Don't judge
I’ve gone a little project insane around here. For some reason, I fooled myself into thinking I’m crafty. I decided the best time to tackle all the little things around the house that have annoyed me for years is when I’m getting no sleep and need to take care of a toddler and 3 month old. Some of the weirdly OCD projects I have completed include organizing and labeling the laundry room, creating plastic bins (with labels) for our medicine cabinet supplies, labeling everything in Amelia’s closet, labeling everything in the master bedroom closet, labeling all the drawers of Henry’s dresser, labeling the inside of the refrigerator, and much more.
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Amelia switched rather ungracefully from two naps to one around 16 months. Her first nap was becoming really short and I knew, based on too much research, that the average child will switch to one nap around 15-18 months. I figured getting the transition out of the way before Baby Number 2 arrives was a good idea, and it has been…mostly.
The only major problem I have had with this transition is shower time, as in, mommy like needs to shower before noon and baby can’t be trusted alone in the house while I am out of commission. This is the plight of the stay at home mom, and probably the working mom as well, a plight I imagine gets more complicated the more kids you have. How does one actually shower with a toddler around?
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It’s January in San Diego, which means I’m in Spring cleaning mode; the lack of seasons has messed with my internal calendar. Oh, and Spring Cleaning is actually code for household project time. This is when I walk though our rental, glare at a room or wall and proclaim “We need to….” Dave hates these proclamations so much that he doesn’t even let me finish my sentence before exclaiming “No! Stop!” In fact, if I innocently look too long any place within the home he commands me to prevent an idea from even forming.
But I can’t stop myself. I am the self-proclaimed Idea Woman. During one of these glaring sessions, I came up with the great idea of redecorating our kitchen, which would involve paint and some craftiness. During another glaring session, I came up with the great idea of turning the wall in between the nursery and guest room into “The Riley Library,” complete with handmade plaque showcased above IKEA shelves housing Amelia’s books. My next project as The Idea Woman is a sandbox, completion date yet to be determined.
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I’m sure you have heard the famous phrase “A family who does yoga together stays together.” You know, the famous phrase by the famous yogi whatshisname. Not ringing a bell? Okay, perhaps the phrase isn’t famous or even catchy, but its our new Riley motto.
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Before last week, I foolishly thought extensive baby-proofing was the domain of paranoid, neat freak, posh, uber organized parents (I’m ashamed to admit the word “posh” is in my vocabulary). I had simply been following Amelia around the house, shuffling potential dangers out of the way. We had set up a mini play zone in the living room for when I can’t follow Amelia around, plugged up the sockets, and called it a baby-proofing day.
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The beginning of the end of my twenties is rapidly approaching. I turn 29 this Wednesday, a birthday overshadowed, in my mind, by Amelia’s four-month anniversary of life, which was last Saturday. I can’t decide if I’m upset about moving closer to my thirties. I don’t want to move chronologically backwards, but I’m feeling my age, or maybe age has nothing to do with it. Having a baby (and not sleeping because of this baby) has added more gray hairs and furrow lines than any arbitrary date on the calendar.
I distinctly remember my birthday wish last year. We had moved into this house a few weeks before and I had discovered my pregnancy around the same time. I made Dave buy me a cake and candles. I really wanted candles so I could make a wish; somehow the wish wouldn’t be official without the smell of burning wax. I wished for two things: A healthy baby and the ability to keep my birthday cake down. I got the healthy baby, but the cake came right back up, as did most food for months afterward. Click to continue…
