Today was the first day since all the help left and Michael returned to work. My mom stayed with us a few days before Molly's arrival and for over a week after. Words cannot describe what a help to me she and Poppi were. They took care of all the boy-wrangling details, from feeding, to bathing, to entertaining, to bedtime and everything in between. Including meals for the grown-ups too.
One of the greatest gifts my mom left was teaching Michael how to dress himself! I have been trying to encourage this for a long time, but he always whines at me and it ends up being less of a hassle just to do it myself. But once Grammy came, all of a sudden it's a "big boy" thing to do and it has just been so wonderful to not worry about this detail of his day, especially after he uses the toilet.
After Grammy left, Michael's mom came, and was accompanied by Michael's sister Tracee for a few days. Again, all the tasks involving the boys were handled by them so I could attend to Molly and continue to recuperate. Also, having out-of-town company is way better than boring ol' Mom.
The boys have been in heaven for about three weeks with all the doting they've received from some of their favorite people.
But today, our "new" routine began which consists of normal life. Daddy at work, Mommy wrangling the three kids.
Honestly, I've been looking forward to this day and just preparing for it to be either a) chaos b) stressful and/or exhausting or c) a day of popping in movies all day long to ease the transition.
It turns out, it was none of those three things. In fact, today really resembled a very, very good version of our "normal" days before Molly came.
Though getting Molly's mid-morning nap to "stick" took more effort than I would have liked, once she was down, the boys and I set out to make some banana muffins.
Cooking with toddlers really involves relinquishing control of the process and just enjoying the time spent. In fact, whereas I normally like to bake quickly in order to get the process over with (and enjoy the goods!), cooking as an activity really works best when it is not rushed. The kids enjoy taking the time, this is a different activity for them, and it is a way to keep them occupied.
So after helping me measure and dump ingredients into the bowl, the boys mashed bananas, mixed everything together, and spooned the batter in the muffin pan.
I was actually very impressed with how careful they were, how excited they were to be doing it, and how invested they became in every step of the process.
Especially the eating part of the process. Michael here is seen taking a big sniff after they came out of the oven.
Later in the afternoon, we went for a walk. Not pictured in the photos is Molly strapped to my chest via a baby carrier (totally love that thing!)
Michael wanted to show Matthew personally where this incredible fountain was in the complex next door.
The fountain next door is a huge, pool-like structure that extends throughout the middle of the complex. To me, it seems like a MASSIVE liability to have SO MUCH unprotected water (that actually is about 8 inches deep) in a complex where a child could wander into it. When I bought a little wading pool to fill with sand, it came plastered with warnings about how easily kids can drown in even an inch of water and ALWAYS empty the pool when not in use...it seems like it wouldn't be that difficult for a little one (probably someone younger than either of the boys) to toddle out of the apartment and into the pool but since I don't live there, it's not really something I have to worry about.
My task for the day was just to make sure they didn't topple in head first.
I know not all days will be like this, but today was a great day. The kids got out and got exercise, there were no tantrums, we did a fun project, I got individual playtime with each kid....Yeah, today was an awesome day. Tomorrow may be crazy, chaotic, stressful or riddled with movies....but today, I'll take the win!
