Boydling watch: May 4, 2009

We haven’t done a “Boydling watch”:/news/2008/boydling-watch-april-4-2008/ in over a year, and I must say, things have gotten considerably easier in that period of time. The abridged version below is a good snapshot, but if you want to see more nitty-gritty details (which wanted to record for posterity), take a look over “here”:/news/2009/boydling-watch-may-4-2009-ex/.

*5:30 am Rosie cries.* Mama rolls over and groans, but stays put. “Don’t go in before 6:00,” says “Weissbluth”:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0345486455/octothorppres-20, and we obey. Gratefully, Rosie falls asleep again after less than ten minutes.
*6:25 Rosie awake.* A triumph! An extra hour of sleep after that burst of crying. Mama nurses Rosie and indulges in her current novel: “_Blue Shoes and Happiness_”:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400075718/octothorppres-20.
*7:00 Mama showers.* Lucy, who is awake now, gets set up to watch “_The Powerpuff Girls_”:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004W1ZX/octothorppres-20.
*7:55 Breakfast.* In addition to cereal and buttered toast, Lucy gets cafe au lait (decaf), plus some leftover “crême brulée french toast”:http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Creme-Brulee-French-Toast-15213.
*8:55 Rosie naps.* After nursing, Rosie snuggles up with “Gwen”:/news/2009/effalunt-and-buffaly/ and goes to sleep. Mama thinks about how awesome it would be if someone put her in a dark, quiet room all snuggled in a sleepsack and told her to sleep.
*9:10 Wonka-fest.* Lucy and I watch “_Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_”:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0009FGWLW/octothorppres-20 together for a bit. Mama works on one of her journals, tucking in some “drawings and notes”:/news/2006/birthing-from-within-by-pam-england-rob-horowitz/ from “labor”:/news/2008/rosies-labor-the-cliffs-notes/ preparation that were recently found must be saved. Lucy begs for a piece of tape and proceeds to stick it on the furniture.
*9:45 Boxes be gone.* Lucy and I head downstairs very quietly and spend some time breaking down the 30+ boxes we have stored in the laundry room. We envision Papa’s look of surprise when he sees the pile of broken boxes.
*10:30 Rosie awake* Good timing! Diaper change for Rosie, potty sit for Lucy.
*10:45 Heading out.* Everyone is dressed, packed up, and ready to go to Trader Joe’s. We start to buckle Rosie into her seat, but then realize…
*10:50 Diaper change #2.* Mama explains to Lucy that we need to change Rosie right away so that her butt doesn’t get sore sitting in poop. Lucy agrees. Rosie gets fresh and clean.
*10:55 Heading out #2.* As we pull out of the alley, Mama spies a UPS truck in front of our house — it is Cesar, our fabulous UPS man! He must be trying to deliver a package! Mama backs up to our house, hops out of the car, signs for the package, and gives Cesar a box to be returned.
*11:00 Heading out #3.* We need to make a stop at “Alderman Laurino’s”:http://www.aldermanlaurino.com/ office to drop off property tax appeal. Mama considers leaving the girls in the car while running in, but is either too chicken or too safety-conscious.
*11:10 In the car.* Now we are driving to Trader Joe’s for real. Halfway there, Mama realizes that she forgot her list, so we re-write it on the way to the store (quite successfully, too). We miss a turn, but recover easily.
*11:30 Trader Joe’s.* Lucy avoids hitting most people while driving her tiny cart — just Mama. We enjoy a sample of blueberry waffles with syrup and some orange-mango juice. Lucy presses the button for the coffee grinder machine. Mama successfully navigates the children through the wine aisle and the pasta sauce aisle with no breaking bottles, but Rosie gets a hold of a bottle of balsamic vinaigrette in the frozen food aisle and drops it. Lucy keeps saying, “What happened? What happened?”
*12:15 Checkout.* Lucy and Rosie both get purple balloons on their wrists. Lucy takes her stickers and pastes them all over the cart, which is a no-no. Mama takes them off and slaps them on her pants.
*12:30 Driving home.* “Pop!” Lucy’s balloon is broken. “Lucy, were you doing something to the balloon?” “Yeah, I was squeezing it.”
*12:50 To lunch!* Once we arrive at home, we dash into the house: Rosie in high-chair, Lucy has potty-sit, bibs and clean hands for all, snacks provided. The girls start lunch while Mama runs out to the car and gets the groceries, the whole time worrying about if someone is choking while out of the room. Everyone enjoys some new “Cheddar Cheese Squares” from Trader Joe’s. Mama removes stickers from her pants.
*1:15 Lunch for Mama, too.* The cold food is all in the refrigerator, so Mama makes a mini-bagel sandwich for herself, and one for Papa’s lunch tomorrow while we’re at it. Lucy and Rosie are enjoying crackers, cheese, and some lunchmeat.
*1:40 Bargaining.* “Lucy, we are running a little late for naptime. But, I think if we go very, very fast, we’ll have enough time to watch three Boydling videos. Shall we do that?”
*1:45 “Boydling videos”:/news/category/baby/video/ and books.* Lucy has peed in the potty and gotten dressed in nap clothes in five minutes! Time for “three”:/news/2007/three-sixty/ “Boydling”:/news/2006/on-a-roll/ “videos”:/news/2007/splashing-is-fun/, then our afternoon reading: “_Snuggle Puppy_”:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0761130675/octothorppres-20 and “_Moo Baa La La La_”:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/067144901X/octothorppres-20
*1:55 Lucy to bed* Rosie plays in her crib for a few minutes, looking at some “favorite”:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1592239463/octothorppres-20 “books”:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0689835604/octothorppres-20. Lucy gets a spoonful of honey (for her cough), then we go through her naptime routine.
*2:00 Nurse Rosie.* Rosie insists on holding the jar of Aquaphor, which she proceeds to pound on Mama while nursing.
*2:20 Rosie naps.* Mama gets a much needed bathroom break, then some computer time: a little bit of work, a little bit of blog.
*3:25 Lucy wakes up somewhat hysterical.* This happens sometimes, especially if she is a little sick (which she is) and wakes up after less than two hours (which she did). Mama swoops in, grabs Lucy and some tissues, and heads outside, successfully avoiding waking Rosie up. We snuggle on the front porch, then look at some flowers and talk about getting dressed.
*3:45 Rosie awake.* Lucy and I come inside to get some clothes for her to wear, but she starts crying again — and this time, Rosie does wake up. Sigh. Oh well, Rosie got her standard 90 minute nap, and she is happy.
*3:50 Playing and puttering.* Lucy becomes entranced by a new project: wrapping her animals up in the clothes she is planning to wear that afternoon. “Mama, keep Rosie away from my work!” Rosie looks at some puzzles and Mama folds laundry, all the white trying to keep Rosie from getting into Lucy’s space.
*4:20 Underpants tantrum.* Lucy is still not quite recovered from her short-ish nap and has a complete freak-out when Mama requests that she wear underpants on our outing. “Nooooo! I will just keep my dress down so it covers my butt!” Sadly, Mama has to insist that Lucy not only wear underpants, but have a potty sit too. It is all too much, and we experience a truly rare explosion of emotions. Mama lets Lucy work it out for a bit, then does her best “Harvey Karp”:/news/2008/the-happiest-toddler-on-the-block-by-harvey-karp/ impression, mirrorring Lucy’s passionate convictions back to her and trying to find a way for her to save face. “Lucy, I know you don’t really want to pee on the potty. But I do need you to at least sit there. Can we bring a special toy for you to look at?” We find a deck of cards she hasn’t seen in awhile, and Lucy plays with those while having a pee. Crisis averted!
*4:40 Ready to go.* With the tantrum over, Lucy is surprisingly compliant about sitting in the stroller for a bit. She and Rosie cozy up for a ride over to North Park University, where we will pick up Jon. On the way over, Mama considers what she’ll wear that evening for date night. What will help her to feel more like a girl, and less like a mom?
*4:50 Playing on the green.* We arrive a bit early for Jon to be done with work, so we have playtime on campus for awhile. Mama tries to capture some of the fun on camera. We wander over by the river, finding a shady crabapple-scented nook. Mama is vigilant about safety, envisioning little ones falling into the rushing waters. Rosie has fun walking around, but finally wipes out hard enough to split her lip. Mama puts the camera away, gets the tissues out.
*5:15 Papa arrives!* All three girls are delighted to see Papa after a long day. Lucy goes down to the edge of the river with him. Rosie gets back in the stroller for our trip back home, and Lucy gallops along with us.
*5:55 Supper for the girls.* Hands are washed, a potty sit is had, and all children are seated for supper. Papa feeds the girls while Mama runs around the house doing some pre-date tasks, including finding some suitable clothes. Lucy devours soy nuggets and frozen blueberries, while Rosie can hardly get enough graham crackers with peanut butter.
*6:25 Baths.* Rosie gets a bath first, and boy, does she need it. “Hey, peanut butter!” She’s got Jif on pretty much every limb, not to mention her head. In the tub she goes! Once she is all clean, Papa gets the “wet baby alert!” and begins the drying process. Lucy is next on the assembly line: she pees in the potty first and gets a jelly bean in the tub. “Mmmm, coconut.” A thorough washing, then “splashing time”:/news/2008/free-swim/ behind the curtain. Luckily, Mama has not gotten dressed yet for her date, or she’d need to change again.
*6:50 Rosie to bed.* Once Lucy’s bath toys are cleaned up, teeth are brushed, and she is wrapped up in a big white towel, Papa takes over the drying task. Rosie is all jammied up and ready for Mama, who stashes the Boppy and book into Rosie’s room. Time for Rosie to give her goodnight kisses! Then books, nursing, and bedtime.
*7:15 Sitter arrives.* Mama emerges from putting Rosie down to find that Jessica is already here! We walk through the rest of the evening, explaining Lucy’s bedtime routine. Lucy gets a spoonful of honey for her cough, then kisses us goodnight. Mama dashes into the bathroom to change clothes.
*7:25 Out on the town!* Jon and Ann debate the date-night destination and finally decide on Mexican food from “Don Juan”:http://chicago.metromix.com/restaurants/contemporary/don-juan-restaurante-edison-park/138176/content. Margaritas, here we come!