Because of the July 4th holiday, my MIL volunteering to come over once weekly to help, and our existing daycare situation with AJ, I've gotten myself down to really only being alone with two kids once a week.
That first day was today.
Not gonna lie, I had a lot of anxiety thinking about how to prepare for today - so we did test runs of naptimes (M went out for groceries one Sunday leaving me alone with two during nap time). I had lists upon lists of sibling distraction ideas to keep AJ entertained in case things went terribly.
In the end, today actually went really well. Here's how it went.
6:45 AM: I get up, feed 2.0 and put him in the bassinet while I get AJ dressed. Then I quickly brush my teeth and put on clean clothes. AJ requests that I get little brother and place them together in the crib. I think this is the cutest thing ever and comply. Meanwhile, M has already hopped on his twice weekly conference call to Poland. I'm secretly already proud that I managed to wrangle two and get both dressed and downstairs without interrupting the conference call.
7:30 AM: 2.0 is laying in his swing downstairs while AJ and I eat breakfast. Ham and Cheese Crossaintwiches that daddy made. A big hit.
8:15 AM: Daddy is back from walking the dog and heading out the door as 2.0 starts screaming his head off, starving apparently. I proceed to unbuckle him, but the buckle is STUCK. LIKE STUCK. I panic and push and push and push the release button, my pincher fingers turning purple from overuse. By now, the baby is screaming at the top of his lungs which of course, has alerted the toddler, who is now tugging at the swing like a madman. I desperately will the buckle to open up, so I don't have to call the husband right back to help me...so I don't have to look like a fool within the first five minutes of being left alone with two. Another wave of panic passes through, and now I'm imagining cutting the damn belt off the baby. So I give up and call the husband back....who fixes the damn buckle in 1.5 seconds. Sheepishly, I say goodbye to him, and make myself promise not to call again til at least mid-day, so I don't look like an absolute fool. I proceed to feed the baby. The toddler is bored so I ask him to do his favorite Thomas puzzle on the floor next to me. He complies.
8:45 AM: Baby is well awake now, after a string of massive burps and poops, so I lay him on a blanket on the ground to play next to AJ. AJ insists we get all the pillows and blankets from upstairs and lay together to take selfies. So we do. Afterwards, he wants to play with trains, so I move baby and blanket to the other room, and trains it is.
9:30 AM: Our friends come over for a pre-planned playdate I arranged (tip I received about keeping mornings busy with two!). AJ plays with his buddies while the moms and I catch up. Playtime with two is something else. My 2.0 is still a sleeping baby so he was carried through much of it. But the other moms' 2.0's who were crawling/cruising...oh man. I make a mental note of what toys I'll need to put away once 2.0 gets mobile.
12 PM: AJ's friends go home, and he relishes in the quiet time, and toys all to himself. I feed 2.0, put him in the swing, and get ready for lunch.
12:30PM: lunch. Courtesy of my parents.
1:45 PM: I ask AJ not to pick his nose or he'll have a nosebleed. I tell him that I won't help him fix his nosebleed if he refuses to listen to me. He smirks and says OK.
1:47 PM: I'm peeing on the toilet and AJ shows me something red on his finger. "Mommy, look it, blood!" I look up to see that blood is (slowly) creeping out of his nose. Having been in the medical field for a number of years (sarcasm BTW, I'm a pharmacist), I conclude the nosebleed was very mild and likely not going to need too much intervention, so I capitalize on this as a teaching opportunity to make good on my promise. "I'm not fixing it, because I told you I wouldn't fix it if you didn't listen to me. Now you're just going to have to bleed to death." OK, pause. I've taught my 3 year old about death. Why? Because it's real. Because he has a grandma who is very sick and will someday die on him. Because that's a parental choice I've made and I'm comfortable with it. AJ is well aware of death. Un-pause. "NOOOOOOOO, mommy I don't want to die. Please help me fix it, I don't want to die!!!!!!" After a minute or so of this, he promises me he'll never again pick his nose if I help him not die. I stuff some toilet paper up his nose, and bring the roll with me into the baby's room, just in case I was wrong and the nosebleed does take a turn for the worse, while I'm nursing baby.
2 PM: I feed 2.0 again while reading AJ as many books as he pleases. I pull out all stops for this nursing session because i want to ensure that 2.0 gets as much hindmilk as possible - making chances for a longer nap greater. I read AJ a total of 4 verrrry long books. Then, I swaddle 2.0, put him in his pack and play in our room, and lay with AJ to sleep in our bed yes, he HAS to have me sleep next to him for naptime.
3:30 PM: baby stirs. I quickly grab him and pop him in bed next to me, careful to keep him on the side that AJ is not on. We all go back to sleep. AJ has no idea baby has joined us.
4:45PM: we all wake up and AJ wants to go downstairs - cause I promised TV if he's 1) nice to me all day and 2) takes a nap. I ask him if he wants to watch Thomas the Train, and instead, he requests the Deep Sea Creatures episode of Life. Weirdo. Whatever, science rocks.
5:45PM: hubby comes home with a reward for me! Bubble tea! He's proud of me for a successful day 1 with two.
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