Friday, July 27, 2012

The Daily Grind

This past week one rubber frog lives in Eli's mouth and the other lives in Eli's hand (and a lot of the time Roarski too)

How could this angle face bite so hard! (C)

T

Taking advantage that Eli was not feeling good and wanting to snuggle : )

at the kid's museum

T

T loves trains!

ECT

pops teaching the boys all about fishing

Fuzzy visits us frequently and we all love it! So soft and nice : )

taking advantage of the warm weather and getting wet every chance we get

C

E

At the mall someone asked if I had quads! Can you guess which boy is not mine? The little boy was about 3inches taller and Asian! But I can see why someone at first glance might think this, hahaha!

Yogurt strawberry banana smoothies: they drank these in about 2 minutes and kept getting brain freeze!

Just some things I want to record for my own purposes but maybe this will be helpful others too : )

Snacks, I keep my pantry well stocked with these staples:

raisins
graham crackers
gold fish crackers
ritz like crackers from trader joes
veggie chips from trader joes
blueberry or strawberry snack bars from trader joes
rice cakes
granola bars
sugar snap peas (one of the few vegetables I can get them to eat without disguising it)
and of course loads of fruit!

Typical Meals

peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (American children would starve without them)
Plain Yogurt, I add absolutely nothing to it and this continues to be one of their favorite meals! 
They really aren't very picky and for the most part will eat whatever mom and dad eat : ) 

Favorite Foods

Yogurt (as mentioned)
Pesto Pasta (anything with pasta, they are carb junkies)
Quinua (sp?)
Any Mexican food I make
Tamale Pie 
Beans
Zucchini bread
tater tots
sweet potato fries (baked)
sourdough pancakes
breakfast sausages

Drinks

Milk
Unsweetened teas (of the mint varieties, or hibiscus flower tea)
Water (I almost think they like it more than milk, they drink it like it's the best most refreshing thing in the world!)
Fruit smoothies on occasion

The Daily Routine

At 21 months our typical day goes like this...

6:30am babies start to wake up around this time...
6:45am Phil and I get up. Phil does diapers and gives Thomas a sippy cup of milk while I nurse the other two one at a time. 
7:30am we wave bye-bye to dad
7:30/8am breakfast, usually cold cereal or oatmeal unless it's the weekend
8:30/9am playtime, whether it be at home or elsewhere
10:30am-ish snack, continue with playtime 
12/12:30pm Lunch (what mom and dad had for dinner the night before)
1pm diaper changes and nap time (they party for 1/2-1 hour before they fall asleep) 
3:30/4pm babies get up but it's not uncommon for them to sleep in till 4:30pm, resume playtime (playing is a full time job for these boys)
4:30pm-ish snack
5:45/6pm Dad comes home
6/6:30pm dinner (something quick just for the boys)
7pm start the bed time routine: diaper changes and pajamas, I nurse Caleb and Thomas and Eli gets a sippy cup of milk
7:30pm bedtime!!!

After the babies go to bed I make dinner for us and bed time for mom and dad is around 10:30pm or a little earlier (we cherish our 8+ hours of sleep!).

For a MOM I'm not super strict with the schedule but probably very strict from a non-MOM stand point. The boys are very flexible now and can nap an hour early or an hour later without melt downs (bed time is different though). 

This has been our routine for a few months now and I'm thinking it will stay this way until nap time goes away, hopefully not for a very very long time! We don't do family meals yet because the boys are a lot to handle come the 6 o'clock melt downs so I usually don't cook dinner until after they are in bed, this allows us to spend a little time together as a family each day in the evenings. And also because I would spend the entire time picking up sippy cups, plates and food that have been thrown on the floor between bites (they love to throw everything!). I'm a slow eater and I have trouble as it is keeping a healthy weight. Honestly it gives me heartburn to eat with the boys the way they are now. We do breakfast on the weekends together because they are in much better moods in the mornings. I realize this needs to change soon but for now this is what works and we'll make the effort once the boys are a little older and don't throw things every two seconds.

The boys are thankfully very good sleepers (although they haven't always been) and don't wake up in the middle of the night unless sick or wake up early from their naps. I think they typically need about 14.5 hours of sleep these days (11hrs at night, and 2-3hrs from naps) which I think is pretty typical. I get plenty of time to clean and get what needs to be done at home although many days I don't just because sometimes I just want some me time : ) For example, don't look at my kitchen on the days I put up a new blog post, hehehe!

Here is a cute video of the boys playing at the water feature of a park, notice how they all freak out when the water starts coming out fast (it's at the very beginning and is very subtle).

1 comment:

nan cee said...
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