The Beauty of the Regular Day

I was just reading a blog post by Lisa Jo Baker about how the ordinary days which seem to drag on have so many special little memories in them and it made me think. 

For the most part, I enjoy the regular daily routine pretty well.  We do sometimes do special things with our kids, but those days always require so much planning, packing, planning some more, and lots of extra effort to ensure that everyone has the right ammount of sleep and naps to be able to really enjoy the day.  Those special days are special and they are needed, but the regular days are wonderful in their own rights. The regular days can sometimes be tough, but in some ways they are so easy as well.  With everyone at home and in our daily routine there is no extra planning to be done.  We have a little routine but we also have a little freedom to vary our activities in our play time together. 

E got new trucks in the mail from his grandparents the other day.

 

Perhaps I'm nostalgic over the regular days this morning because of how wonderfully smooth last night and this morning went at our house.  My oldest (now 18.5 month) was such a good little boy last night.  He ate supper well and then played, got a bath, and played some more.  We never reached the foul moodiness that typically occurs close to a toddler bedtime.  He was just genuinly happy and content so I allowed him to stay up an extra 30 minutes (mostly so that I could continue watching him play). 

 

Baby A enjoys conversations with Mommie

Baby girl (now 3 months old) was also very content last night. She ate a bottle when we got home, sat in her bouncy seat while we ate supper, and then slept in our arms until after her brother went to bed. Then we woke her to change her clothes and diaper and feed her before we all settled in for the night. She didn't wake up until 4:30 this morning.

 
This morning after feeding baby girl, I put her down on the bed with her Daddy while I went to dress for work.  15 minutes later when I picked her up to go settle on the couch and feed her just a tiny bit more before we got her dressed, she didn't care to eat because she was too busy smiling up at me.  We talked and played for a few minutes before we got Toddler E up. 

Once Toddler E gets up in the mornings, I get to have my favorite part of the day.  I sit on the couch with a child on each side of my lap and we all cuddle together while we watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Toddler E works to get his eyes open.  E frequently asks for "bite-bites" (food, usually a granola bar) and his "tea" (sippy cup with water and a splash of sweet tea) so we sit there letting him take his time eating before I get the kiddos dressed. 

Dressing both kids is a task that sometimes goes well and sometimes doesn't.  Baby A is never any trouble because she's still too little to put up a fight.  This morning I dressed her in a sweet little bubble suit that she'd never worn before.  She looked beautiful, cool, and comfy and was still in a wonderful mood.  I then grabbed Toddler E's clothes and sat myself and Baby A down in the floor near him.  Dressing him was somewhere between good and bad.  He was busy playing with his toys and wasn't thrilled about stopping.  We got it done none-the-less and headed out the door on time. 

When we got to daycare, E's two best buddies were both already there. He was excited and ready to play. I took the kids in and by the time I handed Baby A to the teacher, E was rolling in the floor playing with his buddies. He didn't even know I was gone.

It's been a beautifully routine night/morning and, right now, I can't wait to go pick up my kids and do it again. 

Where do you find beauty in your daily routine?

Beautiful Bathtime

When I started thsi blog I promised that I would share the good, the bad, and the ugly.  Many parts of motherhood are ugly (the entire pregnancy, childbirth, and recovery process for example).  And at times things can seem pretty bad (like those first few days when mom and baby never sleep more than 2 consecutive hours at a time).  But sometimes, most of the time in fact, being a mom is a really really good thing. 

Over the last couple of days, we've had lots of good in our house.  Baby E is beginning to enjoy some things that he hasn't previously, like bathtime.  Bathtime was never a screaming match and Baby E was always reasonably calm and content to sit in his tub in the sink and let me bathe him.  We rarely had a screaming fit unless he was exceptionally tired and just ready to go to bed.  But in the last couple of weeks we realized that Baby E was just too big for the sink anymore, so we moved him to the big tub.  He LOVES it!!!

Now when we get home in the evenings, it's inevitable that he'll work his way toward the bathroom saying "bath, bath, bath" over and over.  When we go into the bathroom, he pulls up on the edge of the tub and stands waiting to be undressed so that he can get into the tub.  While he waits, he bangs on the tub edge in excitement. 

We are still trying to keep baths down to every other day right now simply because Baby E's skin can get a little dry (especially during colder weather) and he hates having lotion put on him.  So to spare him the need for regular lubing up with baby lotion, we only bathe every other night.  I'm afraid that may soon change though given how much he seems to enjoy bathtime.  When he's in the tub he loves to splash the water and pour it in and out of two cups that we use for rinsing him off. 

Bathtime has quickly gone from a chore to one of our favorite parts of the day. It is wonderful to see a happy baby splashing and playing in the water then to pull him out and get those wonderful last cuddles of the evening.  Had I known how much fun he'd have in the big tub we'd have moved over way sooner. 



A happy camper playing in the tub.




Splish splash we are taking a bath!




He makes this serious face when he's really working to figure something out.  Here I think he's trying to understand why the cups are under water.