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Wednesday, February 2, 2011

A Typical Day

Ryan wonders what we do all day, so here are some pictures from the last couple of week of what a normal day looks like. Warning there are a lot of pictures!

Ethan usually gets up around 6:30am.  After he falls asleep each night, I put his little chair back in his room so that he can use it to turn on the light when he wakes up. We can't leave the chair in their at bedtime or he'll turn the light on instead of sleeping. In the morning he turns his light on and will play for up to an hour before he starts whining at the baby gate across his door for me to come get him. If I'm lucky Lilly will still be asleep and I can jump in the shower before Ethan wants out.
We usually try to get dressed before heading downstairs.  Ethan likes to help me get Lilly ready.
He loves to play with his train set and we play "choos-choos" before going down for breakfast. He is very particular about which ones I can play with. He's still a little confused about my/your so when he points to a train and says "my choo-choos" he really means those are the ones I'm allowed to play with.
After we eat breakfast, I clean up, empty the dishwasher and start some laundry while Ethan plays with his fridge animals or the fridge letters on the side. On a good day, Lilly will be content in her bouncer while I eat and then clean. 
Some days they stay in their pjs a lot longer than they probably should! Ethan loves to give Lilly some love in the form of headbutts!
While Ethan runs around downstairs, Lilly often sits on her "throne" watching and babbling, she already loves to talk!
 We usually head back upstairs where I put Lilly on the activity mat so I can fold laundry. Ethan often squeezes in.
When I'm done, I'll put her in the crib so I can play with Ethan, but he wants to be in the crib too!
If I don't put him in the crib, he uses his chair to watch Lilly.
Lilly finally gets some alone time in the crib on her mat.  She can really get going kicking the toys and gets excited when she looks in the little mirror.
Then its back to playing trains.
Somtimes I'll lay her on Ethan's "bibobed" (big boy bed) while we play.
Then its back downstairs where we read a few books. Ethan's favorite books are still ones about fish.
While we are downstairs, Ethan pulls out his other train and rolls it all over the house.
Soon enough, Ethan will want to go back upstairs so I'll try to get in some tummy time.  Lilly really doesn't like it.
Then its time for another round of trains.
I try to get in a few more books as well. Ethan always wants Lilly to stay on his lap while I read, but I think its much safer for her to be on mine!
We'll head back downstairs and Ethan will pull out another train.  I think he learned his letters from this alphabet train puzzle!

If we have errands to run, we do them in mid-morning. We have to bundle up, its cold!
Poor Lilly does not like being in her infant carrier. I try to work our schedule around her nap so that she will sleep during the trip.  If not, I have my mei tai with me to carry her in around the store.
We get back just in time for lunch so Ethan will find something to play with while I make lunch.
Time for more tummy time, she likes it better on the boppy.
Ethan can't resist a chance to hold Lilly and usually insists on holding her after I nurse her.

For lunch its leftovers or Ethan's favorite "nack" which is really a peanut butter sandwich.
We can't forget an apple too. He is really good at eating fruits and veggies.  He has at least a banana, apple and carrots every day as a snack or with a meal.
After lunch it is time for a nap and Ethan will run upstairs to hide.  Sometimes his hiding spots are better...
than others.
While he has gotten better about going down for a nap, he still runs around like a crazy man. He doesn't always make it to his bed when he finally crashes.
If Lilly manages to sleep at the same time, I can start dinner and get a few chores done.
A lot of the times, she is like this though, and its not hard to choose between this and doing chores!
One frustrating day when Ethan had broken multiple things including the lamp in his room, I put a movie on and was very happy when they both fell asleep.  See the spot in between them? Thats where I took my nap!

So that is what a typical day looks like for us. Between all the fun stuff, I spend a lot of time stopping Ethan from doing something he is not supposed to, especially when I am nursing Lilly. Ethan latest scheme is getting scissors out of the drawer and running them up and down the fridge door handle so that he is literally shaving it down. Keeping Ethan from squashing Lilly with his loving is a full-time job.  Lilly is so sweet who loves to smile and and is pretty easy going with all Ethan puts her through.  She does know how to scream though and does so when its time for her to nap. Even with me rocking her, she fights sleep to the very end. She just doesn't want to miss anything. While I am absolutely thrilled when Ryan walks through the door each day, I love being home with my two munchkins and I am grateful for Ryan's hard work at his job so that I can stay home.

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