I have been debating writing this post for a while, but I delayed it because I kept thinking, we don't have a schedule YET.... Well, just when I think that we are in a routine, it changes. Parents of older children tell me this is normal, and that it will continue for a very long time. So this is basically what we're doing these days:
The boys wake up sometime between 6 and 7am. They wake up later if it is darker out, so days when it's rainy or cloudy they sometimes sleep as late as 7:45. They eat and then play on the activity mat or do tummy time for 30-45 minutes. Sometimes I try to take a shower or eat breakfast downstairs and so Jeff sits with them or brings them on our bed to watch him get ready for work. When they get tired of the activity mat in the nursery, we get on our bed and we do baths, one at a time, every other day. We usually read a few books (favorites are Where the Wild Things Are and Llama Llama Red Pajama), which means I lay down next to them and put the book up above us. They love looking at the pictures in the picture books, so I usually linger at least a minute on each page so they can scour the entire page before I move on. After a few books they are usually ready for a nap, and they sleep for 30-60 minutes. That's when I put a load of laundry in the washer or stuff some cloth diapers with the inserts, or I eat breakfast or take a shower. They wake up from their naps and we read or try out the Bumbo seats or do some twin time--where I put them close to each other so they can coo and giggle and smile at each other. Tuesday mornings we usually go to the Downtown Farmers' Market, where I either put one of them in the front carrier and use the empty double stroller spot for veggies and fruit, or I put them both in the double stroller and have them "help" by loading up stuff on top of them in the carseats. Sometimes they take a nap between 11:30-12, which sometimes lasts as long as two hours. In the afternoon we often go for a walk in the neighborhood, either alone or with another family. They usually take another nap mid-afternoon. When Jeff gets home I breathe a sigh of relief to have a better baby-adult ratio, and we each take turns with each baby. They usually eat every 2-3 hours during the day and evening. Lately they have been taking an evening nap for an hour or two, which allows us to prepare and eat dinner like childless people. Sometimes one of them doesn't really wake up after the evening nap, and so I sleep-feed him, we dress him in the nighttime diaper, and then put him down without another alert period first. They usually wake up once in the night, and if we are lucky I can get into the nursery while only one is awake; otherwise Jeff has to come in and calm the other one while I finish feeding the first. We are usually lucky enough that they fall asleep again while eating, so I do a perfunctory burp and put them back down with little ado. I'm generally getting two chunks of 3-4 hours of sleep in the night, which I think is pretty good. I would like to move toward a more reliable nap schedule where they are both asleep for a chunk of time in the morning and the afternoon, but I am torn because it's also really nice when they sleep at different times and I have alone time with both.
They are very happy babies, generally, and spend much of their days smiling and giggling. Beck especially is starting to grasp things put in front of him. He stares very intently at the object and swings his hands closer and closer until he wraps his fingers around it. Theo is still happy most of the time to watch things brought close to him without trying to grasp them. Theo gurgles and coos with more inflection than Beck does, staring at us with intensity as if he is really trying to tell us something. Theo looks more frustrated with his inability to communicate effectively with us. Both of them can fully support their own weight standing, and sometimes can stand unaided for a few seconds. While Theo reliably poops every day, Beck often goes 3-4 days between giant blowouts. So far the cloth diapers have contained all but the most explosive and infrequent poops. They smile at strangers and seem to enjoy their life so far!
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