Our Routine

Most of my posts lately have just been events/activities/milestones and pictures... I thought that it might be nice to just write about what we do on a weekly basis - since I'm sure I'll have trouble remembering what we did in just a few months!

I went back to work on February 17th. Since Cody is still nursing, I am working a modified schedule (from 7 am to 3 pm in the office; at home after the kids go to sleep). It has been working out great. I pick them up around 3:30 (Camryn wakes up from her nap at 3, or should I say, wakes up from the nap that she is SUPPOSED to be taking - she has been refusing naptime for the last few weeks at school. She still naps at home on the weekend, but for whatever reason, she is refusing to nap at school...makes for a very fussy monkey in the evenings).

We typically do bedtime between 7 and 7:30. We have it now where the kids go to sleep at the same time - so that has been great. By 8, the kids are usually both in bed asleep (or close to asleep). We do baths every other night and Cody goes first. He really seems to love his baths and kicks his legs and splashes a lot now. Camryn takes her bath next and Kevin almost always does her bath while I get Cody dressed and feed him a bottle. Cody is such a slow eater. By the time he finishes his bottle, Camryn is usually already in the room ready for reading, which means that she has bathed, picked out pj's (which could take awhile because she really concentrates on picking the perfect pair each night), and brushed her teeth and combed her hair).

We usually read two or three books - since we have finished Harry Potter, we are now reading books that she picks out and she is really starting to listen and understand the books. We almost always have to read Llama Llama Red Pajama - she loves this book. It's amazing to watch her think - she is comprehending the story now and says things like "that's not nice" on certain pages (like when Baby Llama yells at Mama Llama) or "I don't like this page" on the page where he is very frightened - she's says "Scary" - which sounds more like "Scawee". So cute.

In one of her Preschool Weekly Updates from BabyCenter, it talked about how kids her age often want to read the same books over again and how it builds confidence. I found that very interesting. But what I find amazing is that she can almost read the whole story to us on her own, from memory. I also wonder if she might have a little bit of a photographic memory (or maybe all kids her age do, I'm not sure?) because I ordered her another Llama Llama book (this one is Llama Llama Mad at Mama) and we read it to her one night and right after that she could repeat the lines from several pages. We were both amazed (which, for me is nothing - I'm amazed every day. But Kevin, the skeptic, is not. :) )

Cody is sleeping for about 9 to 10 hours most nights. So, that means he goes until about 4:30/5:00 am, then back down until 7:30 or so. At 4:30/5:00, I try to just give him a binky, but that usually just makes him more upset (who ever heard of a baby being upset by a binky?). Then, I almost always can hear his stomach growl and then I feel guilty for trying to give him a binky! But, the boy is eating so much already during the day! He typically nurses at 4:30/5:00 am, then has almost 30 oz of milk/formula during the day and somedays he also has cereal. Kevin's response to this everytime is, "He's a growing boy!" I have a feeling I'm going to hear this until he's ... an adult?

My alarm for work is set for 5:30, so I'll be really, really happy when he starts sleeping past when my alarm goes off. When he wakes up an hour before I'm supposed to be up, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for me to go back to sleep - so on many workdays, I've been up since 4:30. Exhausting.

I normally try to leave for work by 6:15 am, after making bottles and Camryn's lunch for school. I try to help Kevin out as much as possible, since he has to get himself and both kids ready for school. He typically drops them off between 8 and 8:30 and then heads to his office.

Cody has been loving school. He has yet to really fuss there and has really enjoyed seeing other babies. Ms Michelle said that he loves the music class and even does a little dance. He usually takes two naps and is super happy to see me when I pick him up in the afternoon. Makes my day just melt away - puts it all in perspective.

He is just about the sweetest baby ever. He is so happy and so snuggly and I just don't want him to grow out of this phase anytime soon. It's hard not to compare the second baby to the first, but I really try not too. Cody is way more social than Camryn - he smiles all the time, laughs out loud and chatters/coos/squeals/sings a lot. But I think in other development, he is slower than Camryn - she always wanted to stand, was rolling over much more and slept longer at night. Funny how two siblings, even so close together, can be so different!

Camryn is also doing great in school. She knows her abc's, can count to 10 (although this week she has been missing #4 for some reason), knows her shapes, colors, animals (yesterday she pointed at a bug in the house and said, "mosquito hawk" - and I just call it a bug!) can identify pretty much every letter, and anytime she sees something with a C in it, says "That's my name!" After school she often wants to sit at her desk and draw. She has learned to hold a pencil the right way and shows me like she is so proud she can do it. I love watching her learn. She is so smart - I can't wait to see all that she can do.

Two funny stories about one of her teachers:
* She told me several weeks ago that she had to tell Camryn to not answer questions because all of the kids in the class were just waiting to see what Camryn answered since she knew everything. And she is the youngest in the class!

* Last week, she was helping Camryn do something when I was picking her up (putting on a new pull-up, I think) and she shook her head and said, "This girl." And I said, "Oh, is she different?" (because this is all I know!) And her teacher said, "Oh yes, she's different." And, at the same time I said: "Yeah, my Mom says that she's just like I was when I was her age," she said: "I feel so sorry for her husband or boyfriend that has to deal with her."Then we both realized what each other said and let me just say... she was MORTIFIED. I kept telling her it was fine and that it was actually hilarious, but she felt so bad! I thought it was funny. And so did my mom - who has to deal with us both! When I saw her the next day, she still felt bad! I'm a little uptight, but I'm not that uptight! I can laugh at myself... but then it made me wonder... what makes us so different? She wouldn't say anything else. Haha.

Camryn is now doing gymnastics at Little Gym one day a week. She has enjoyed it - she is still super shy (won't say her name in the circle and will not high-five the instructor), but I'm hopeful that she'll come around.

And, with Kevin's basketball two days a week and my yoga two days a week, we're a busy family! Wouldn't have it any other way though!