everyday life

how i do 2 under 2

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

It’s no secret, we’re nuts.  We had our babies 14 months apart.  Not on purpose, mind you, but that’s what happened.  My greatest fear upon learning that I was pregnant again was not being able to physically manage babies so close in age. 

Some days, managing is all I can do.  Other days, I laugh at how scared I was. 

There are logistics involved, ya know?  Like how do you get the toddler and the infant out of the car at the babysitter?  Do you sit the baby on the ground while you get the toddler out?  Or do you get the toddler out first and hope he doesn’t run away while you’re getting the baby out?  What if it’s snowing?  Then what?  You can’t sit the baby seat in the snow.

What do you do with the danger-seeking toddler while you’re nursing the baby?  Especially if he’s in that it’s-fun-to-run-on-the-couch stage. 

Well, you manage. 

You tell your car-loving toddler to admire the tires on your vehicle while you get the baby out. Or put him in.  Or you sit him in the yard and ask him to tell you about sticks and leaves.  I’m not sure about the snow thing, we haven’t gotten there yet.  But I can, if necessary, carry them both and all their bags.  It ain’t easy. 

If you’re smart, you buy a baby jail.  I think I already alluded to us not being that smart (this post, second sentence).  We didn’t buy a baby jail.  When Dexter was first born, I would put Theo in Dexter’s crib and sit in the rocker in Dexter’s room while I nursed.  Theo would play with toys.  It was about 1 minute before Theo showed me how easily he could throw his leg over the side of Dexter’s crib.  So I sit on the floor of Theo’s room and talk to him while he plays.  With the door shut.  If we don’t do that, he will flee the room I’m in as fast as he can and climb a cabinet or two.

It’s all about restraint.  When I was on maternity leave, I thought I would go crazy every day I was stuck inside the house by myself with them all day long.  So I strapped ’em in.  Carseats, shopping carts, the stroller.  Anywhere I could put them where they couldn’t get away from me.  Bonus, they were stimulated by the new environments around them.  I was shocked that it was usually easier to manage them out of the house than when we stayed home. 

Then there’s restraining them at home.  The swing.  The high chair.  The baby carrier (can’t find a link to this).  The bouncy seat.  The bumbo.  The jumperoo.  Lots of places to sit these kids where they can’t get away from me.  Hey Theo, sit in your booster seat at the kitchen table and read a book or two while mom attempts to throw something together for lunch.  Hey Dexter, sit in the Bumbo and grasp for Puffs while I update my blog do something really important.  Yep, restraint.  And yep, those are the actual products that saved my life  we use/used.  The swing in the link is a newer version.  I recommend all of these!

I do have some concerns about what I will do when Dexter outgrows his baby carseat.  Because once Dexter can sit in the shopping cart child seat, where does Theo go?  Not in the big part of the cart.  Oh, no.  I can see right where that’s headed.  Maybe I’ll just have to take my double stroller everywhere and pull a cart behind me?  Still haven’t figured that one out. 

What I have figured out though, is that it’s one day at a time.  Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out when we get there.  It’s not so bad.  I kinda wouldn’t have it any other way.

xo,
~C~

because that means.

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

I feel like I spend too much time on this blog expressing negativity about how hard it is, being a parent.  I don’t know if it’s because I’m a negative person (I hope not) or because this is my place to vent.  There are blogs out there, like Dear Baby and Enjoying the Small Things, which I love, that are so beautifully and positively written – they inspire me daily to embrace the beauty in the ordinary.  They also portray parenting as something far more glamorous than what it really is.  To me.  To me. 

That being said, it’s no secret that I love my babies and my husband more than life.  The three of them are the only blip on my radar (too?) much of the time.  But you want truth:  Here it is.  Parenting ain’t no joke, people.  It takes a lot of energy.  It takes it’s toll.  I have a toddler, fast approaching 21 months, and an infant who is almost 7 months.  It’s not easy, but it was never meant to be.  Being a damn good parent, or trying to be, is tough.  There are things that drive me nuts every.single.day. BUT.  These days are so precious and that’s not lost on me.  I know these ordinary days, these crazy-making moments, are what I’m going to miss one day… like…

Theo running up to me and pushing and pulling on my legs while I’m fixing dinner, begging me to pick him up.
Because that mean he wants to be close to me.

The ache in my back from rocking Dexter to sleep at night before he settles into a deep slumber in his crib.
Because that means he still needs me to do that, just as much as I need him to let me.

The sound of Theo running/stomping down the hall while dragging his very loudest pull-toy past Dexter’s room while he is was napping.
Because that means he’s happy, full of energy, enjoying and entertaining himself.

Spending more time cleaning up the mess under the table after dinner than the time it took to eat. 
Because that means I got to sit at the table with my boys, all three of them, and share a meal together.

Wiping runny noses and making last minute doctor’s appointments.
Because when they’re sick, that’s when they need their mommy the most.

Spending countless hours pumping milk, scrubbing bottles, freezing milk, thawing milk, and packing it all up for the babysitter.
Because that means I’m giving my baby the best start possible. 

I could go on, you know?  But the point is this.  I (think I sort of) know how lucky I am.  With that being said, we’ve never had to deal with anything terrible, like life-threatening illness or injury.  Like losing our house in a fire or flood.  Things could be so much worse, no matter what, and I try to keep it in perspective.  I know these challenging, exhausting days won’t last forever.  I know one day my boys will be grown and out of the house.  I’ll think about how it all went by in a blink.  And I hope they’ll come back for lots of visits.  I hope they don’t move too far away from home.  I hope they’ll remember their childhood fondly and not have a clue how hard we worked to make it just exactly what it was.

Because that will mean we have succeeded. 

~C~ 

my stomach hurts.

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

Things have been kind of nutty lately, and there hasn’t been much time for posting here on my bliggity.  Some good stuff, some bad news, my kid got bit by a dog (he’s okay), an impending surgery for my other kid, complete exhaustion, and a little bit of this and a little bit of that. 

Know what I mean?  It’s just been one thing after another.  I’ve had a lot on my mind and not a lot of time to organize the chaos into anything that would make sense for anyone to read. 

For one thing, I can’t believe Christmas is so soon.  I was going to buy Theo a kitchen, but now we are thinking we’ll wait until his birthday (March) because we don’t have much room for one now.  Not that we will in March, but hopefully we’ll be moving in the Spring.  See? More stuff to worry about (the move, not the kitchen).  So that was gonna be Theo’s expensive big gift and now I don’t know what his big gift will be.  Probably, I don’t need to buy him anything big because he won’t know the difference for at least another year or two.  Am I right?

Anyways, here it is…the week of Thanksgiving… I’m just feeling overwhelmed right now.  My husband is sick.  Theo has been coughing for almost three weeks.  I don’t know – this time of year, everyone should be happy and healthy.  Why is everyone so grumpy and worn out and sick?? 

I’m nauseous.  My stomach hurts.  I think it’s from all the snot drainage running down my esophagus from my throat.  Gross, huh?  See…I told you I’m not in my right mind.  I’ll come back with something better than all this.  Prommy (promise).

~C~