Sharing a Room

I can't believe that it's almost Christmas again. It felt like we just had Christmas not too long ago. It was last Thanksgiving when we informed family of Elliot's future arrival and that didn't seem so long ago. I feel like my 30's is going to flash by and before I know it, I'll be turning 40.

Everyday seems to slip by so fast and on most days, my husband and I just feel like we're run ragged from it all. Between getting the kids to daycare, running errands, trying to get as much billable work done as I can, pumping (which takes 1 1/2 hours of my day), walking the dog, and making dinner before picking up the kids, I rarely have time to do any leisure activity (i.e., exercise). Some days, I think to myself, "I'll leave perusing for Christmas gifts online for after dinner, or I'll leave returning personal emails for after dinner." Ha! That almost never happens. As soon as I pick up the kids, the snow ball effect happens. It's usually dinner with Scarlett (husband is still at work on most weekdays) while Elliot entertains himself in the swing (if he's not tired and crying, which is half of the time), clean up, put on her Dora TV show, put Elliot down for his evening nap and feed him while husband gives Scarlett her bath and her bedtime routine. When Scarlett goes down, Elliot is usually up from his 1/2 hour nap and so husband and I take turns taking a shower, one of us does the dishes, entertain Elliot for a short while, then it's Elliot's last feed of the day. At that point, my husband gives him the bottle, while I pump. Then he puts Elliot down and we scramble to get in bed.

In the middle of the night, it's like a 2-pronged attack from the two kids. Right before Thanksgiving, Scarlett had been waking up around midnight or 2am, while Elliot had been waking up around midnight, 2, 3, 4, or 5am. They don't both wake up at the same time of course. It's like Army boot camp hazing where they wake you at all different hours and see if you can function well. Luckily, Scarlett hasn't been waking up in the middle of the night recently.

The Monday after Thanksgiving, we moved Elliot into his crib in Scarlett's bedroom. That first night worked beautifully. Hubby was out for a business dinner and somehow, I was able to put Elliot in his crib without him waking up or Scarlett waking up. By the time hubby got home, both kids were asleep. Unfortunately, it all went downhill from there. Once Scarlett found out that her brother finally moved into her room, she started staying up after her bedtime waiting for him. Her bedtime is at 8pm while Elliot doesn't usually go down for the night until sometime between 9:30-10ish. So by the time we put Elliot down, she's still awake, which leads to waking Elliot up if he's asleep, or vice versa, if Scarlett, on the rare occasions, falls asleep first. With the start of winter and Elliot being in daycare, he's been sick and has been sleeping in our bed in the last couple of nights. I always find it amusing that I know exactly when our newspaper gets delivered (4:20am, 5:10am,...). Not because I'm a light sleeper but because I'm awake sitting on the glider chair with Elliot in the early morning. It's been a month since Elliot moved into Scarlett's room and I'm still waiting for them to get used to it and not disturb each other's sleep (and our sleep).

Continuing the Christmas Myth

This year's Christmas did not kick off well. I bought some books for Elliot and Scarlett for Christmas and didn't have the chance to wrap it. So I put them in my office thinking that Scarlett won't see it. Well, the other day, she went in there with her dad and happen to spot them. So the next morning she asked to look at them. I had to steer her away and talk her out of it. So I wrapped them while she was at preschool and set them under the Christmas tree but later, I realized that she recognizes the Christmas wrapping paper, which resides in her closet. So I thought for sure she knew that those presents were from me and not Santa.

This morning, on our drive to preschool/daycare, she asked, "mama, how is Santa going to come to our house?"
"Through the chimney," I said.
"But we don't have a chimney," she said.
(Hmm, she's too sharp...) "You're right, we don't have a chimney. Maybe I'll ask Santa."
So she said, "Maybe he will come through the door to our living room."
"Well, how would he get through the door? Maybe I can give him a key," I suggested.

I guess she still believes in Santa...