The Elferings

Vivian is six weeks old.  She can now go to daycare – but doesn’t have to go full-time for over four more months!

It is no longer anything out of the ordinary to have both kids by myself.  Jeremy has been working steadily this week from about 6:30 until 3 each day.  We have settled into a good routine, and it seems to be working.  Occasionally we get out to do errands.  Sometimes we play outside.  One morning Mac went to daycare while I sang for a funeral.  Many mornings we’re not even all out of bed until after 9:00!

It’s now been over a week since Vivian woke up before 5:30, and most of those have been closer to 6:30.  I think I can safely say she is consistently sleeping through the night.  She also seems to be settling into consistency in eating her last meal at 9:30 p.m.  That’s about 9 hours on average, my friends.  I must be the luckiest mother on the planet!  After her early wake-up, she usually goes back to sleep for a few hours, eats every 2-4 hours during the day, and takes a good nap at some point in the afternoon.  I birthed an angel, apparently, sent to us straight from heaven.  :)

Thursday night when I was working on getting “6 weeks” photos, we did some on her back on her big pillow, then I thought I’d see if I could get a few with her propped up on her tummy.  In the last few days she was much more stable when I put her up on her elbows.  Well, I had no sooner propped her up before she pushed herself over onto her back!  I was glad I had the camera in hand to get a short video!  She did it three times – twice for the camera – but everyone else missed it!  Check out our Flickr photostream for the short raw videos.

Mac is an amazing kid.  He has grown up so much in these six weeks we’ve been home together.  His manners are impeccable, as Jane would describe, and his tantrums have been few and far between.  His speech is improving daily.  He seems to like to learn new words, and I try to make sure I help him with that.  He also loves to count!  He counts almost everything he can – he can count all the way to 10 if not interrupted or distracted.  He also seems to know, at least up to four, that counting things tells us how many there are.  He knows he has four nuks in his bed, and he will tell you when he sees two of something, accurately.  He is also learning his colors.  He loves to build with his blocks and play with his cars, and he loves to color, jump and spin.  He calls any fancy birthday-type cake “happy cake” and I could listen to him say “choo choo… train” all day long.  There’s always a pause in there.  He’s completely addicted to the Playhouse Disney show “My Friends Tigger and Pooh,” and while I don’t feel I use it as a babysitter and do limit his TV time, I must admit, what he’s learning from it and how nicely he asks to watch it make it easier for me to allow it.  Mac seems very comfortable in our routine and most of the time agreeably does what he’s asked/told.  We have had a battle or two over naptime, but Mommy always wins – and I have to say it’s hilarious to watch him (and sometimes hear him) hit the deck when I open his door and he’s supposed to be lying down.  Sometimes when he doesn’t do what I say right away, I do start counting (lucky for him I rarely get to three), or ask him to look at me so I know he is listening.  With toddlers, it really doesn’t matter if you told them ten times… if they weren’t listening!  I wish I could have a video camera on him every waking hour.  Between the bouncing around the house and his adorable voice as he asks for “one Tigger Pooh on, please?” I can’t get over how very blessed I am.  The only way it could be better is if I won the lottery or Jeremy got a great high-paying job so I could stay at home with him every day!

And how am I?  I’m hanging in there and enjoying my time with the kids.  I wish I could say my mind is like it used to be, but perhaps it is.  I don’t care to admit the number of times in a day I say, “oh yeah, that’s what I was doing…”  Laundry gets started and not finished, the kitchen is left in shambles after a meal, etc., etc., etc…  I’m still pretty busy with work, but I’m trying to keep the stress at bay.  And no one is worse for the wear, so I guess we’re doing ok.  As I said, I do seem to be getting more than the normal amount of sleep expected of a mother of a six-week-old and a toddler, and I’m not complaining for one second!  I have my moments when my patience runs out, but who would expect any less of a woman working three jobs at once?  I wouldn’t change any of it for anything.  After all, for the most important job I have, who else has cuter bosses than I, even if they DO both wear diapers?!