading my latest book, The Turner House. I’ve set a goal of reading 50 books in 2016 and this is my fifth. I figure my speed of devouring books will drop off considerably once maternity leave ends.
1:30 pm
My eyes start getting heavy. I’m still tired from being up late the night before, so I take advantage of both kids napping and fall asleep on the couch.
2:30 pm
I wake up. Liam and his sweaty little head are still sleeping on my chest. All is quiet in Molly’s room, so I pick up my Nook and keep reading.
3:15 pm
I hear Molly calling, but since she asks for Dada before Mama and Liam is still asleep, I text Eric and ask him to go get her. He’s one room away in the office but I don’t want to yell and wake the baby.
3:30 pm
Molly wakes Liam by (accidentally) smacking him in the face with her baby doll’s hard plastic head. I soothe him with my boobs, as usual. Like my mother before me I call them “ninnies,” and this is quickly becoming Molly’s favorite thing to say. She loves pointing at my chest and saying “A ninny! A ninny!” A few minutes after I start nursing Liam and we agree several times that he’s having a ninny, she tells me her baby needs a ninny and smushes its face up against her chest. I can just picture the gods of breastfeeding smiling down on me in this moment.
4 pm
Molly has stopped feeding her baby and tossed it aside. Bored, she asks to watch Caillou. Ugh! These days we rotate between Daniel Tiger (“Ty-er”), Doc McStuffins (“Doc”), Peppa Pig (“Pehhhhhhpa Pig”), and the dreaded, horrifically obnoxious, weirdly primary colored, inexplicably bald whiny toddler named Caillou (“Kah-you”). I sigh and oblige, mentally congratulating myself that I’ve made it almost a full day without turning the television on. Another perk of not sitting at home.
I’m jotting down notes for this post in the kitchen when Molly comes in saying, “Eat! Eat!” Does this kid ever stop?
4:15 pm
I get Molly a snack of Pirate Booty and return to the living room to feed a screaming Liam.
For the next couple hours we just kind of hang out. Molly wrestles with Eric on the floor, retrieves various toys from her room, plays, and sometimes stops to notice the endless whining of Caillou on the telly. Some highlights:
-She likes climbing up on the couch and looking out the living room window, and calls my van parked out front a “bye-bye.”
-Her favorite Christmas present by far is a collection of three bath toys – Elmo, Cookie Monster, and Ernie. She calls them Elmo, Cookie, and Duck (because Ernie is wearing a duck flotation device). Never shall the three be separated. She brings them everywhere.
-She also has a little baby doll she got for Christmas (this year’s theme was babies.) The other night Eric was messing around and made the baby “walk,” while singing a little jingle – “Walka walk around, walk around!” She thought this was hilarious. Now she makes the baby walk and sings the song. She makes me do the same. If I’m in the living room and instruct her to “Go get walk around baby” she’ll totally go in her room and find it. I love it.
-After a second spin in the dryer, Molly’s chair cover is finally dry. I start the arduous task of putting the chair back together while sternly telling Bird the chair is MINE and he MAY NOT pee on it again. Eric reminds me that the chair isn’t mine (because it’s Molly’s). Thanks, dear.
-I pick up my book again and start reading. I put it on the foot of Liam’s RNP and alternate between reading and cooing at him, since he’s awake and talkative. Two months is such a hard age. He can’t “do” anything, but I feel bad just ignoring him in his chair. He’s very sociable and loves when we pay attention to him. He’s also really into watching the ceiling fan spin around.
hangin’ out
5:45 pm
I leave to go get pizza. Friday pizza night is the best! My favorite place is way over on the other side of town and doesn’t deliver, but I really wanted it, so I got it. Eric only orders Papa John’s because they are the only place that will deliver to us. I think it’s worth it to get mom and pop pizza, not chain, so I usually offer to go pick it up from wherever.
6:15 pm
I arrive home with the pizza. In their exuberance at my return, the dogs almost knock it out of my hands and I scream. NOT THE PIZZA!
6:20 pm
Dinner time. Pizza is also one of Molly’s favorite meals, and I can always count on her to finish a whole slice, but today she only eats half of one and picks the cheese off the rest and leaves the bread. So she’s NOT her mother’s daughter, then (I’m a crust girl). After a heated debate over whether pizza should be flat or folded, I put the question out on Facebook and am amazed at the huge response. Also, amazed that so many misguided individuals fold their pizza. Heathens.
After dinner Molly wants another cookie. I’m glad I bought the mini sized ones so I don’t have to feel as guilty for giving in. We head back to the living room to hang out and play for a while before bedtime.
7:30 pm
Time to brush teeth. Luckily, this is one of her favorite things to do.
7:35 pm
Bedtime. It’s a little early (I’ve been shooting for 8, especially in anticipation of going back to work and having less quality time with her), but she’s cranky and it’s been a long day. I put her in her PJs, turn on her lullabies, switch off the light, and say goodnight, once again thanking my lucky stars that she’s so easy to put to bed.
7:45 pm
I was feeling smug but now she’s sort of crying and yelling, “Mummy!” This is not typical. I wait a couple minutes and she gets quiet.
7:50 pm
She’s obviously asleep but now Liam is starting to fuss. Typical.
8 pm
I feed him a little but before I know it he’s asleep. Again, the boy just wants to be held and cuddled. I had planned on writing this post after Molly went to bed but that’s not happening now that I have to hold this sleeping baby, who will surely wake up the minute I try to put him down.
I turn to Eric to tell him to put on a show (with cable long cancelled, we’re currently making our way through The Blacklist) but he has fallen asleep. Damn man flu. Once again immobilized on the couch with a sleeping baby, I pick up my Nook. I’ve just finished The Turner House so I start on After You. I think about how I want a snack but there’s really nothing good in the kitchen, plus getting up would risk waking the baby. I applaud myself for intentionally buying Molly cookies that I don’t like. My plan is working! Bikini by summer, woo hoo! (Stop laughing. I’m serious. Kind of.)
9 pm
*Yawn* I’m so cool that I’m going to bed at 9 pm on Friday. And that’s ok.
If you’re still here 3,000 words later, I thank you. I can’t believe I had this much to say about basically nothing.
Enjoy the blizzard, all you East Coasters. I’m having fun so far because we still have power. If we lose that, I’ll be singing a different tune.
Stay safe and warm!
