The (military?) routine

Something clicked with Levi yesterday. He had a very talkative day. As soon as I got home, he was saying “I!” “I!” for “Hi”. Then he was saying at the highchair at dinner when he was done “Momma – I done” and then “Get down.” He also looked at the fish tank and said “fish” many times. I said “Levi, let’s go downstairs and play with toys.” He heads to the gate – saying “toys!” and rejoicing. (we LOVE the new playroom!) He also when we read a book, said “rarh” a whole bunch when he saw a tiger. Very very cute. Eric and I speculated on why all the sudden, he had so many words and communication. We think he has crossed out of a pain threshold he’d been dealing with with his teething. He now has one set of front upper and lower molars that have surfaced. The top ones are not all the way out yet, but at least have begun to poke through. While getting ready this morning, he wanted Kaylee’s toothpaste, and was gesturing with me not seeing what it was he wanted. Then he said “Ayee!”

Kaylee is getting to be a bigger girl -- has been not crying and fussing so much when I need to wash her hair, and now sometimes actually does it by herself. A couple tattoos here and there helped that effort…maybe that is what I have to do with teeth brushing now – so I don’t have to hold her head while she screams and fights to get away. Kaylee is getting a bit easier to get ready in the morning, she has started sometimes saying to me, “You pick it out and I’ll put it on.” Music to my ears! We have been trying to pick out our clothes, including mine, the night before to make the mornings go smoother. Knowing where everything is is half the battle, so at the last minute we’re not saying, “Where’s Levi’s other boot?” It’s tougher with all the bundling required at winter, probably adds a good 5-10 minutes to the morning routine. I have also been trying out preparing a menu and sticking to it, so that I know what we are making for dinner and pulling out what we need to defrost the night before – you can only live through about a year of some prepackaged dinners before you burn out on them it turns out. (just kidding, they were not ALL prepackaged…just SOME of them! ) It’s been very nice and Eric has been very happy with the new system. We’re hoping to also at the same time reduce the amount of wasted food out of the refrigerator and do leftover nights when necessary. We are trying to save money after Christmas to pay the bills – Good news I was able to increase my hours to 36 now since things are a bit smoother at home after Levi’s over 1 year and my firm now has more work.

Here’s to increased sanity at our house in 2012! Cheers!