A Day in the Life

I love it when people ask me what Madeline, Charlie and my days are like. We have so much fun! Today, I kept a notebook and camera in my pocket -- here's the closest I've come to Twittering...

• 6:20am: Charlie chirps. I pull him out of his bassinet and nurse him back to sleep, dozing myself until the next "alarm clock" goes off....
• 7:00am: "Mommy Mommy Mommy Mommy Daddy Daddy Daddy Daddy! I all done"! (Madeline's awake). I detangle myself from Charles like Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible and run to grab Madeline without waking the baby.
  
• 7:30am: Madeline's dressed and we're eating breakfast. I start the coffee maker, which Rob has already set up for me before he left the house at 6:15am. Madeline wants a cup of coffee too, so I warm up some milk for her in a Waffle House mug and we both drink our "coffee." While we're eating, we notice that the baby bunny that lives in our backyard is sitting right outside the dining room window. The next 30 minutes are consumed with the "yittle rabbit." We step outside to look closer (I'm hoping neighbors don't see me in my PJs and crazy hair) and discover a baby Robin at the bottom of the deck stairs. Madeline tells the Robin he can't play with her toys. Then she tells him he can (I praise her for sharing).
  
• 8:00am: Hear Charlie over the monitor. While I'm nursing in the living room, Madeline silently unlocks the back door and lets Maple into the back yard. Sorry yittle baby bird. (I later see him alive and well.)
  
• 8:30am: Meg jumps in shower while Charlie watches the ceiling fan and Madeline plays with the toys I've carried into my bedroom.
• 8:33am: Shower done. Shaved to knee. Hair clean - what more can you ask for? Blow dry bangs. Let the rest of my hair air dry into frizzy curls that I'll pull back into a poofy pony (that's a technical term).
  
• 8:36am: Deoderant on. Pull on clean clothes out of the nearest laundry basket. Swipe of mascara and blush. Charlie wants to be picked up.
• 9:00am: Nursing Charlie again. It's only been an hour, but he's gnawing off his fingers. I hear water running in the guest bathroom. Mental note: The gate's closed at the top of the stairs, so Madeline must be safe, right? Charlie falls right back asleep -- I lay him gently in the bassinet and go to investigate...
  
• 9:10am: Find Madeline sitting in the sink. Fully clothed, soaking wet and lathered in foamy white bar soap. The only way I can wash the suds off her is to strip her down. Realize my life will not be complete if I don't get a picture of this. I'm trying not to laugh as I tell Madeline that it's not safe to climb into the sink and that the water can get hot. Hope DCFS doesn't see this blog post.
• 9:20am: Re-dress/diaper Madeline. Make a batch of play-doh together. Two minute conversation with my grandma confirming our plans to visit Arkansas over the Fourth of July!
  
• 10:10am: Go outside to play while Charlie sleeps. Madeline climbs in the Jeep saying, "I go to work at Caterpillar. You can come, Mommy!" We open the garage and play with every tricycle, wagon and Big Wheel we own. We practice the words "go" and "stop" (which I saw on Nanny 911 last night) with all the neighbor kids. Madeline runs her little heart out when I say go, but hasn't grasped stop yet. We'll keep working on it.
• 10:45am: The juice bandit strikes again, breaking and entering into our neighbors' garage for a Capri Sun.
• 11:01am: Charlie's awake! All smiles! (Yep. He sleeps in a pink bassinet. And he wore a pink hat the pool this weekend. Sorry Charlie.)
• 11:10am: Madeline plays with her new blue Play-doh now that it has cooled off. It's starting to sprinkle outside -- I'm relieved that we spent the morning outside running off energy. Madeline and Charlie both want my attention -- feel like a human beach ball. Madeline requests a dance party to Kanye (calling him by name!), then changes her mind to play with her dress ups.
  
• 11:20am: Charlie hungry again. Notice a pattern here? Nurse. Madeline hungry for attention and brings Play-doh into living room after I asked her not to. Bye Bye Play-doh. It joins a few other toys on top of the refrigerator. Charlie's lunch is interupted...
  
• 11:28am: Lunch for Madeline. Finish nursing Charlie at the dining room table. Slap a Boca burger on a piece of bread for myself and wash it down with the milk left over in Madeline's sippy cup. Still starving -- nursing makes me hungry as a rhinoceros. No time to eat. I hear Madeline making a break for it out the front door...
• 11:50am: It's raining so we go upstairs to play with her Little People. Mads wants to hold "her Charlie."
• 12:15pm: Toys start flying shortly after (Madeline's throwing them). She wakes up Charlie, who has dozed off. As I try again to lay Charlie in his bassinet, Madeline turns the clock radio volume on high, flips lights on and off, hurls herself on and off my bed. Charlie awake again. It's like our house is a pinball machine and Madeline's the ball -- it's clearly nap time. Mommy feels patience rapidly dwindling like the half-deflated baby pool in the backyard.
• 12:35pm: Put Madeline down for a nap.
• 12:40pm: Put Charlie in swing; he's asleep in seconds.
• 12:50pm: Inhale....Exhale.... Deep breath. Cortisol still kind of pumping. Think about how a cigarette sounds strangely good. Interesting since I'm not a smoker. Think how I shouldn't write this on the blog.
  
• 12:55pm: Cut up a fresh pineapple and catch up with a girlfriend on the phone to relax. Post the first half of this blog. Start prepping dinner. Tidy first floor.
  
• 2:39pm: Charlie's awake!
• 2:43pm: Madeline's awake!
  
• 2:45pm: I just start nursing Charlie when Maple goes nuts. Our neighbor, Robert, is at the door. When he bends over to talk to Madeline, she shyly clutches my leg, and before I know it, she has accidentally exposed my backside (this is not an exaggeration for comedic effect). Robert and I laugh off the awkwardness, but as soon as he's gone, I quickly make sure I'm not wearing faded and fraying underwear from the college years that look like they've been run over by a Fed Ex truck.
• 3:15pm: Finally get back around to nursing Charlie, who once again, has been interupted as he tries to eat. Slather Mads in sunscreen and go outside to play with our neighbors in their kiddie pool.
• 4:00pm: Charlie's exhausted and falls asleep for an hour. Madeline, Maple and I play some more with the neighbor kids and dogs until Charlie wakes up. Nurse. Again. Madeline is so sweet and good-natured, but she is two afterall and is testing limits. She wants to hit, so she has what we call "a little alone time" for a minute. When I tell her she's welcome to come and play again, she says no thanks and happily sits on the stairs a bit longer. Once again, I have to stifle a laugh because I think I'm supposed to be serious. Big hugs and kisses when she decides to join us 30 seconds later.
• 6:00pm: Throw meat on the grill while Madeline plays on her slide and Charlie bounces in his chair.
• 6:10pm: Rob's home! He's earlier than usual and we're excited. He plays outside with Madeline at her water table, then the two of them help finish dinner. Madeline is hungrily pilfering pineapple from our dinner plates before the meal has started.
• 6:30pm: Sit down, say grace and eat. Madeline keeps saying, "Mommy, this is reallllly good" and when Rob asks her how her day was, she answers, "It was wonderful."
  
• 6:50pm: Bath time for Madeline! Usually Rob does the night time routine, but tonight she wants me to do it, so Rob and Charlie have some guy time. After bathtime (lots of singing and scrubbing), we put on Madeline's PJs, read a story and say our bedtime prayer. Before we say amen, she adds that she wants to thank God for Ning. Door is closed by 7:05pm.
  
• 7:06pm: Rob gets Charlie ready for bed. I nurse and carry a passed-out 17-pound baby upstairs and deposit him in his bassinet while Rob cleans up dinner and tidies first floor (again).
  
• 8:45pm: Sit down on the couch. Sip a glass of $7 wine (tastes like a million bucks, as though I would even know the difference). Catch up on our day (the bits that we couldn't cover between Elmo talk). Watch House. Climb into bed (but not before gazing at sweet sleeping Charlie). I'll be up once or twice before tomorrow begins, but that's just fine with me. It's the kind of mental and physical exhaustion that comes after hard and satisfying work. I love my job!