I wrote a post, and blogger ate it, and then wouldn't accept my password and then we had sick kids. And then we traveled from Italy to the US, with one kid still sick. But Italy was on strike and our flight was cancelled, so that took an extra 24 hours, and then there was a storm in Frankfurt, and OMG, it just sucked. Then we got home to a house that was covered in dust and dirt (we're STILL remodeling). The floors were dirty. The furniture was dirty. Any clothes not in a closed-in space were dirty, as were towels and bedding and the kids stuffed animals and the blankets made by their great-grandmother and you get the point. EVERYTHING was dirty, and stuff was piled everywhere, including on and around our bed.
So, I spent the evening we got back and all my free time since cleaning and doing about a million loads of laundry, and the kids are not very understanding of that, and so I have had no time to write blogs, although I've read a few posts here and there when I could.
Right now they are strewing tupperware all over the kitchen, but they are quickly getting bored of that, so I have to go. I really hope to start reading more soon, and especially writing, but until I get some part time child care or preschool or SOMETHING, I have no free time anymore.
Hope all is well in your part of the world.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Busy little bees
We went to Switzerland this past weekend. Which was fun! But not really a vacation, as traveling with twins is never a vacation, I've found, unless you have tons of family who want nothing more than to entertain your babies, change their diapers, and feed them in the middle of the night. And also make sure they don't get into trouble in places that aren't baby-proofed.
But anyway, we stayed with a colleague of my husband in Lausanne, and it was lovely, although hot (who knew that it ever gets hot in Switzerland, the land of snowy mountains?). We went for a hike, in which I destroyed my heels by not using hiking boots (smart!). The kids swam in a fountain, got carried up a long steep hike in the Swiss Alps, saw cows with giant Swiss cowbells, ate Swiss cheese, and explored Lausanne. On our last evening, a few hours before we were going to start our 5-hour night-time drive back to Italy, we noticed that Turtle was more tired than usual and lethargic, and then we noticed he was really hot. We gave him medicine, packed everyone into the car, and began our long drive back ... fun! Both babies woke every time we slowed for a toll plaza or traffic. I had to sit in the back and soothe them, so I got very little sleep. Turtle's fever rose and fell for a few days, but seems to have broken now, thank goodness. I also feel a molar coming in, so I'm hoping the two were connected.
Turtle and Tadpole are really big for their age, but growing much more slowly now. Turtle has a decent amount of hair. Sadly, Tadpole doesn't, but what she has indicates that she may be curly. They're both pretty blond, which is weird since hubby and I are quite dark, but apparently he was a blondie when he was a baby, too. I STILL can't really tell what color their eyes are.
They're obviously starting to understand some English and Italian, and they babble a lot. Turtle, when asked in Italian what sound the cow makes, will say "booooooooo", and if he sees or hears a dog he says "bow bow". They both wave when they hear someone say "ciao". Tadpole says Mama constantly, but doesn't seem to know what it means.
Tadpole is still quite the athlete. She climbs everything, and runs everywhere. It's hard to keep up with her. Turtle, on the other hand, is slower, studies everything, and is sweet. Lately he has quite the temper and is quick to start screaming when he doesn't get what he wants.
I've found in the last few months that feeding children is really frustrating. Since we're sort of on vacation here in Italy, I've been pretty lax about things, and they've eaten a lot of ice cream (at least once per day), juice, cookies, etc. I don't know if that's making them not want to eat their normal meals, but it's been tough. Also, they seem to change their minds almost daily about what they like and don't like. For a few weeks, they ate tomatoes like they were going out of style - yesterday, tomatoes were disgusting. It's frustrating and hard to deal with, and requires a lot of patience, which is sometimes in short supply.
Sleep and napping has been rough, too. Tadpole is back to getting up 2-3 times per night if not more. They go to bed quite late here, like all the babies we've seen - 10:30 pm. This morning they slept until almost 9, but sometimes they're up at 7 or 7:30, and naptime has been all over the place. I think they're sort of transitioning to one nap, but not at the same rate, and keeping them synchronized, especially out of their home environment, has been impossible.
I have a lot of stuff in mind for when we get home - we're going to start a toddler play-group at the local nursery school, once a week. I also want to do diaper daredevils, which is a tumbling/gymnastics class. In addition, I plan to join a gym that has a pool, a Master's swim team, and two hours of free day care. I'm hoping once I get their naps straightened out that we can go in the mornings so I can swim. It's something I'm REALLY looking forward to.
This weekend, we leave for the east coast of Italy to stay with my brother-in-law, his girlfriend, and their collective 5 kids at a sort of campground (they have cabins). I'm both looking forward to it (fun with cousins, hopefully beautiful views, nice swimming) and dreading it (sleeping in a cabin with two babies, cooking all our own meals, 5-6 hour drive each way). Either way, I'm sure we'll have a good time and we can leave when we can't take any more.
How're y'alls summers going?
But anyway, we stayed with a colleague of my husband in Lausanne, and it was lovely, although hot (who knew that it ever gets hot in Switzerland, the land of snowy mountains?). We went for a hike, in which I destroyed my heels by not using hiking boots (smart!). The kids swam in a fountain, got carried up a long steep hike in the Swiss Alps, saw cows with giant Swiss cowbells, ate Swiss cheese, and explored Lausanne. On our last evening, a few hours before we were going to start our 5-hour night-time drive back to Italy, we noticed that Turtle was more tired than usual and lethargic, and then we noticed he was really hot. We gave him medicine, packed everyone into the car, and began our long drive back ... fun! Both babies woke every time we slowed for a toll plaza or traffic. I had to sit in the back and soothe them, so I got very little sleep. Turtle's fever rose and fell for a few days, but seems to have broken now, thank goodness. I also feel a molar coming in, so I'm hoping the two were connected.
Turtle and Tadpole are really big for their age, but growing much more slowly now. Turtle has a decent amount of hair. Sadly, Tadpole doesn't, but what she has indicates that she may be curly. They're both pretty blond, which is weird since hubby and I are quite dark, but apparently he was a blondie when he was a baby, too. I STILL can't really tell what color their eyes are.
They're obviously starting to understand some English and Italian, and they babble a lot. Turtle, when asked in Italian what sound the cow makes, will say "booooooooo", and if he sees or hears a dog he says "bow bow". They both wave when they hear someone say "ciao". Tadpole says Mama constantly, but doesn't seem to know what it means.
Tadpole is still quite the athlete. She climbs everything, and runs everywhere. It's hard to keep up with her. Turtle, on the other hand, is slower, studies everything, and is sweet. Lately he has quite the temper and is quick to start screaming when he doesn't get what he wants.
I've found in the last few months that feeding children is really frustrating. Since we're sort of on vacation here in Italy, I've been pretty lax about things, and they've eaten a lot of ice cream (at least once per day), juice, cookies, etc. I don't know if that's making them not want to eat their normal meals, but it's been tough. Also, they seem to change their minds almost daily about what they like and don't like. For a few weeks, they ate tomatoes like they were going out of style - yesterday, tomatoes were disgusting. It's frustrating and hard to deal with, and requires a lot of patience, which is sometimes in short supply.
Sleep and napping has been rough, too. Tadpole is back to getting up 2-3 times per night if not more. They go to bed quite late here, like all the babies we've seen - 10:30 pm. This morning they slept until almost 9, but sometimes they're up at 7 or 7:30, and naptime has been all over the place. I think they're sort of transitioning to one nap, but not at the same rate, and keeping them synchronized, especially out of their home environment, has been impossible.
I have a lot of stuff in mind for when we get home - we're going to start a toddler play-group at the local nursery school, once a week. I also want to do diaper daredevils, which is a tumbling/gymnastics class. In addition, I plan to join a gym that has a pool, a Master's swim team, and two hours of free day care. I'm hoping once I get their naps straightened out that we can go in the mornings so I can swim. It's something I'm REALLY looking forward to.
This weekend, we leave for the east coast of Italy to stay with my brother-in-law, his girlfriend, and their collective 5 kids at a sort of campground (they have cabins). I'm both looking forward to it (fun with cousins, hopefully beautiful views, nice swimming) and dreading it (sleeping in a cabin with two babies, cooking all our own meals, 5-6 hour drive each way). Either way, I'm sure we'll have a good time and we can leave when we can't take any more.
How're y'alls summers going?
Friday, August 12, 2011
No pics (sorry!) but job advice needed
I was planning to post pics, but my husband just told me that he moved the pictures off the SD card onto his computer and will get me copies ... sometime. Who knows when? I really wanted to post pictures of the kids here, but alas, they are not available to me. Sigh.
Moving on ...
I'm trying to figure out what I want to do with my life when Tadpole and Turtle start school. How does one go through that process when one isn't strongly drawn to any particular field? Or how does one recognize that one is drawn to a particular field when it's not terribly obvious? Help!
When I was younger, I always wanted to teach. Well, I cycled through a bunch of different career ideas, both realistic and not, but teaching was usually always on the list. And then ... I don't know what happened. Actually, I remember a few things that happened, one of which was a summer teaching internship program into which I was accepted and which my mother begged me not to go to because my father was ill. She basically tried to put my life on hold for about 8 years because my father was not well and it might be my last Christmas/birthday/summer with him (etc.), although in reality it was because she didn't want me to leave her. (Now she's claiming that SHE'S not well and doing the same thing - nice!) Anyway, I agreed to stay home and work concessions in a movie theater instead of having a career-building internship, and I often wonder, what if?
In the meantime, I got a law degree, but could not find a decent job and bounced around from one meaningless job to another, which after a couple years paid decently well but found me dying inside from shuffling papers in a cubicle to support over-regulated government programs in which I did not really believe. (BTW, there is no underlying political message here, and I'm quite surprised I wrote that last sentence, but there you have it.)
So anyway, now my kids are two years away from preschool, and I know that if I want to make a major change in my career, the time to start is now. I'm looking into a teaching credential/master's program in the town where I live, and I can apply this fall for the following year, which means I'd start teaching the year the kids go to school. I used to think I wanted to teach high school, but I'm no longer sure. Having young children has really brought out my love for seeing them learn basic things at an early age. I also have to have classroom experience, which I don't have, and I have retake all the exams because I'm sure my scores are too old now.
I don't need to worry too much about income because my husband has things covered, so pay is not a huge issue for me, but job availability in general might be. My town is small and from what I've heard teaching positions can be difficult to find. I might be willing to commute, but not too far, and there aren't a lot of places that are super close. Also, I'm nervous about the idea of having a classroom full of children. I'm not that experience with handling large groups of kids.
I guess the thing is that I've put a lot of time and energy into things that in the past have not worked out for me (like a law degree), and I've decided in the past (when I was studying for the bar exam for the second time) that I didn't want to go forward with a teaching credential that would take another two years of my life and have nothing to show for it in the end because I wouldn't like teaching. I just want a job that I look forward to going to most of the time, and that doesn't feel like it's crushing my soul.
So ... this goes for those of you who love your jobs, or who switched careers, or who teach. Give me your thoughts, please!
If you love your job, why? Is it the people you work with? The work you do? Did you always know that was the job you wanted?
If you switched careers, why? Did you hate your prior career, or just not find it fulfilling? Or did you realize later on that what you really wanted to do was something else?
If you teach, please tell me your thoughts, the pros and cons. Is it something worth doing in your mid-thirties if you have to start from scratch? What do you love and hate about your job?
Moving on ...
I'm trying to figure out what I want to do with my life when Tadpole and Turtle start school. How does one go through that process when one isn't strongly drawn to any particular field? Or how does one recognize that one is drawn to a particular field when it's not terribly obvious? Help!
When I was younger, I always wanted to teach. Well, I cycled through a bunch of different career ideas, both realistic and not, but teaching was usually always on the list. And then ... I don't know what happened. Actually, I remember a few things that happened, one of which was a summer teaching internship program into which I was accepted and which my mother begged me not to go to because my father was ill. She basically tried to put my life on hold for about 8 years because my father was not well and it might be my last Christmas/birthday/summer with him (etc.), although in reality it was because she didn't want me to leave her. (Now she's claiming that SHE'S not well and doing the same thing - nice!) Anyway, I agreed to stay home and work concessions in a movie theater instead of having a career-building internship, and I often wonder, what if?
In the meantime, I got a law degree, but could not find a decent job and bounced around from one meaningless job to another, which after a couple years paid decently well but found me dying inside from shuffling papers in a cubicle to support over-regulated government programs in which I did not really believe. (BTW, there is no underlying political message here, and I'm quite surprised I wrote that last sentence, but there you have it.)
So anyway, now my kids are two years away from preschool, and I know that if I want to make a major change in my career, the time to start is now. I'm looking into a teaching credential/master's program in the town where I live, and I can apply this fall for the following year, which means I'd start teaching the year the kids go to school. I used to think I wanted to teach high school, but I'm no longer sure. Having young children has really brought out my love for seeing them learn basic things at an early age. I also have to have classroom experience, which I don't have, and I have retake all the exams because I'm sure my scores are too old now.
I don't need to worry too much about income because my husband has things covered, so pay is not a huge issue for me, but job availability in general might be. My town is small and from what I've heard teaching positions can be difficult to find. I might be willing to commute, but not too far, and there aren't a lot of places that are super close. Also, I'm nervous about the idea of having a classroom full of children. I'm not that experience with handling large groups of kids.
I guess the thing is that I've put a lot of time and energy into things that in the past have not worked out for me (like a law degree), and I've decided in the past (when I was studying for the bar exam for the second time) that I didn't want to go forward with a teaching credential that would take another two years of my life and have nothing to show for it in the end because I wouldn't like teaching. I just want a job that I look forward to going to most of the time, and that doesn't feel like it's crushing my soul.
So ... this goes for those of you who love your jobs, or who switched careers, or who teach. Give me your thoughts, please!
If you love your job, why? Is it the people you work with? The work you do? Did you always know that was the job you wanted?
If you switched careers, why? Did you hate your prior career, or just not find it fulfilling? Or did you realize later on that what you really wanted to do was something else?
If you teach, please tell me your thoughts, the pros and cons. Is it something worth doing in your mid-thirties if you have to start from scratch? What do you love and hate about your job?
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Hello from jetlag ... er, Italy
Yeah. I know, it happens every time. Jetlag. I HATE it. It's 3:30 in the morning here. We have a baby sleeping in our room. We started with Turtle, but we woke him up every time we moved, so now we are sleeping with Tadpole, who unfortunately wakes ME up because she's such a fussy sleeper. And once I am awake in the middle of the night in a time zone 9 hours off, well, good luck getting back to sleep!
The trip here went pretty well, in my opinion. Not quite as good as I had hoped, but much better than the worst I was expecting. Apparently after a month of cold rainy weather, we brought the warm weather with us, as we've had two beautiful days of sunshine and warmth.
The first day here, I went crazy eating delicious food and gelato and wine, and I paid with some terrible stomach-aches, and now I am taking it easy. I've been working on getting the kids back on some sort of routine, but it's been a bit tough with the jetlag. Little kids here stay up much later than I am used to in the US, so the usual routine we had at home will probably not work here. I'm still trying to figure out how we're going to handle it.
Our evenings after dinner are spent at a cool little open-air cafe/bar that is built in the original entrance of the 19th century stone fort that surrounds the (much older) town. The cafe has a jukebox, a big dance area, tables and chairs, ice cream of all sorts, food, drinks, and nice porch-swing-type seating here and there. I'll try to take a picture and post it. The kids of the town spend the evenings playing songs on the jukebox and running around or dancing. Tadpole and Turtle are having a great time chasing the other kids and hanging out with my husband's extensive family, and it's a nice break for us to have lots of free entertainment for the kids.
I'm surrounded by lots of people in really great shape (and a few who aren't) as well as plenty of exercise opportunities and lots of babysitters, so I'm hoping to really get some hiking, biking, and running in my schedule for the next month. Today, my husband's aunt dropped off her 9-year-old daughter with me and my husband's cousin and the kids so she could go on a 2-hour run. How awesome to be surrounded by family and able to do something like that spontaneously! Tonight after Tadpole fell asleep on my shoulder at the cafe, we brought the kids home, put them to bed, and asked my MIL to stay with them while we walked the two minutes back to have another drink before going to bed. The kids are spending so much time with grandparents, great-grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, and even more extended family, it's a beautiful thing.
Plus I'm really hoping that being immersed in Italian at this point in their lives will help offset the fact that I am an English-speaking stay-at-home-mom in an English-speaking country. I don't know a lot about raising bilingual children, and while it helps that I am almost fluent, I still don't speak to them regularly in Italian in the US, and they don't see their father that many hours per day, plus we speak to each other in English. I think we'll have to change a few things in the future (Italian should probably be our family language rather than English).
Anyway, a lot to think about and a lot to write about, and hopefully I'll start taking some pictures and posting them, as it is a really beautiful green summer here. Cheers!
The trip here went pretty well, in my opinion. Not quite as good as I had hoped, but much better than the worst I was expecting. Apparently after a month of cold rainy weather, we brought the warm weather with us, as we've had two beautiful days of sunshine and warmth.
The first day here, I went crazy eating delicious food and gelato and wine, and I paid with some terrible stomach-aches, and now I am taking it easy. I've been working on getting the kids back on some sort of routine, but it's been a bit tough with the jetlag. Little kids here stay up much later than I am used to in the US, so the usual routine we had at home will probably not work here. I'm still trying to figure out how we're going to handle it.
Our evenings after dinner are spent at a cool little open-air cafe/bar that is built in the original entrance of the 19th century stone fort that surrounds the (much older) town. The cafe has a jukebox, a big dance area, tables and chairs, ice cream of all sorts, food, drinks, and nice porch-swing-type seating here and there. I'll try to take a picture and post it. The kids of the town spend the evenings playing songs on the jukebox and running around or dancing. Tadpole and Turtle are having a great time chasing the other kids and hanging out with my husband's extensive family, and it's a nice break for us to have lots of free entertainment for the kids.
I'm surrounded by lots of people in really great shape (and a few who aren't) as well as plenty of exercise opportunities and lots of babysitters, so I'm hoping to really get some hiking, biking, and running in my schedule for the next month. Today, my husband's aunt dropped off her 9-year-old daughter with me and my husband's cousin and the kids so she could go on a 2-hour run. How awesome to be surrounded by family and able to do something like that spontaneously! Tonight after Tadpole fell asleep on my shoulder at the cafe, we brought the kids home, put them to bed, and asked my MIL to stay with them while we walked the two minutes back to have another drink before going to bed. The kids are spending so much time with grandparents, great-grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, and even more extended family, it's a beautiful thing.
Plus I'm really hoping that being immersed in Italian at this point in their lives will help offset the fact that I am an English-speaking stay-at-home-mom in an English-speaking country. I don't know a lot about raising bilingual children, and while it helps that I am almost fluent, I still don't speak to them regularly in Italian in the US, and they don't see their father that many hours per day, plus we speak to each other in English. I think we'll have to change a few things in the future (Italian should probably be our family language rather than English).
Anyway, a lot to think about and a lot to write about, and hopefully I'll start taking some pictures and posting them, as it is a really beautiful green summer here. Cheers!
Friday, July 29, 2011
Off to Italia!
And so, once again, off we go to Italy to stay with the in-laws, this time for 5 1/2 weeks. I'm a bit nervous of the trip there, and dreading the first couple of days as far as sleep goes. I'm really excited about the first couple of days as far as showing off my little munchkins to all the friends and family. I'm really dreading the trip back, since we leave in the morning, so we really can't expect them to sleep.
I'm quite busy packing for myself and the kids. I've actually already packed all of our clothes in one big suitcase, but I think I need to pare it down a bit, as there are still some things that need to go in there and it's getting pretty full. The kids have so many clothes! I admit, it's partly my fault, but there are a lot of people in their lives that like to buy them clothes. Packing with two 12 1/2-month-olds running around is a challenge.
In the meantime, our house is still deep in the throes of construction, and it changes every day. We now have a front door (yay!), but can't get into the garage directly from the house, so I have to carry everything out the front door into our courtyard (which is just dirt at the moment) and around to the front of the garage and go in that way. I also had to block off the new hallway to the new guest room, as that is completely unfinished and there are nails and dust and all kinds of stuff the kids could get into.
On top of that, while we're in Italy the contractors at our house will be demolishing closets in all the existing bedrooms plus our main storage closet in order to construct a hallway to our addition, which consists of a master bedroom, bathroom, hallway window seat, and laundry room. So in addition to just packing our stuff for the trip, I need to get stuff moved out of four closets or at least boxed up so the contractors can move it easily. I think it's an understatement to say I am overwhelmed. My husband has been doing a lot of day trips for work, including some late nights, but luckily no overnight trips.
In any case, the kids SHOULD be napping (they're not, but I know they're tired, so I'm crossing my fingers and hoping they drop off soon) and I should be carting stuff out of closets, unpacking the car, washing dishes, unloading the dishwasher, packing my carry-on, and about a hundred other things. So off I go! Wish me luck!
P.S. I started a post about having more children, and it's been tough to write. And it's getting long. I hope to have it up soon after we get to Italy.
I'm quite busy packing for myself and the kids. I've actually already packed all of our clothes in one big suitcase, but I think I need to pare it down a bit, as there are still some things that need to go in there and it's getting pretty full. The kids have so many clothes! I admit, it's partly my fault, but there are a lot of people in their lives that like to buy them clothes. Packing with two 12 1/2-month-olds running around is a challenge.
In the meantime, our house is still deep in the throes of construction, and it changes every day. We now have a front door (yay!), but can't get into the garage directly from the house, so I have to carry everything out the front door into our courtyard (which is just dirt at the moment) and around to the front of the garage and go in that way. I also had to block off the new hallway to the new guest room, as that is completely unfinished and there are nails and dust and all kinds of stuff the kids could get into.
On top of that, while we're in Italy the contractors at our house will be demolishing closets in all the existing bedrooms plus our main storage closet in order to construct a hallway to our addition, which consists of a master bedroom, bathroom, hallway window seat, and laundry room. So in addition to just packing our stuff for the trip, I need to get stuff moved out of four closets or at least boxed up so the contractors can move it easily. I think it's an understatement to say I am overwhelmed. My husband has been doing a lot of day trips for work, including some late nights, but luckily no overnight trips.
In any case, the kids SHOULD be napping (they're not, but I know they're tired, so I'm crossing my fingers and hoping they drop off soon) and I should be carting stuff out of closets, unpacking the car, washing dishes, unloading the dishwasher, packing my carry-on, and about a hundred other things. So off I go! Wish me luck!
P.S. I started a post about having more children, and it's been tough to write. And it's getting long. I hope to have it up soon after we get to Italy.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Current schedule
Our current schedule is going really well, but it's about to get shot to hell in two weeks when we leave for Italy. I figured I'd put it here for posterity and so i can lovingly remember what it was like to have a schedule after we've schlepped two one-year-olds halfway across the world.
This schedule is subject to change without notice, unfortunately.
5:-6:30 - one or both babies wake for a bottle, then sometimes go back to sleep for an hour
6-7:30 - both babies wake up for the day, usually around a half hour apart, but not always. If they get up early enough, I might take them for a run, or otherwise we play
8:30 - breakfast! If Papi's here, he helps with this. They split a jar of Earth's Best fruit and grain combination. I don't think it's enough, actually.
8:45-9:30 - play time! Or sometimes TV time, but lately no one is interested in watching TV
9:30 - nap time. Babies drink 6-8 ounces of formula
10:30-11 - (this can vary a lot) - we're up again! More play time.
12 - (this can vary quite a bit, too) lunch! Usually some variation of what I'm having, but can also include plain pasta or other finger foods.
12:30-2 - more play! Or errands, or go to the park, listen to music, read books, drive Mama crazy
2ish (give or take a half hour) - afternoon nap, after 6-8 ounces of formula
3:30ish - awake! Play time, errands, etc. This is when things can sometimes start breaking down, as Papi doesn't get home until 6, and people start getting cranky.
4:30ish - snack! Usually plain yogurt, or applesauce.
6 - Papi gets home (when he's in town)
6:30 - Dinner! Lately, it's been more normal table food, but we're still doing some baby food
7 - Baths and/or TV, which consists of Italian children's music videos and a few English ones, too.
7:20 - change to jammies and brush teeth
7:30 - down for bed with another bottle - Turtle usually eats 8 ounces, Tadpole anywhere from 2 to 8 ounces, usually around 4 ounces.
And that's it! My boring life, but it is sometimes really wonderful.
Today after lunch we went to the library. Turtle is fascinated by computers and books, and found the toddler computers, where he proceeded to keep bugging the kids playing games and throwing screaming fits each time I tried to drag him away. Tadpole also likes computers, but is equally happy to run around, pull toys off shelves, befriend other people, and basically drive me crazy and make me worry while she smiles sweetly. I'm not sure I can really handle them alone at the library anymore, at least until I know they'll behave a bit better.
Now it is naptime, which means chore time for Mama. Time to clean up the kitchen, sweep, wash the outdoor toys that are getting filthy, and catch up on things!
This schedule is subject to change without notice, unfortunately.
5:-6:30 - one or both babies wake for a bottle, then sometimes go back to sleep for an hour
6-7:30 - both babies wake up for the day, usually around a half hour apart, but not always. If they get up early enough, I might take them for a run, or otherwise we play
8:30 - breakfast! If Papi's here, he helps with this. They split a jar of Earth's Best fruit and grain combination. I don't think it's enough, actually.
8:45-9:30 - play time! Or sometimes TV time, but lately no one is interested in watching TV
9:30 - nap time. Babies drink 6-8 ounces of formula
10:30-11 - (this can vary a lot) - we're up again! More play time.
12 - (this can vary quite a bit, too) lunch! Usually some variation of what I'm having, but can also include plain pasta or other finger foods.
12:30-2 - more play! Or errands, or go to the park, listen to music, read books, drive Mama crazy
2ish (give or take a half hour) - afternoon nap, after 6-8 ounces of formula
3:30ish - awake! Play time, errands, etc. This is when things can sometimes start breaking down, as Papi doesn't get home until 6, and people start getting cranky.
4:30ish - snack! Usually plain yogurt, or applesauce.
6 - Papi gets home (when he's in town)
6:30 - Dinner! Lately, it's been more normal table food, but we're still doing some baby food
7 - Baths and/or TV, which consists of Italian children's music videos and a few English ones, too.
7:20 - change to jammies and brush teeth
7:30 - down for bed with another bottle - Turtle usually eats 8 ounces, Tadpole anywhere from 2 to 8 ounces, usually around 4 ounces.
And that's it! My boring life, but it is sometimes really wonderful.
Today after lunch we went to the library. Turtle is fascinated by computers and books, and found the toddler computers, where he proceeded to keep bugging the kids playing games and throwing screaming fits each time I tried to drag him away. Tadpole also likes computers, but is equally happy to run around, pull toys off shelves, befriend other people, and basically drive me crazy and make me worry while she smiles sweetly. I'm not sure I can really handle them alone at the library anymore, at least until I know they'll behave a bit better.
Now it is naptime, which means chore time for Mama. Time to clean up the kitchen, sweep, wash the outdoor toys that are getting filthy, and catch up on things!
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Rambling
It's 6am. It's been over a month since I posted. Life has been tough. I've lost pretty much all my day help, and I'm managing just fine, but I don't have extra time for blogging, unless my cat has woken me up at 5:30 and insomnia kicks in. Actually, Turtle woke me up much earlier and I haven't slept much since then. So I am tired. But they'll both be up within the hour and I am having trouble sleeping, so I'm officially giving up and waving the white flag.
My kids turned 1. I have two one-year-olds! I wish I'd had time to write. I wanted to write a letter to them, too, and I didn't. They are wonderful, sometimes terrible, adorable little creatures, running around, playing with toys, getting into everything, eating new things (Tadpole) or not (Turtle), throwing temper tantrums, almost sleeping through the night (most nights), starting to say a few hard-to-discern words (Turtle), dancing to the music, climbing in the dishwasher, and putting everything in their mouths. They keep me really busy!
Also, my computer died, and it took me a little while to get a new one. I've just been a little out of touch with the online world for the last few weeks.
We're leaving for Italy for a 5.5-week trip, which I haven't really started preparing for, and we're going in 2 weeks. We'll have two 13-month-olds on a 12-hour flight. I'm actually a little scared.
I have lots of friends having kids, including one friend who had her son, her first child, the day after my kids' first birthday. Another is a friend from work who knew quite a bit about my struggles with infertility (and has gratefully taken a lot of the baby stuff off my hands). I've been buying a lot of shower and baby gifts, and remembering a year ago when it was my turn, and missing it. My husband isn't missing it at all. I have lots of thoughts on having more kid(s), and whether or not I think it's a good idea, which may all be moot anyway since we don't even know if it's a physical possibility. I'd like to write about it. In all honesty, I don't know if I have time.
So, here's to kids (not babies anymore!) turning 1, to summer, to bloggy friends (who i'm still following, even if I have no time for commenting) adopting and getting pregnant, to other bloggy friends whose babies are also growing up, and to friends in real life who are having babies too. Here's to Italy, and rock climbing, and having time to write even if it's time I'd rather be sleeping. Here's to life, and hopefully to more writing in the very near future.
My kids turned 1. I have two one-year-olds! I wish I'd had time to write. I wanted to write a letter to them, too, and I didn't. They are wonderful, sometimes terrible, adorable little creatures, running around, playing with toys, getting into everything, eating new things (Tadpole) or not (Turtle), throwing temper tantrums, almost sleeping through the night (most nights), starting to say a few hard-to-discern words (Turtle), dancing to the music, climbing in the dishwasher, and putting everything in their mouths. They keep me really busy!
Also, my computer died, and it took me a little while to get a new one. I've just been a little out of touch with the online world for the last few weeks.
We're leaving for Italy for a 5.5-week trip, which I haven't really started preparing for, and we're going in 2 weeks. We'll have two 13-month-olds on a 12-hour flight. I'm actually a little scared.
I have lots of friends having kids, including one friend who had her son, her first child, the day after my kids' first birthday. Another is a friend from work who knew quite a bit about my struggles with infertility (and has gratefully taken a lot of the baby stuff off my hands). I've been buying a lot of shower and baby gifts, and remembering a year ago when it was my turn, and missing it. My husband isn't missing it at all. I have lots of thoughts on having more kid(s), and whether or not I think it's a good idea, which may all be moot anyway since we don't even know if it's a physical possibility. I'd like to write about it. In all honesty, I don't know if I have time.
So, here's to kids (not babies anymore!) turning 1, to summer, to bloggy friends (who i'm still following, even if I have no time for commenting) adopting and getting pregnant, to other bloggy friends whose babies are also growing up, and to friends in real life who are having babies too. Here's to Italy, and rock climbing, and having time to write even if it's time I'd rather be sleeping. Here's to life, and hopefully to more writing in the very near future.
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