A Day in our Crazy Life VIII
I've been meaning to do ADIOCL for months! Here it is, our Friday, July 8, 2016.
3:30 AM: I hear J fussing in her crib in the next room. The past two weeks sleep has been all over the place due to the fact that, after having no teeth for nearly the first 10 months of her life, she seems to be getting all of her teeth at once. Two of her bottom teeth have come in this week, and her upper gums are looking really red too. She sounds pretty mad so I know the fastest way to get her back to sleep is to go in and nurse. I stumble into the room and do so, but she doesn't nurse back to sleep-- when she finishes she gazes up at me and babbles on about something important. I stand up with her next to her crib and sway back and forth with her, which usually works to get her back to sleep. I can barely keep my own eyes open as I sway, but luckily it doesn't take long before she's out. I put her gently back into the crib, stumble back across the hallway, and fall into bed.
5:45 AM: I hear J again, this time making happy noises. It has always surprised me in these past two weeks of bad sleeping that she is usually still ready to be up for the day at her usual early time. Since she doesn't sound upset I allow myself to snooze. The buildup of bad sleep over the past few weeks has me exhausted and I'm super groggy and barely aware of what's going on.
6:15? 6:20?: I hear N going into J's room to entertain her and keep her company. I notice that M is awake getting ready for work. I'm so grateful for my helpful big girl and my eyes slide shut again.
6:45 AM: M comes in using a flashlight to look for things and I feel bad for sleeping in so I force myself to sit up. As I go out into the hallway to use the bathroom N emerges from J's room and says, "Mama... J's diaper..." waving a hand in front of her nose. "It smells like a bagel in there." So I go in and, yes indeed, it does smell rather bagel-ish. I change J. M comes in to kiss us both goodbye and then leaves for work.
6:50 AM: L wanders in while I'm changing J and gives her a few kisses in greeting. Then she sits in the rocker and gives me a list of all the boo boos on her hand and how she got them. I listen and remark on her calluses from gymnastics and congratulate her for working so hard. Then I ask if she can move from the rocker so I can feed the baby. She and N hurry off together for some sort of game and I sit to feed the baby again.
7:00 AM: I wander out into the kitchen with J and sit her down in the high chair with a few Cheerios and Kix. I pour myself some of the coffee that M made and try to get my brain to function enough to figure out breakfast. The girls request Kix cereal and although they have dance camp today and I've been trying to get in a high-protein breakfast each morning, I'm low on energy and allow them to just pour themselves cereal, praying that their blood sugar won't plummet too much before snack time at camp.
7:15 AM: I settle on eggs for myself and fry them up quickly and make some Udi's toast. I remember that it's pizza party day at camp so I don't have to make the girls a lunch. Yay, I can sit and eat my own breakfast without having to simultaneously slice pickles.
8:00 AM: We are all finished eating and J is fussing to get down. I put her on the living room floor with some toys (she's not crawling yet and will stay put!) and charge C with looking after her while I take a shower. I give the bigger girls the list of things to pack in their bags for camp and tell them to get dressed and ready while I'm showering. C pulls out the "dollhouse" she made out of the packaging material from the new air conditioner to play with while she hangs out with J.
8:22 AM: I get out of the shower and N is packed and ready but L has gotten distracted by playing with J and isn't even dressed yet. I tell her we're leaving in 8 minutes, then get my own clothes on and help her pack her bag. C grabs her own clothes and puts them on. J is fussing on the floor by herself during this flurry of activity with nobody to give her the constant attention she is used to. I can also tell she's getting tired.
8:30 AM: We leave the house and stop by the bank to get some cash for the girls' pizza party. On our way N and L ask, "Can you put on 'You Know What'?" which means they want to listen to our audio CD of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Not sure why they ask for it like that unless that's a reference to Voldemort or something. We hear a snippet of Chapter 5 about Harry camping with the Weasleys before the Quiddage World Cup.
9:00 AM: We arrive at the gym and walk the girls inside for camp. They hurry in to join the other campers who are already doing their jumping jacks to warm up.
9:05 AM: On the way home C asks, "Sooooo, what are we going to play today, Mama??" She and I have been enjoying some time together this week-- card games with no bossy older sisters explaining the rules, birthday parties for stuffed animals, a trip out to Panera for lunch... we discuss what we might do as we drive home.
9: 15 AM: We arrive home and C plays with J while I unload the dishwasher (the big girls would have done this for me if they had been home... it's been weird for me this week not having them around!) and clean up the breakfast dishes.
9:55 AM: Despite having fallen asleep in the car when we dropped the girls off J is still ready for her morning nap so I put on Tumble Leaf for C while I nurse her again and sway her to sleep. (Tumble Leaf is a show we just discovered and it's so sweet; I love it! So imaginative and with a loving and kind message and beautiful animation. I highly recommend it!)
10:15 AM: C is still quiet and enjoying Tumble Leaf. There are a million things I could do during this few minutes to myself and I try to decide-- call the chiropracter to schedule an appointment for myself? make a grocery list? do some work in my online class that I'm teaching this summer? do some of the homeschool planning that I intended to start this week but haven't because I've been having so much fun playing with C?... I decide to sit down and start this blog post instead. I brew a second cup of coffee since it's a cloudy day and I'm already dragging and feeling like curling up in bed for a nap.
11:30 AM: We turn off the TV. Daddy comes home from work (yay for 1/2 day Fridays in the summer!)
11:40 AM: J is waking up from her nap. I head in and get her out of her crib while C chats with Daddy. I place J in the high chair with a few cucumber slices so I can get lunch ready for myself and C. Daddy has already made himself a salad.
1:30 J is getting fussy and this is usually afternoon nap time but I know that we're leaving for the end-of-week dance show at camp in about 45 minutes. I decide I'll try to put her down for a short nap, so we nurse again and I rock her a little bit but she's not quite sleepy enough to settle.
2:10 I head back downstairs and gather up C and we get ready to go to the dance show.
2:30 We arrive at the gym and head in-- all the parents are just gathering for the show. In the first part of the show the kids just demonstrate the various "ninja warrior" things they have learned to do in the gym.
2:45 Time for the dance show!
They are so adorable in their oversized American flag t-shirts that they made by themselves, it brings tears to my eyes. But I'm a softie Mama like that.
3:00 We chat with the girls' teacher, buy our final Freeze Pops, and depart the gym. On the way home we stop for some fresh wild caught haddock for dinner.
3:30 We arrive home and I putter around, water some plants, put the fish in the marinade for fish tacos, and chat with the girls some more.
3:45 I nurse J and put her down for a very late afternoon nap. Then I head downstairs to do a bit more work in my online class while M plays Legend of Zelda with the girls.
5:10 I come back upstairs and J is awake. I bring her into the kitchen with me and stick the fish in the oven. I give J a few Cheerios and a pouch, thinking that she might do better feeding it to herself than eating from a spoon held by me.
Volume VI: N is 6.5, L is 4.5, C is 3, and J is in utero
Volume V: N is 6, L is 4, C is 2.5
Volume IV: N is 5.5, L is 3.5, and C is 2
Volume III: N is 5, L is 3, and C is 21 months
Volume II: N is 4.5, L is 2.5, and C is 14 months
Volume I: N is 4, L is 2, and C is 9 months
3:30 AM: I hear J fussing in her crib in the next room. The past two weeks sleep has been all over the place due to the fact that, after having no teeth for nearly the first 10 months of her life, she seems to be getting all of her teeth at once. Two of her bottom teeth have come in this week, and her upper gums are looking really red too. She sounds pretty mad so I know the fastest way to get her back to sleep is to go in and nurse. I stumble into the room and do so, but she doesn't nurse back to sleep-- when she finishes she gazes up at me and babbles on about something important. I stand up with her next to her crib and sway back and forth with her, which usually works to get her back to sleep. I can barely keep my own eyes open as I sway, but luckily it doesn't take long before she's out. I put her gently back into the crib, stumble back across the hallway, and fall into bed.
5:45 AM: I hear J again, this time making happy noises. It has always surprised me in these past two weeks of bad sleeping that she is usually still ready to be up for the day at her usual early time. Since she doesn't sound upset I allow myself to snooze. The buildup of bad sleep over the past few weeks has me exhausted and I'm super groggy and barely aware of what's going on.
6:15? 6:20?: I hear N going into J's room to entertain her and keep her company. I notice that M is awake getting ready for work. I'm so grateful for my helpful big girl and my eyes slide shut again.
6:45 AM: M comes in using a flashlight to look for things and I feel bad for sleeping in so I force myself to sit up. As I go out into the hallway to use the bathroom N emerges from J's room and says, "Mama... J's diaper..." waving a hand in front of her nose. "It smells like a bagel in there." So I go in and, yes indeed, it does smell rather bagel-ish. I change J. M comes in to kiss us both goodbye and then leaves for work.
6:50 AM: L wanders in while I'm changing J and gives her a few kisses in greeting. Then she sits in the rocker and gives me a list of all the boo boos on her hand and how she got them. I listen and remark on her calluses from gymnastics and congratulate her for working so hard. Then I ask if she can move from the rocker so I can feed the baby. She and N hurry off together for some sort of game and I sit to feed the baby again.
7:00 AM: I wander out into the kitchen with J and sit her down in the high chair with a few Cheerios and Kix. I pour myself some of the coffee that M made and try to get my brain to function enough to figure out breakfast. The girls request Kix cereal and although they have dance camp today and I've been trying to get in a high-protein breakfast each morning, I'm low on energy and allow them to just pour themselves cereal, praying that their blood sugar won't plummet too much before snack time at camp.
7:15 AM: I settle on eggs for myself and fry them up quickly and make some Udi's toast. I remember that it's pizza party day at camp so I don't have to make the girls a lunch. Yay, I can sit and eat my own breakfast without having to simultaneously slice pickles.
(some helpful hands feed J her Kix)
8:00 AM: We are all finished eating and J is fussing to get down. I put her on the living room floor with some toys (she's not crawling yet and will stay put!) and charge C with looking after her while I take a shower. I give the bigger girls the list of things to pack in their bags for camp and tell them to get dressed and ready while I'm showering. C pulls out the "dollhouse" she made out of the packaging material from the new air conditioner to play with while she hangs out with J.
8:22 AM: I get out of the shower and N is packed and ready but L has gotten distracted by playing with J and isn't even dressed yet. I tell her we're leaving in 8 minutes, then get my own clothes on and help her pack her bag. C grabs her own clothes and puts them on. J is fussing on the floor by herself during this flurry of activity with nobody to give her the constant attention she is used to. I can also tell she's getting tired.
8:30 AM: We leave the house and stop by the bank to get some cash for the girls' pizza party. On our way N and L ask, "Can you put on 'You Know What'?" which means they want to listen to our audio CD of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Not sure why they ask for it like that unless that's a reference to Voldemort or something. We hear a snippet of Chapter 5 about Harry camping with the Weasleys before the Quiddage World Cup.
9:00 AM: We arrive at the gym and walk the girls inside for camp. They hurry in to join the other campers who are already doing their jumping jacks to warm up.
9:05 AM: On the way home C asks, "Sooooo, what are we going to play today, Mama??" She and I have been enjoying some time together this week-- card games with no bossy older sisters explaining the rules, birthday parties for stuffed animals, a trip out to Panera for lunch... we discuss what we might do as we drive home.
9: 15 AM: We arrive home and C plays with J while I unload the dishwasher (the big girls would have done this for me if they had been home... it's been weird for me this week not having them around!) and clean up the breakfast dishes.
9:55 AM: Despite having fallen asleep in the car when we dropped the girls off J is still ready for her morning nap so I put on Tumble Leaf for C while I nurse her again and sway her to sleep. (Tumble Leaf is a show we just discovered and it's so sweet; I love it! So imaginative and with a loving and kind message and beautiful animation. I highly recommend it!)
(we stop by the mirror for a selfie before heading in for naps)
10:15 AM: C is still quiet and enjoying Tumble Leaf. There are a million things I could do during this few minutes to myself and I try to decide-- call the chiropracter to schedule an appointment for myself? make a grocery list? do some work in my online class that I'm teaching this summer? do some of the homeschool planning that I intended to start this week but haven't because I've been having so much fun playing with C?... I decide to sit down and start this blog post instead. I brew a second cup of coffee since it's a cloudy day and I'm already dragging and feeling like curling up in bed for a nap.
11:30 AM: We turn off the TV. Daddy comes home from work (yay for 1/2 day Fridays in the summer!)
11:40 AM: J is waking up from her nap. I head in and get her out of her crib while C chats with Daddy. I place J in the high chair with a few cucumber slices so I can get lunch ready for myself and C. Daddy has already made himself a salad.
C plays a game of Go Fish with Dad while waiting for Mama to make her a fried egg for lunch.
12:00 PM: Lunch is ready... I make a smoothie for myself with almond milk, two handfuls of mixed greens, a glob of peanut butter, two scoops of Shaklee chocolate protein powder, and an extra tablespoon of cocoa powder to make it really chocolatey. I also have half a ham sandwich with pickles.
I try to feed Miss J some pureed carrots, but she has a few bites and then turns her head away. She hasn't been wild about eating from a spoon since the teething started. She gums on the cucumbers anyway and a few Cheerios. She also tries to steal my straw out of my smoothie so I give her a clean one to play with.
12:15 PM: M and I chat a little bit after we finish eating. It's such a luxury to have him home-- we almost never get a chance to just sit and chat.
12:45 PM I get J cleaned up, change her diaper and put on a fresh outfit. C is requesting that M play Barbies with her in the playroom and he agrees. I head down with J and my laptop and do some further homeschool research and check into my class while Daddy plays with the younger girls.
1:15 PM Daddy starts a Crazy 8 workout (jumping jacks, lunges, push ups etc.) while the Barbies watch and cheer him on. J watches occasionally laughing at M with this little forced giggle that she has started doing in the last few days that it totally adorable and hilarious.
1:30 J is getting fussy and this is usually afternoon nap time but I know that we're leaving for the end-of-week dance show at camp in about 45 minutes. I decide I'll try to put her down for a short nap, so we nurse again and I rock her a little bit but she's not quite sleepy enough to settle.
2:10 I head back downstairs and gather up C and we get ready to go to the dance show.
2:30 We arrive at the gym and head in-- all the parents are just gathering for the show. In the first part of the show the kids just demonstrate the various "ninja warrior" things they have learned to do in the gym.
2:45 Time for the dance show!
They are so adorable in their oversized American flag t-shirts that they made by themselves, it brings tears to my eyes. But I'm a softie Mama like that.
3:00 We chat with the girls' teacher, buy our final Freeze Pops, and depart the gym. On the way home we stop for some fresh wild caught haddock for dinner.
3:30 We arrive home and I putter around, water some plants, put the fish in the marinade for fish tacos, and chat with the girls some more.
3:45 I nurse J and put her down for a very late afternoon nap. Then I head downstairs to do a bit more work in my online class while M plays Legend of Zelda with the girls.
5:10 I come back upstairs and J is awake. I bring her into the kitchen with me and stick the fish in the oven. I give J a few Cheerios and a pouch, thinking that she might do better feeding it to herself than eating from a spoon held by me.
She gets a few slurps in but she seems to gag on the sweetness of the pears. I wish that there were some straight veggie pouches... they seem to mix everything with fruit these days.
Of course, as you might imagine, a lot of it ends up on her clothes and on the tray.
I give her some other stuff to nibble on as I chopped things for the tacos-- bits of tomato, avocado, and cheese.
5:45 Dinner is ready for everyone else-- Zelda is turned off and everyone gets a plate.
Fish tacos... yum!
J is already fussy so we try to hold her off through dinner but she is pretty much done for the day. I manage to wolf down a few tacos.
6:00 I remove J from her high chair and get her in the bath to wash off all the food. Then it's PJs for her, an 8-ounce formula bottle (we find this helps her sleep through the night!) and by
6:30 she is asleep. (I put her down slightly sleepy but awake tonight to try and encourage the self-soothing techniques that will help her to sleep a little better at night! It works-- she puts herself to sleep with very little fuss.)
6:45 I emerge from J's room to find an intense game of Go Fish going on at the table.
I continue some work on this blog post while M gives L a bath and cleans up dishes.
7:30 The remaining girls get their pjs on and start getting ready for bed, bringing books in to read for a while.
7:45 I head in to kiss the girls goodnight and give "lights out".
8:00 M and I start watching an episode of "The Last Ship" in bed.
9:45 PM We chat about the fact that we need to get J back on a sleep schedule, and I tell M that I could use a night or two of restful sleep. He agrees to take over baby duties for this night and the next (when I go into the room at night J seems to think only of milk and won't settle with anything else) and so I tell him that I will sleep downstairs in the guest room so I won't hear J and lay awake worrying that she's giving him a hard time. We have done this in the past and it only usually takes a few nights of Daddy getting her through the night without milk before she starts doing it on her own without help. Vacations and teething have messed up our sleep schedule so I'm anxious to get baby back on track so I can enjoy a good night's sleep a little more consistently. I head downstairs and by
10:00 PM we are asleep!
If you would like to catch up on past editions of ADIOCL, here ya go:
Volume V: N is 6, L is 4, C is 2.5
Volume IV: N is 5.5, L is 3.5, and C is 2
Volume III: N is 5, L is 3, and C is 21 months
Volume II: N is 4.5, L is 2.5, and C is 14 months
Volume I: N is 4, L is 2, and C is 9 months
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