Normal for us doesn't really last long. This is certainly not unusual in families with small children. Anyway, things have settled down a bit for now, so we have between now and Lily's baptism to sort out what "normal" is before we start wandering all over creation for the summer. We're trying to come up with a routine that will keep us all busy without driving any of us crazy. For now, it goes something like this: I roll out of bed between seven and eight to the sound of the baby demanding to be fed. On my way to feed her, I open Ela's bedroom door and say Hello to her. The good news about new baby is that Ela no longer feels the urge to keep us up all night anymore. She lets Lily do it. So she's generally awake and reading in her bed when I open the door. It's so sweet. I go in and feed Lily while Ela wanders around the room getting into mischief and asking for food, milk or TV. As soon as Lily's fed, I take the girls downstairs and start meeting Ela's needs. She's getting much better at dealing with the word "wait". Lily is good at sitting in a bassinet, crib or swing while I'm making toast, milk, etc.
After breakfast, it's a mad dash to get dressed and out the door. I aim for some sort of outing, be it a trip to the library, grocery store, or just a walk around the block in the morning around 10:00. If it doesn't happen before lunch, it's not gonna happen, and if we don't get out at least every few days, Mommy turns into a big ugly monster. So I hop in the shower while Ela gets into more trouble and Lily lays in her crib. Then I get the both of them dressed, feed Lily again, and we're out the door. Today, for example, we went to storytime.
We generally get back in time to feed everyone again and put Ela down for what we've started calling "quiet time." If we call it naptime, it means that Ela has to sleep, and she's just not cool with that. Instead, I try to convince her to sleep for about 20 minutes, or until Lily demands attention. Then I close her in her room and let her cry until she realizes she's free to play. If she's tired, she sleeps. If she's not, she pulls out books and animals and I set her free around 3:00. During the time between when I leave her in her room and let her out, I feed Lily and try to catch a nap myself. This doesn't generally work, but it's a nice thought.
When Ela is up again, we hang out around the house somewhere. Sometimes we hang in the yard with the sandbox, sometimes we play inside. Whatever the case, this hang out time continues until Daddy gets home and we start putting dinner together. So far, I haven't actually had to cook anything, so making dinner has only involved heating up whatever is coming out of the fridge or freezer for the day.
Bedtime comes on pretty fast after dinner. This is a team effort now, since feeding Lily and doing story time just don't mix. Bedtime is going a lot better, though, and we often manage to be done with the whole routine by 8:30 now. Then it's a game of "when will Lily eat so I can sleep?" before I crash for the night myself. Over the course of the night, Lily needs to be fed anywhere from one to three times, and then it's morning and we start over again.
And it's just another normal day...
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