a day in the life

Rodney is 32. I will be 32 in two weeks. Isaac is 4.75. Levi will be 2 in three weeks.

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

5:25  I briefly wake up and check the time. I'm aware of how very bright it is and hope I can go back to sleep.

6:45  Wake up on my own, which is very strange because I normally set my first alarm for 6:45 but didn't turn it on last night. Lay in bed while checking my phone, the usual morning stuff...facebook, twitter, instagram, timehop.

7:02  Isaac comes in our bedroom. His red light is set to turn green at 7:00 (or as he calls it, seven zero zero) but it is set 2 minutes slow. He grabs Rodney's ipad and starts playing with it while R and I muster up the strength to get out of bed.

7:10  I pour Levi a cup of milk and go get him up.

He tells me he has poo poo but he does not. I change his diaper and put some prescription ointment on his worst eczema spots behind his knees. I pick up his milk and a graham cracker in the kitchen and take him to our bed with Isaac and set him up with my ipad. This is their normal morning routine. Rodney takes a shower and I sit on the couch and enjoy a few minutes of the Today Show in peace.

7:25  Rodney comes to the living room to discuss dinner. We were planning on picking up dinner for us after the boys go to bed but now he suggests that he pick up something for all of us on his way own. That way he can work out when the boys go to bed. I tell him that sounds ok but we can talk about it more later. Around this time Rodney tells Isaac he has to take his ipad with him to work today and Isaac fusses and pouts. I can tell there's a good chance this will be a rough day. Sometime around now Levi joins me in the living room with his ipad.

7:45  Rodney leaves for work.

7:52  Isaac comes to the living room from my bedroom and I ask him what he was doing in there. He says he doesn't remember. I ask him again because that's not a good excuse and we discuss telling the truth vs. lying. He finally says he was just laying on the bed for a minute. I don't know that I completely believe him but I drop the issue.

8:00  Breakfast. Lots of picking at each other and squealing between the boys. They have finally reached the age where one picks on the other and keeps doing it because they know it bothers the other. This is frustrating for me because I know it will only get worse.

8:10  They are done eating, even though they each only had one muffin. They are picky about breakfast these days. I let Isaac turn on Miles From Tomorrowland while I finish my cereal. I then start of load of laundry (the boys' clothes) while they are occupied and fold the load of whites still in the dryer from yesterday.

8:35  Isaac suggests going upstairs to play. He found 2 diapers on the steps that I set there yesterday to take up the next time we went. He says, "Here's some diapers. I'll take them up in case Levi has a poopy." Levi says, "Poopy!" and laughs hysterically. It starts so much earlier with the second child. As soon as we get upstairs Isaac asks if he could play a game with me on my phone and pouts again when I say no. He eventually snaps out of it and we play Paw Patrol Adventure game, mega blocks, and trains. At one point he tells me, "Mommy, daddy said we're going to have Zaxby's for dinner tonight!" I thought we were still going to discuss it later but I guess it's a done deal now.

9:08  I call my mom for our morning chat. The boys enjoy talking to her for a few minutes until something happens and Levi starts crying hysterically. I think Isaac turned on the monster truck which was right beside Levi and it scared him. I think? Anyway, he was crying so loud even after comforting him, I went downstairs so I could actually hear what mom was saying. The boys followed me a minute later and Levi was fine on the steps until he suddenly started crying again. I'm pretty sure nothing happened this time. A few minutes into this Rodney calls so I hang up with mom and talk to him while he's on his way to a client's office. He tells me he sent Levi's birthday invitation file to the printer and it will be ready today but he won't be able to pick it up until tomorrow. He also mentions that he emailed our condo rental contract to the owner. Two things checked off his to-do list after only being at work for one hour.

Levi finally calms down and starts reading books in the floor of his room while Isaac drags out almost every stuffed animal that we own. We play with the stuffed black lab that we call Cash and I start talking to Isaac about Cash and telling him funny stories about him. I really miss him.

At some point Isaac walks to Levi's closet and says he's going to pick out a shirt for Levi. He pulls out Levi's "a little crabby" shirt and says, "How about his crab shirt?" Perfect for today!

9:30  Levi needs a diaper change so I get him dressed at the same time. I send Isaac to pick out clothes and get dressed while I get myself dressed and ready. I also use this time to put the kids laundry in the dryer and hang what needs to be hung. I'm really weird about not drying many of their clothes, especially Isaac's because I know it needs to be in good condition to be worn again in a couple of years. This takes a while, and I hear Isaac talking to Levi about "checking the animals", which means they are looking at the Animal Planet channel on our Roku. It has live feeds of several different animals. Isaac especially likes the kittens but I hear Levi ask to look at the rabbits. In a minute I hear Isaac say, "Here, Levi, you check the animals. I've got to use the potty." Haha!

9:50  We're finally ready to go outside. I push the boys on the swings for a while and Isaac decides he can do it by himself for a minute while I push Levi. I know he can swing by himself but he rarely tries and much prefers for me to do it for him. We also play with our stomp rocket for a while and Levi pushes his dump truck around before settling in at the water table. It's only 75 degrees and cloudy but it's very humid and sticky feeling.

10:36  Levi requests to come inside. Isaac turns on Bubble Guppies and I'm ok with it for now. Levi's shirt and shorts got completely soaked at the water table so I strip him down.

11:30  Lunch is ready. When I fix the boys macaroni it is usually plain pasta with a little bit of butter and sprinkled parmesan cheese, but Isaac has been asking for the blue box macaroni lately, so I surprise him with it today. They also eat strawberries (their favorite!) and Isaac eats some cherry tomatoes that we picked from the garden last night. I put his plate down, turn my head for a second, and when I look back the tomatoes are gone. He was so excited to eat them. I usually eat when Levi goes down for nap but since the macaroni is here today I eat a bowl. After I eat I start folding the clothes in the dryer while the boys finish. They run around chasing a bouncy ball for a few more minutes after eating while I clean up from lunch and put the clothes away.

12:05  Levi gets his second outfit of the day, some cream on his legs, and I lay him down for nap. Isaac gets some time with my ipad and I get to sit down and fully relax.

12:30  I tell Isaac it's time to play our "word game" and go to bed. For the past couple of months Isaac has liked to play Trivia Crack on my phone with me. He knows it's called Trivia Crack, but he calls it "the word game", I guess because there are lots of words that he can't read? Basically he spins the wheel and hits every button to advance the game but I answer the questions. We like to play against Rodney and he's excited when I tell him daddy played his turn and now it's our turn. I give him the choice to play on the couch or in bed and he chooses the couch. When we play our turn against Rodney and one other person he goes to bed without fighting too much. Isaac used to sleep once or twice a week but he hasn't actually slept in about 2 weeks now, so naps might be over for good. He still has to rest for a while, though. I turn on Gilmore Girls and browse Facebook and Instagram.

12:48  Isaac comes out for the first time. A piece broke off of the toy that he is resting with. I snap it back into place and send him back to bed.

1:05  Isaac comes out to use the restroom.

1:14  I go outside and check the mail. When I get back in, Isaac pops his head out and asks "What did the mail say?"

1:30  Isaac comes out to ask when he can get up, so I tell him he can read books and play in his room. A few minutes later he goes upstairs to get his big Buzz Lightyear.

1:50  I tell Isaac he can come out of his room now and be up.

1:57  We hear the garbage truck in our neighborhood so we go outside to wait for it. We wait and wait and wait and I start to wonder where it is. It finally comes and we wave to the men. Levi is still asleep when we come back in.

I found a recipe for chocolate chip zucchini bread last night that I really want to try, but upon further investigation I find I'm missing one egg. I need three and of course I only have two. Is it really worth dragging the boys out just for eggs? I'm considering it. If Rodney wasn't already stopping for dinner on his way home I would just ask him to do it, but I won't ask him to stop at 2 places. Hmm, I found a recipe for iced zucchini cookies that only calls for 2 eggs. I run my "dilemma" by Rodney and he very strongly encourages me to go out for some eggs. He loves zucchini bread. I give in and start double checking my supplies and ingredients and making note of anything else we might need.

2:30  Isaac gets tired of waiting for Levi to wake up and claims he is starving so I go ahead and give him a snack.

2:53  I check the monitor and see Levi waking up. I pour him a small bowl of crackers and go get him up. I can instantly tell that he's a little grumpy, which tends to happen when he takes a long nap like today (this is the longest nap he's taken in quite a while). I put him on the couch with the ipad, which is really all he wants after nap.

3:18  We leave for the grocery store. Pick up some eggs and a few other things. A trip to the grocery store is never complete without stopping and seeing the lobsters. We look for a minute then wave goodbye without fussing today.

4:00  Home. We go upstairs to play and Levi starts crying for I don't know what reason. Isaac doesn't like the crying and goes downstairs to play. Levi eventually calms down and plays at the train table for a while.

4:35 Levi says "down now", so we go downstairs. I start making my zucchini bread. Levi is still very whiny and I start to wonder if he feels bad. He cries for a few minutes before settling down on the couch. Very strange.

5:00  Rodney calls to say he's leaving work and picking up dinner right as my bread goes in the oven.

5:22  Rodney gets home with dinner. He goes to speak to Levi who is still on the couch and puts his hand on Levi's forehead before declaring him burning up. I check his temp and get readings between 101-103 with the ear thermometer. Crap. He really does feel bad. We give him some ibuprofen and eat our dinner quickly before cuddling up with our sick baby.

We suspect it's an ear infection since he just got over a (small) cold. We decide to take him to the doctor tomorrow even if his fever is gone, just for peace of mind to get his ears checked.

5:52  The timer goes off for the bread. One loaf is ready but the other still needs more time (slightly different loaf pans) so I give it 5 more minutes but it's still not ready. At this point Levi is acting a little better and both boys are playing ipad on the couch.

6:05  Rodney asks me if both loaves are out of the oven and I jump up to check the remaining loaf. I totally forgot about it. It's finally ready to come out.

6:30  Bath time. Levi is acting better but still has a fever so we decide to do a slightly cooler bath than normal. They're having a great time. Until...

6:45  I'm sitting in the floor talking and playing and I see it as soon as it happens...Levi makes the poop face. I instantly tell him no and jump up to get his towel and get him out. In the time it takes to do that he poops. Isaac jumps out and I get Levi dried off and dressed, then supervise Isaac getting dressed while Rodney takes care of the bathtub. It shouldn't and doesn't really surprise me. I usually change a dirty diaper right before bath and it didn't happen tonight. However, this is maybe the third time he has pooped in the tub in almost 2 years.

After bath the boys jump around on Isaac's bed for a few minutes like always and get mad when I tell them it's time to stop. I fear that Levi will not do well when we move him to a regular bed because he thinks beds are for jumping, not sleeping.

7:00  I brush Levi's teeth and he asks for daddy to put him to bed. I supervise the brushing of Isaac's teeth, then he cleans up his toys and we go to his bed and plays a few rounds of Trivia Crack on my phone. After that we talk and take silly pictures.

7:24  I leave Isaac's room and sit on the couch for a few minutes. I need to take a shower but I also need to shave my legs, a task that is very difficult in our tiny shower, so I opt for a quick bath. Rodney is in the garage running on the treadmill and takes a shower while I'm taking a bath.

8:00  We watch Big Brother in bed.

9:00  We move to the couch where Rodney starts a video game and I work on this post for a while in between checking facebook and other things. I put my bread away and sample a bite. Very tasty!

10:07  Time for me to go back to the bedroom and wind down with Gilmore Girls.

11:04  My show is over and I start another one because I don't want to go to sleep yet, even though I'm tired. I'm dozing off within 2 minutes so it's lights out.

2:51 am  Levi is fussing over the monitor. He wants to be sleeping, curled up in a ball with his paci and blankie, but he keeps fussing and moaning. I prepare a syringe of tylenol and take it to this room with the ear thermometer. I put my hand on his back and rub it and it seems to settle him a little, but he's shaking with chills and burning up. I pick him up and carry him to the glider where he settles in against my chest and shoulder. Check his temperature and it reads 102.5, so I sit him up and attempt to squeeze the medicine in his mouth in the dark. Most of it goes in. We sit and cuddle like this for about 10 minutes before he sits up, points to his crib, and says "bed". I said, "You want me to put you in your bed?" and he says "uh huh". Ok then. I lay him down and walk out and we never hear from him again.


He's usually up between 6 and 6:30 but today I had to wake him up at 7:05 so we could get out the door to sick clinic at the pediatrician's office.

Isaac went to work with Rodney while I took Levi. His right ear looked "perfectly fine" but his left ear was "extremely red". Huge sad face. Our doc also said that standard protocol is 2 ear infections after tubes have come out sends you back to the ENT. I told her we already have a follow-up scheduled with the ENT in August and she said definitely keep that. I have a feeling we'll be getting another set of tubes, it's just a waiting game. The sooner, the better, in my opinion. They were expensive but SO worth it!

Levi has his first dose of antibiotics in him and is on round-the-clock pain/fever meds for now. Fingers crossed we kick this infection soon!