My day so far ... (aka Why I Hate Winter)
In case you're wondering what I do all day, here with my two kids and tons of free time, here is a detailed account of our outing this morning ...
11 am - Baby Nathan wakes up from nap, time to get the show on the road.
11:05-11:15 - Feed Nathan while Mela practices throwing (plastic) eggs across the room.
11:15 - Nathan fed. Put winter boots on Mela. Blow everyone's noses.
11:20 - Nathan poops, change Nathan while Mela clomps around house in boots, trying to leave "footprints."
11:25 - Put Nathan in bumbo chair, run upstairs and get sweaters for me and Mela. Worry the whole time that Mela is throwing (plastic) eggs at Nathan.
11:30 - Put sweater on Mela. Smell something rotten and it's not the eggs. Change Mela's diaper, with boots still on. Nathan starts to fuss.
11:38 - Get Mela's coat on. Blow everyone's noses. Get Nathan out of seat and onto floor with toys. Put on Mela's hat. Spend five minutes trying to get her d-mn thumbs in the d-mn mittens without saying d-mn in front of toddler.
11:50 - Put on my own coat and boots. Go to front porch, unlock stroller and grab foot muff. Bring inside. Spend stupid amount of time trying zip warm liner into muff.
11:59: - Take muff outside and secure in stroller. Grab Mela (now eating orange peel off the floor and declaring it, "Mmmm!"), buckle her in stroller, attach rain cover over stroller to cut the wind and go back inside.
12:05 - Grab Nathan. Put in borrowed snowsuit (much easier than previous snowsuit - hooray!). Nathan cries the entire time for no good reason. Grab baby carrier and spend 5 minutes struggling with wild octopus that is baby carrier with mad baby inside. Finally get baby secure, grab windbreaker and run out the door.
12:10 - Proclaim house-leaving-victory and start down the street, navigating awesome jogging stroller over small glaciers with ease. Baby finally stops crying and gasps at mouthfuls of cold air. Get 1/2 block before noticing own lack of hat and mittens as well as significant wind chill.
12:15 - Return to house. Spend precious seconds rummaging through jumble of mismatched single gloves while first-born child freezes in cold alone outside. Finally find stained mitts and ugly toque and race out the door. Check that Mela's mittens are still in place. Kick-start stroller and we're off again.
12:17 - After five steps, realize that Nathan is not actually wearing mittens and new snowsuit does not have covered hands. Refuse to go back into house. Grab ends of snowsuit sleeves and wrench upwards, to create extra material between little baby fingers and bitter wind. Fold over and tuck arms inside carrier. Ignore sweat trickling down own neck and back and continue pushing stroller.
12:30 - Arrive at destination (3 and a half blocks away) and notice that in that time, Mela has somehow managed to remove both her mittens and throw them out of the stroller, despite wrist attachments and plastic shield over the stroller. Her hands are seriously chilled. Sternly rebuke toddler while feeling crappy for not checking her along the way. Grab diaper bag (we left it at the drop-in centre last week while we were trying to get out the door - ha ha) and turn around to go home.
12:35 - Walk home, finding both mittens in snowbanks along the way. Briefly look up at the beautiful, sunny sky and take a gulp of lung-chilling, crisp fresh air. Try to enjoy moment.
12:40 - Get everyone in the door. Take boots off Mela, at which point she dissolves into tears. Figure out that stern rebuke was maybe a bit too much for tired little toddler with bad cold. Offer hugs and kisses. Grab Nathan to remove snowsuit and, while congratulating self on innovate hand-guard technique, notice bright red marks blooming all over delicate cheeks (wind burn from the cold??). Offer hugs and kisses. Feel like worst mother ever.
12:50 - Collapse on sofa and decide that we are never, EVER going to leave the house again.
Seriously, is nice weather really three months away?!!
Here are some pics:
The sickies resting on the couch (the only time I get snuggles!):
Mela changing dolly diapers:
... and doing tummy time:
Nathan tries out Mela's crib and finds it amusing (for a short while):
Apparently, I said something funny:
After consuming nothing more nutritious than a cracker for days, Mela suddenly decides that Nathan's pureed sweet potato is delicious and demands on eating half the jar. They already share the same cold anyway and look at how intently Nathan watches her:
Mela tries to give thumbs up (to show she's feeling better) but is too busy eating fruit:
Senor Nathan and his poor red cheeks:
There's nothing in the world like a 5 month old baby for cuteness:
And finally, here's Mela, hard at ringing in the sales (maybe another accountant in the family??):
11 am - Baby Nathan wakes up from nap, time to get the show on the road.
11:05-11:15 - Feed Nathan while Mela practices throwing (plastic) eggs across the room.
11:15 - Nathan fed. Put winter boots on Mela. Blow everyone's noses.
11:20 - Nathan poops, change Nathan while Mela clomps around house in boots, trying to leave "footprints."
11:25 - Put Nathan in bumbo chair, run upstairs and get sweaters for me and Mela. Worry the whole time that Mela is throwing (plastic) eggs at Nathan.
11:30 - Put sweater on Mela. Smell something rotten and it's not the eggs. Change Mela's diaper, with boots still on. Nathan starts to fuss.
11:38 - Get Mela's coat on. Blow everyone's noses. Get Nathan out of seat and onto floor with toys. Put on Mela's hat. Spend five minutes trying to get her d-mn thumbs in the d-mn mittens without saying d-mn in front of toddler.
11:50 - Put on my own coat and boots. Go to front porch, unlock stroller and grab foot muff. Bring inside. Spend stupid amount of time trying zip warm liner into muff.
11:59: - Take muff outside and secure in stroller. Grab Mela (now eating orange peel off the floor and declaring it, "Mmmm!"), buckle her in stroller, attach rain cover over stroller to cut the wind and go back inside.
12:05 - Grab Nathan. Put in borrowed snowsuit (much easier than previous snowsuit - hooray!). Nathan cries the entire time for no good reason. Grab baby carrier and spend 5 minutes struggling with wild octopus that is baby carrier with mad baby inside. Finally get baby secure, grab windbreaker and run out the door.
12:10 - Proclaim house-leaving-victory and start down the street, navigating awesome jogging stroller over small glaciers with ease. Baby finally stops crying and gasps at mouthfuls of cold air. Get 1/2 block before noticing own lack of hat and mittens as well as significant wind chill.
12:15 - Return to house. Spend precious seconds rummaging through jumble of mismatched single gloves while first-born child freezes in cold alone outside. Finally find stained mitts and ugly toque and race out the door. Check that Mela's mittens are still in place. Kick-start stroller and we're off again.
12:17 - After five steps, realize that Nathan is not actually wearing mittens and new snowsuit does not have covered hands. Refuse to go back into house. Grab ends of snowsuit sleeves and wrench upwards, to create extra material between little baby fingers and bitter wind. Fold over and tuck arms inside carrier. Ignore sweat trickling down own neck and back and continue pushing stroller.
12:30 - Arrive at destination (3 and a half blocks away) and notice that in that time, Mela has somehow managed to remove both her mittens and throw them out of the stroller, despite wrist attachments and plastic shield over the stroller. Her hands are seriously chilled. Sternly rebuke toddler while feeling crappy for not checking her along the way. Grab diaper bag (we left it at the drop-in centre last week while we were trying to get out the door - ha ha) and turn around to go home.
12:35 - Walk home, finding both mittens in snowbanks along the way. Briefly look up at the beautiful, sunny sky and take a gulp of lung-chilling, crisp fresh air. Try to enjoy moment.
12:40 - Get everyone in the door. Take boots off Mela, at which point she dissolves into tears. Figure out that stern rebuke was maybe a bit too much for tired little toddler with bad cold. Offer hugs and kisses. Grab Nathan to remove snowsuit and, while congratulating self on innovate hand-guard technique, notice bright red marks blooming all over delicate cheeks (wind burn from the cold??). Offer hugs and kisses. Feel like worst mother ever.
12:50 - Collapse on sofa and decide that we are never, EVER going to leave the house again.
Seriously, is nice weather really three months away?!!
Here are some pics:
The sickies resting on the couch (the only time I get snuggles!):
Mela changing dolly diapers:
... and doing tummy time:
Nathan tries out Mela's crib and finds it amusing (for a short while):
Apparently, I said something funny:
After consuming nothing more nutritious than a cracker for days, Mela suddenly decides that Nathan's pureed sweet potato is delicious and demands on eating half the jar. They already share the same cold anyway and look at how intently Nathan watches her:
Mela tries to give thumbs up (to show she's feeling better) but is too busy eating fruit:
Senor Nathan and his poor red cheeks:
There's nothing in the world like a 5 month old baby for cuteness:
And finally, here's Mela, hard at ringing in the sales (maybe another accountant in the family??):
Comments
I'm so glad there's no snow here.
But yes, I bundled Jenny up last weekend and realized it was zero degrees outside and I didn't even have a coat on.