Last day as SAHM

Today was my last day of maternity leave. I don't want to talk about it.

My mom has been in town this week...it's been great to have the companionship, help with the babies and Ethan, and a break from constant laundry, cooking and dishes. I will miss her greatly!

Ethan has been super funny this week...with only the occasional two-ness. Now that the babies are much more interactive, he's been MUCH more interested in them. It's mostly good, but we have to really make sure he's not patting them too hard or climbing up on them. He likes to help burp, and says "Nice baby" while rubbing their bellies. He thinks it's absolutely hilarious when they smile. Dylan and Owen have been smiling a ton...my mom recently discovered that Dylan LOVES peek-a-boo...and Owen, well Owen smiles at just about anything. He has quite the personality...he will mimic you when you stick out your tongue and it's super cute. Their eyes are totally amazing...bright, bright blue. I am in love. Just when things start to get really fun, I have to go back to work. Again, I don't want to talk about it.

Today Ethan went up to Owen and said "Hi Owen, it's Ethan"...and he called Dylan a "little rascal"...where does he come up with this stuff?

I've been keeping a log of sorts for the babies' schedule...when they eat, when they nap and where. I'm hoping it will help us organize into some sort of routine eventually. Today I really let them dictate it. I've realized that it's not so plausible to always get them to eat at the same time, especially during the day. They have different appetites. Owen tends to eat less at a feeding so sometimes he doesn't go as long between feedings. And I don't want to feed Dylan just because Owen wants a bottle. It turns out that they cue for feedings within about an hour of each other anyways, so they ate together at the beginning of the day and were synched up again by bedtime. We'll still feed them together during the night though!

Napping is still a challenge. Yesterday Owen barely napped and was super cranky at the end of the day...wanting to have his last bottle and go to bed at 6pm which is earlier than usual. So today I made sure to really watch for their sleepy signs. They were up for the day at 6am. Owen dozed off just a bit before his next bottle at 9:30a but no real nap. He was tired throughout the bottle so I went upstairs to rock him in their room while he finished the bottle and then put him in his crib. He cried for a bit, but slept from 10:15 until 12:30!! D didn't eat until 10:30a and then napped in the swing from 11:45 to 2. I hate to have them nap in the swing (Dr W says this is a no-no), but when one is already in the crib I don't want to bring the other one in there for fear one will wake the other...it's a conundrum. Dr W says in his sleep book to put babies down for naps every 1-2 hours...so I use that as a guideline, but it seems like my babies tend to go a bit longer between naps. It seems like they fit in about 3 per day, but they aren't on any type of schedule so far.

I'm hoping that a well-rested and napping baby will sleep better at night eventually...Dr W tells me it will! Bedtime has been pretty smooth this week. It helps that my Mom can watch Ethan while Andy and I are putting the babies down. I don't know what we'll do when it's just the two of us. So far we've had VERY little crying at nighttime. The babies will have their last bottle around 6:30 and are swaddled and in their crib around 7pm. Dylan fussed a bit the first night we tried this, and a little last night, but that was it...not too painful. I'm hoping for a trend here!