Mike and I are going on my first ever cruise next week! And we have his sister and brother-in-law to thank for taking care of the three musketeers while we're away. What an amazing gift! They're either extremely generous, big hearted, and courageous, or just crazy. Either way, I can't wait to have four uninterrupted nights of sleep, four days of no wiping of bottoms, noses, spills, or tears. FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!!! Isa asked for instructions and preferences the kids have, so look out, sis, here is a little slice of life in the Collazling world.
6:00-7:00 AM Xavier wakes for first feeding (5 oz. water+2.5 scoops of formula+0.3 mL gas drops) Try burping at the halfway point and again at the end. Wait for Homer Simpson-esque belch before proceeding to next step. We always change him right after a feeding or when our noses let us know that an unscheduled change is necessary. Smile at him. He'll grin a big toothless grin back at you. Swaddle him up and put him back down with the white noise machine for a bit more sleep if he woke at 6. If he woke at 7, he might like to stay up a bit and party with the big kids before going back down for a nap. Repeat feedings every three hours. Repeat smiles as often as you need a lift! I take them medicinally.
7:00-8:00 The aforementioned big kids will wake up, possibly chanting, "Mommy, mommy, mommy," in a strange, dirge-like tone. They'll need diaper/pull-ups removed and replaced with fresh dipaer/panties. Please feed these children breakfast or these sweet cherubs will quickly transform into ravenous beasts whose roars are worse than any T-Rex. These little omnivores prefer frozen waffles or pancakes, oatmeal, or cereal with half a banana or some sort of fruit. Our rule is no toys at the table, but their fingers are characters all their own. Please allow them to keep their fingers although it may mean that breakfast turns into dinner theater.
8:30ish Dress the cuties in whatever they'll wear. Xavier, of course will wear anything you put him in, but zippy sleepers seem to make him happiest. Mikey's pretty agreeable, but if you find that you're out of clean Lightning McQueen socks, there might be trouble. We've got three pairs, and one set that he might find acceptable that look like a racing flag. Celia will let you know what she wants to wear, and the choices will vary depending on whether you're dealing with Celia (who is sometimes emotional, prefers yellow, and wears pants or shorts with shirts). Curly is her alter ego who is always charming, obedient, and delightful. She prefers pink (although wears the purple sunglasses, not the pink ones) and really likes dresses. I'll send options for both girls. Both divas like to choose bows, which often don't match their clothes in the least. Just go with it.
Wow, it's only 8:30, and I'm exhausted typing this. Godspeed, Isa and Mark! Rest up before next week!
Between 8:30 and 11:30, we often run errrands, play around the house, watch one T.V. show. They currently prefer "Max and Ruby" on Nick Jr. or "Krypto the Superdog" on Boomerang. These monkeys are spoiled rotten by their overly indulgent mother who keeps these shows on the DVR and can pull them up at a moment's notice. In emergency situations, they're also happy with "Sponge Bob," which seems to be on some channel at all hours of the day. And, they associate Elijah with "Sponge Bob" since they've watched it with him at your house before, so anything Elijah thinks is cool, they'll be down with. He could put on C-Span and say it's cool, and they'd watch it with him all day.
Favorite types of play currently involve a lot of pretending and they'll make up their own games as they go. You might want to keep a cheat sheet of pseudonyms handy to keep up. As I've mentioned, Celia is often Curly. She has also renamed every member of the family. Mikey is sometimes known as Moreo, who must be named to rhyme with his Daddy Oreo. Mommy is Flower (aww, sweet, right?) And my favorite is Xavier's nickname: Orange Peach Apple. I guess one sweet fruit wasn't sufficient to represent just how adorable this baby is! Moreo and Curly are sometimes found in closets, scratch that, I mean in their secret agent hideout AKA any walk-in closet. Your walk-in closet is the size of their room though, so they may choose a smaller space. If you find half of your wardrobe spilled all over the closet floor, you have to understand, it was all in the name of rescuing someone in need of help.
Curly and Moreo are calling me to go help swing them now. I'll fill you in on lunch, time-outs, the dangers of You Tube videos about lightning and Google images of scars, and teach you important songs like "Put Your Milk in the Frigalator."
Have I told you lately that you're the bravest people on the planet?! You'll have earned your next vacation and then some after these four days.
No comments:
Post a Comment