A Day in the Life...

We awoke to snow this morning. It was very pretty. There was only a couple centimeters and most has disappeared, but I think there will be more tonight.

I had a great morning. My mother took the twins and I got to have a nap while the baby slept. Aren't mothers great.

During their absence, I took it upon myself to clean the couch cushions. They were in dire need of it. While the cushions were removed, the baby discovered that he could climb onto the couch. He crawled back and forth having an 'extreme' adventure, squealing with glee, sporting a huge smile on his face.

(Sorry, I didn't get a picture of it. I thought this was a cute picture, though.)

After lunch, the twins ventured downstairs for some play time. While I thought the twins were playing nicely downstairs, they had quietly opened the door to the 'under construction' baby room and pilfered my husbands tools, including many items that could have seriously hurt them. I guess we will have to bolt that room shut.

We ended the afternoon with a craft. Here are some pictures. The twins enjoyed themselves and I got dinner ready. I made curry. Thanks for the inspiration, cuz.

No, he didn't? Yes, he did!

So I was sitting in the big lazy chair, just finishing feeding the baby when I heard a knock on the door. I looked out the front window to see an RCMP vehicle. I open the door and the officer says, "Did someone call 911?" Um. No. Um. Ug.

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My mother had stopped by for a short visit earlier to see how twin2 was doing after his follow up at the hospital. (His oxygen level was 95, which is okay, but could be better. He is still on the nebulizer every 3 hours until he is looking and feeling better, plus a number of other medications.) As my mother and I talked about twin2, she needed to use the phone and did so. The baby of course, is into everything and screamed about wanting the phone. I said sure. And she handed him the phone after she was finished. Well, I guess he dialed 911 and then hung up. Ug. Don't I feel like a twit.

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Sorry, officer. I wasted tax payers dollars to appease my child for a few seconds. I guess the phone is now off limits.

Favorite Thing

The baby's favorite thing right now is to splash in pee. Yup, if there is pee left in a potty for a few moments, he bee lines it over there and splashes with glee. He even squeals. Yuck.

Exhaustion - Part 3

The baby

In the beginning, the baby was a baby. He ate often, but usually gave me a 3-4 hour stretch at night. With 2 other children to care for, naps never happened unless my wonderful mother was watching the twins and then only when the timing was right. He did the usual late evenings and a little party session somewhere in the middle of the night, but this was to be expected.

When the baby was 4 months old, he slept through the night 3 times, not consecutively. I thought I had the best baby ever. He even slept in his own crib. I had not introduced co-sleeping for fear of loosing more sleep. Then teething began.

At 6 months old, the baby started teething. He got 7 teeth in 3 weeks. He was in pain and wanted to suck all the time. The good little sleeper ended. He started getting about between 3 - 6 times a night to eat. Nothing put him back to sleep except eating. So, the co-sleeping began. I was not going to get up out of bed 6 times a night. At least I could doze while co-sleeping and nursing.

The baby is now 10 months old. He gets up 4-6 times a night to eat. And, yes, he is still co-sleeping. We are in the midst of finishing the nursery. I think he will get to sleep in there when he is no longer a baby, but at least he will have his own room. Lets see if it gets used or not!

Daycare

Urg. Daycare. So, my maternity leave is over and I now have to think about how I am going to supplement that income. If I substitute teach, I only need to work 3 days a month. Big deal, right? Well not right. I told myself it would be no big deal. I talked to a lady that has an in-home daycare. She is great with the other kids and she has experience with twins. We went to her place for a look-see and things are great. They know most of the kids and the daycare provider from 'Strong Start'. Familiarity is not an issue. I don't even think the twins would have an issue with anything. It is all me. I am not ready. I have no idea how other moms do it, the thought of actually having my kids cared for by someone other than family makes me want to cry.

Now, I never even contemplated the baby. I always assumed that the baby would go to my mother's for the day and the twins would go to daycare in order to relieve some of the burden on my mother. I had everything worked out, until the evening after the look-see. Then, I melted. These are my children, mine. I want to keep them in a nice, safe bubble that revolves around the love of their family.

Lets face it though. I have had it great. If I have ever needed to do something like an appointment, or when I went back to work after the twins, my mother was always there for me. I saw what this did to her, though. She was exhausted and deprived of her own freedom. She has already raised her kids and shouldn't be doing it again. Besides, the twins were 14 months old when I went back to work, not 10 months old. Yes, 4 months makes a huge difference at this age. 4 months makes a huge difference at pretty much every stage of development.

So, I bawled all my fears to my ever understanding and compassionate husband and he told me not to worry, he would figure it out. I could head back to work when I was ready. I have now begun the process of weaning the baby. I guess, I will have to wait and see when I am ready. I am going to go through with the daycare. I do need a place where the twins can go for a morning or afternoon if I need to do something. But, the baby is coming with me!

A Kitchen Renewed

We had a busy weekend. Finishing the baby's room downstairs has hit a stall while we wait for an electrician to fix some stuff and get a heat source in there. So I took advantage of the repair lull in the house. We painted the kitchen a dark sage green. My husband's aunt, a room designer, came to visit a month ago and made some suggestions for our house: paint colours, furniture placement, finishing touches. As a result, I was inspired and just itching for a chance to get started on her suggestions. My husband hates, despises painting, so he was a bit of a bear to start with. He quickly warmed to the idea once he saw the drastic change between the old dirty ceiling and the new painted one. It was truly disgusting. I have spent the last 2 years in this house trying to get rid of the smoke residue and the only things left are ceilings in various rooms. This winter, I plan to finish the ceilings.

It took five hours and the kitchen was completely painted. It looks great. The twins were wonderful. We let them paint a portion of one of the walls, which they thought was a blast. They are in to painting/drawing circles, so they painted circles around the light switches and plugs. While we finished up, we banished them from the kitchen. I gave them a couple rolls of painters tape and they unravelled them throughout the living room creating a maze of tape. I will have to remember to pick up a few extra rolls the next time I paint.

The baby was not quite so happy with the situation. He has had free rein of the house since he started crawling. Rightly so, he was very put out with not being allowed to play in all the plastic floor cover and green goo. He let us know very loudly that he was unhappy with the situation.

My husband and I made a great team, finishing the kitchen quickly. After, we all headed out for a bike ride/walk, which allows leads to a stop at Grandma and Grandpa Erickson's, and off to Rolly's for dinner.