Behind the Scenes: Two Under Two
You know how I said in one of my first posts that people ask me a lot how it's going with two under two? Well, I know I mentioned that it's hard and that I was expecting it to be as much. However, I don't think I've really done it justice in explaining what it's like, because a lot of what I've shared are funny and cute anecdotes of things my kids have done. Or struggles I had in the beginning adjusting to having two kids. But I don't think I've really given you a "Behind the Scenes" glimpse into my current crazy life of having 2 kids under 2.
I will say this: Most weeks go relatively smoothly, with the exception of a rougher day peppered in here and there. This was not one of those weeks. Yes, I had a "day off" from the craziness of the kids when I got pampered at Launch Salon ( <--Read the full review here!), and my amazing husband took over all things kids for the night. But that was one evening, and I really consider it just a breather. As any of you who are parents or caretakers know, when you come home from your outside the home full-time job (if you work outside the home), you switch hats and shift gears to your other full-time job of parenting. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being a mom. It's the best thing in the world and something I've wanted since I was just a kid. And I don't want it to sound like I'm comparing it to a typical "job." Not at all. I only use this analogy to explain that even though it's amazing, it's still hard work being a parent.
Ok Abby, let's get back on track...(you see, this is the kind of week it's been!)
As you can tell from the photo above, I'm pretty sure our kids were conspiring against us this week. These two, who as you know from previous photos are normally very smiley, were just not having it the past 5 days. Monday was picture day at daycare, and you'd think that they would be the perfect kids to get some great school photos, right? Not. A. Chance. When Dan picked them up from daycare on Tuesday, their proofs were ready and I about died laughing when I came home and saw them. They looked PISSED. I feel bad for the photographer, because I'm sure they did their best in trying to get smiles out of the girls. My kids apparently had other plans.
Feel free to add your own captions, they are perfect for that! Needless to say, we won't be ordering any school pictures this time around.
Part of the issue this week is that Annie is battling a barky cough and has FOUR big teeth coming in, and she's just been a hot mess because of it. Poor Dan - while I was getting my hair done, I texted and asked how things were going and this is what he sent me:
Girlfriend has not been happy all week, and this is pretty close to how the evenings have been going after dinner. While the weather here has been getting colder, thank goodness it's still warm enough that we can put a sweatshirt or light jacket on and go outside. If you have an angry toddler and need to get them to bedtime, I highly suggest going outside for a while. We did this a few nights this week to try and calm Annie down and help make it to bedtime without constant meltdowns and time outs, and it definitely helped. I'd put Eloise in the big stroller and Annie would get her baby and put it in the play stroller and we'd just walk back and forth in front of our house as well as a few others on our street. Last night, I was able to stretch it even longer than I thought by convincing Annie to feel how bumpy the all the trees were and giving each one a hug (there were about 5 trees total). Yes, I'm teaching my daughter to be a tree-hugger.
We managed to do ok in avoiding some full blown tantrums in the evenings this week by the skin of our teeth, but let's just say mornings were a different story. Wednesday morning, I had given Annie several toys and books to play with in her crib. I try to keep her contained in there for as long as possible because she's a tornado as soon as she is "let loose." I was in the bathroom getting ready, when all of a sudden I heard her saying "Hep! Hep!" (Help) Sometimes she says this when she wants out, so I didn't rush to see what she wanted since she wasn't crying hard about it. When she finally started getting more insistent and actually crying about it, I went in there to find her like this:
She had somehow figured out how to free her arm from her pajamas without unsnapping or unzipping them. I was actually quite impressed, but she clearly was not happy with her decision. And yes, I totally stopped and took the photos before helping her. Don't judge.
Fast forward to this morning. Annie was NOT happy staying in her crib while Dan and I got ready. She used to happily sit with her toys and books until I came and got her out after Dan left for the day, but this week she seems to be TOTALLY over that. Her new thing is that she likes to run around while Dan is in the shower and occasionally peek in on him (she's finding the shower head more and more fascinating lately). She thinks it's hilarious so will run back and forth from her room to the bathroom yelling "Dada! Dada!" She also likes to try on all of our shoes in the morning. That's all great until it's time to start getting ready to go. There are a lot of cords (think monitor charger, phone charger) in our room as well as books and a TV remote - basically things she would find fascinating but should not be getting into - so when it's time for me to get Eloise ready, I close our door and the bathroom door so she can't get into anything. Remember, it's all about containment, people. This pretty much means she's terrorizing either her room or Eloise's room. This morning it was Eloise's room. She dismantled the playmat several times (you can find the one we have here. It's adorable and colorful and perfect for little ones, just not really made for a busy and freakishly strong toddler). The first time I asked her not to do it, she looked straight into my eyes while continuing so she went straight into the corner for timeout. Once she came out (we do 10-second timeouts), I held her hand and said "We don't take apart Weezy's playmat, it stays put together, OK?" Blank stare. And immediately started taking it apart again, all while looking straight at me. It was clear she knew what she was doing was wrong, so I got right at her level and said, quite sternly, "Annie, No. We do NOT take apart Weezy's playmat. We leave it put together."
Annnnd she slapped me. Right across the face. Timeout number two.
This time she got the schpeel again about not taking apart her sister's things AND the no hitting talk. And she had to hug me (her way to say sorry). I thought to myself that she would get it after that, because I was pretty stern, and she knows that she's in trouble when it gets to the point where I have to be harsher. How silly of me. I was almost done dressing Eloise (which took about 15 minutes instead of 2 because of this fiasco) when in the blink of an eye, Annie had taken the playmat apart again. I quickly finished getting Eloise's clothes on, because if I didn't at that point, she may have never gotten completely dressed, and put Annie in timeout for the THIRD time. After this, I made her put the playmat back together with me and then got both girls out of the room as fast as I could to make sure the temptation was no longer there. Also, I was sweating at this point. And it was only 58 degrees outside.
Thank goodness I typically get everything ready to go either the night before, or at least before I bring the girls down, because it made for a much smoother transition to the car after the girls were ready. FINALLY, 10 minutes later than planned, we were out the door on our way to daycare. I turned off of our street and realized I forgot Annie's jacket. We live right by a school and I'm out the door usually around the time that kids are getting to school, whether they are being dropped off, walking, or take the bus. When school is not in session, it takes maybe 1 minute to get out of our neighborhood. When school is in session though, it takes around 10 minutes, if not more. So basically, I have from the time I get in the car to the time I get off my street, which is about 10 seconds, to I realize I've left something at home. If it's any time after that, all bets are off as far as going back to get it, unless it's something necessary like bottles or my phone (daycare communicates via an app). This was one of those times I just kept going. I let daycare know I forgot Annie's coat, but that I know she has a sweatshirt there so hopefully that'd be enough if they go outside. Bless their hearts, they said they have extra coats just in case. Crisis averted!
Where is Eloise in all of this, you ask? Did she contribute to the craziness of the week? Well, she's 4 months old, so yes. She wasn't nearly the handful that her sister was, thank goodness. But like I said, she's 4 months old and still needs lots of attention. Her sleeping patterns seem to be improving, and Monday night she even slept through the night again! I thought to myself, "Yes, FINALLY, we are out of the 4 month sleep regression!" Wishful thinking, Abby. She woke up once Tuesday night, and twice both Wednesday night and last night. Thankfully she's going back down easily - for the most part - after waking, but kiddo is messing up my sleep mojo. I never know what to expect. Will I get a full night's sleep? Will I be up multiple times? How long will I be up? I know this is normal baby sleep behavior and that it's to be expected, so I'm not really saying that she should be over it. I'm more saying this to explain how it definitely adds to the hectic life we have with 2 under 2, because I go to sleep every night wondering how many times I'll be getting up, and that in itself is exhausting!
Thankfully, Miss Eloise has otherwise been quite agreeable this week, even though she's super vocal when she wants something. We're pretty much used to that now though. Dan says she sometimes sounds like a wounded cat or a pterodactyl. Which, in all honesty, she does. But, like I said, we're used it it. She's also getting more expressive, and her various faces are letting us know what she's thinking every now and then (click on the photo for my translation of her faces)...
Do I love my kids with all my heart? Absolutely. Do I know their behaviors are typical of their ages? Of course. Do I wish they'd get over the sassy and erattic sleeping stages? Definitely. Do I dream of a vacation with my husband sans children sometimes? Um, YES. Hello, I'm a normal person.
I know I lucked out with two overall VERY good natured girls. And I know I share a lot of the cute things they do here on my blog. But I'm also here today to tell you that they are still kids, and that not everything they do is always funny, amusing or cute (although to be honest, sometimes the toddler meltdowns are so bad they're funny). My kids are just like yours, I promise. For anyone out there in the thick of this stage of childhood right now, or anyone that's been through it, I'd love to hear your suggestions of how you powered through, or what kind of different coping mechanisms you've used for yourself or your kids. If the kids are anything like they were this week over the weekend, I have a feeling we're going to need them!