Infant vs. Toddler

Though we went through this only two years ago (and twice over at that!), it's amazing how many things about the infant stage I forgot.  I've been so wrapped up in each next developmental stage with the twins, resulting in me being up on all things toddler.  After Nolan was born, though, everything came back real fast.  Let's be clear: infants are awesome (aside from nighttime wakings and diaper blowouts), toddlers are awesome (aside from all that newfound independence and utter lack of fear), but the difference between the two - and in two short years- is HUGE.  And having those toddlers and a newborn only heightens the contrast between the two.  


Contrasts like..

Infant: Soft, snuggly, and the perfect size to be held.
Toddler: Like to be held.  Except when they don't.  Often too wiggly to actually hold onto.

Infant: Needs a diaper change upwards of ten times a day.  Occasional leakage.  Mostly still during changing, though don't underestimate the power of their kicks.
Toddler: 5-6ish diaper changes a day.  Minimal leakage, but when it's bad, it's BAD.  Diaper changes involve a high-speed chase, tackle, and hog-tie to be completed.

Infant: Mostly sleeps, interrupted by short bursts of energy known as "alert times".
Toddler: Mostly a whirlwind of energy interrupted by short periods of sleep known as "an utter relief to their parents".


Infant: Pretty much silent.
Toddler: Volume is always turned up to 11, whether from imitating every word and/or sound they hear or banging/throwing/pressing buttons on all of their toys.  At once.

Infant: Usually has a reason for crying, be it hunger, sleepiness, or a dirty diaper.
Toddler: Reason for crying is often unintelligible or nonexistent.

Infant: Eats 10-12 times a day.  Sometimes resulting in a mess when what looks like the entirety of their meal is spit back up.
Toddler: Would eat 10-12 times a day if I let them.  Crumbs, sticky fingers, and a mess in a three-foot perimeter around the high chair is a fact of everyday life.


Infant: Smells like a delicious combination of milk, sweetness, and what can only be described as "baby".  Unless you've caught them right after a bad bout of spit-up.
Toddler: Smells like a blend of feet, dirt, and the most recent meal they've eaten; aka "toddler funk".   Unless you've caught them right after bath time.

Infant:  Totally and completely dependent on others for all of their needs.
Toddler:  Minimally self-sufficient.  Could probably live for a few days off the crumbs they scavange from between couch cushions and found in their car seats.


Post (Easter) Weekend

Coming down from the high of a holiday weekend to one of the most Monday of Mondays: mess upon mess upon mess (always multiplied post-holiday), infants who refuse to nap, miscellaneous injuries (blood and all) (we're fine), toddler bedtime protests, etc., etc., etc.  Though we did enjoy some crazy-beautiful spring weather today, so there's that.  

And really, it's not like the holidays are all fun and games.  Please tell me that someone else's BEST family photo from yesterday looks something like this:


(2/5 looking at the camera, 1/3 children crying, 0/2 toddler blur factor)

With this as a close second:


(1/5 looking at camera, same child crying, 2/2 toddler blur factor)

I guess I'll take what I can get each day: blurry family photos and some overtired toddlers in exchange for some holiday fun?  Followed immediately by gorgeous let's-play-outside-all-afternoon weather combined with post-holiday messy chaos?  Deal.

Both are kind of exhausting, though.

Okay, less words, more pictures.  Here's some more of our Easter fun.  Still a few words, though.  (You know I can't resist.)

Egg hunt round one:



(Dat face, tho.)

Brooklyn's reaction to candy:



Brooklyn's reaction to ca$h money:


We'll have to work on that.


What Caden does when you tell him that it's his turn to hide all of the eggs:


...which he then points them out to everyone with a giggle as they walk by.  Totes legit.

Baskets empty:


Baskets filled:


Extra candy eaten (parenting perk!):





(Candy monster.)


Three (3!!!) Easter cuties.


(Quite possibly the cutest of all.)










Pro tip: next time do the egg-dying beforehand, leaving just the egg-decorating for the two-year olds, whose patience level for the whole dying and then waiting-to-dry part is approximately ZERO.






(They did enjoy the decorating part, though.)

Egg hunt round two: 


(Snagged by the sister.)








(Dividing their spoils.)


(The spoils.)


Life Lately

Nolan has officially outgrown his newborn-sized sleepers.  Which I may have been squeezing him into anyway for the past few days.  This is clearly unacceptable.

+++++

The other night I was getting the twins ready for bed.  Before I got her pajamas on, a shirtless Brooklyn grabbed her baby doll and announced, "Baby hun'ry!", before promptly positioned the doll's mouth over her.....belly button.  Uh...close enough.  #diedlaughing

+++++



+++++

Caden is big into copying lately.  Everything is "(insert name here) this!"

Nolan sneezes.
Caden: *giggles* "Baby this!" *mimics Nolan sneezing*

Tyson picks up trash in our yard.
Caden: *earnestly* "Daddy this!" *mimics Tyson picking things up off the ground*

Nolan cries.
Caden: *giggles* "Baby this!" *mimics Nolan crying with a high-pitched squeal*

After watching Tyson go to the bathroom.
Caden: *walks out of bathroom to demonstrate* "Daddy this!" *pulls at the front of his own pants*

...

!!!

#diedlaughingagain

(Next step: potty training.)

I'm going to miss his "this" stage...

+++++

Just a bit of Easter/spring cheer.



+++++

I often use old socks for cleaning (dusting, wiping things down, etc.).  The other day, as we were about to leave the house, I threw a pair of my socks into the mudroom.  Nolan became fussy, and as I was calming him down, Caden and Brooklyn grabbed the socks and ran in the direction of their playroom.  I didn't think much of it, and once Nolan was settled, I found them in front of the powder room, whose door is usually kept shut, but today happened to be open.  Then I noticed them wiping down the floor with my socks.  Which were soaking wet.  And there was no stool pulled up to the sink.  But the toilet lid was open.

Yup.

I mean, how do you get mad at them for that?!?  They were trying to CLEAN for heaven's sake.  Having children who clean my freaking house is my DREAM COME TRUE!

Really, to ask that they use something besides toilet water sounds almost picky at this point.

+++++


Chevron buddies.


On the Days When Nothing Gets Done

The other night, after the twins were in bed, I complained to Tyson that "I'm completely exhausted and I got nothing done today!"  (To his everlasting credit, when he asked what it was that I wanted to accomplish, and I moaned that the bathrooms weren't clean, he stared at me and replied, "who cares?")

I might be a little over three weeks postpartum, but my type-A personality is revving right back into overdrive, with to-do lists on paper and in my head outlining that I want to accomplish this, and this, and THIS today.


Of course, with two toddlers and a newborn, this and this and THIS are rarely my reality these days.  (Heck, even with just the two toddlers, they were rarely my reality before.) These to-do lists are a compilation of all the other things...rooms that need to be cleaned, items to be organized, miscellaneous tasks to accomplish.  I don't write down the obvious things; the dishes and the tidying and the laundry...the general duties that make our household function.  Because they aren't anything special, anything "extra", they don't even make it to the to-do list.  Why bother, when they can never be "crossed off"?  Yet these daily chores are important things.  Tasks that, because I do them every. single. day., often don't feel like much.  

It can be so difficult for me to take a step back, and realize what I do accomplish, even on the days when my mental and physical to-do lists remain untouched.  Let's be honest: it can be hard to see what's so noteworthy about a load of laundry.

That day, the day when I got "nothing" done, I actually forced myself to sit down that night before I went to bed and make a list of what I succeeded in doing that day.  This is what my "nothing" looked like:
  • made a healthy dinner and healthy(ish) lunch for my family, plus snacks
  • cleaned up from those meals and snacks
  • nursed - quite literally nourished - my newborn 12 times adding up to over two hours
  • made time to play and read books with my two toddlers
  • soothed and rocked the baby to sleep several times
  • changed (and changed, and changed again) three sets of diapers
  • found time to feed and rest myself...especially important as a nursing mom (and one still recovering from birth!)
  • tidied up the endless mess of toys, toys, and more toys
Even on the days we accomplish "nothing", we are doing work that matters, mamas.  It might be exhausting, it can seem mundane, it may feel unimportant, but it is so essential when we successfully run our own little households.  These everyday tasks seem so inconsequential, but just imagine the state of our homes and the mindset of those in it if they were left undone.  We might be able to deal with the dirty bathrooms for a time, but who else is going to care for my children's essential needs like I do?  We are caring for little bodies - little souls - that can't quite take care of themselves.  We're teaching, guiding, and playing, feeding and bathing even the tiniest members of our families.


Throw out the mental to-do list.  Chances are, on one of "those" days where the list doesn't even come close to being touched, our arms and hearts are full, and we're accomplishing things - BIG things to these little people - anyway.