A record of our days...in somewhat painful detail

This truly is just a record of what our days are like. It's probably more for me than anything else. I have found that I look back on old blog postings to help me remember things about life with Eden and Sebastien, so I can only assume that at some point I will wonder: "How did things go when Violet was 7 weeks old?" This is how.

Violet is beginning to settle into her "EASY" routine (See: Secrets of the Baby Whisperer, referenced when Eden and Sebastien were newborns as well.)

Here's a typical day in my house: (And, the times listed are "for example" times; it is not the same every day...Yet.)

Violet wakes up around 5:00am to eat. I can feed her and get her back to sleep and get myself back into bed by around 6:00am. (Usually.) Adam leaves for work before 6:30, so I can often get a good half-hour nap in before Sebastien and Eden start to wake up, which is any time between 6:30 and 7:30. I get them up and fed before Violet wakes again at 8:00 or 8:30, wanting to eat. She stays awake at that point for about an hour, then falls back to sleep for a morning nap. This is fairly good timing, because generally around that time, my 2-year-olds are getting restless and are tired of waiting for Mommy's attention. I get some good play time in with Sebastien and Eden while Violet sleeps.

Violet eats roughly every 3 hours, so she wakes again 3 hrs after her last feeding. I can usually feed her before feeding Eden and Sebastien, who usually eat around noon. I utilize all tools to keep Violet happy while I make lunch: the Baby Bjorn (her favorite, but this often lulls her to sleep), the bouncy seat, the swing, the play mat.

Here comes the tricky part. Eden and Sebastien's nap is their highest maintenance time of the day. Though it has gotten markedly better in the past week or so, as I have employed a new strategy (to be discussed in a post all its own.) Often I have help at this time of day so that I don't have to hold Violet while trying to get the twins to sleep. Sometimes Violet is sleeping already, so that works out when it happens. However, there have been times that I have had her in my arms while trying to create a peaceful and sleepy environment for Sebastien and Eden... as you can imagine a squirmy (and usually sleepy by this time) newborn is a bit distracting for them.

Once in a while... every now and then... a magical thing happens. Eden and Sebastien sleep. AND Violet sleeps. At. The. Same. Time. When it happens, I feel like mother of the year. But it has so very little to do with me. Just timing of Violet's feedings, hitting the twins' sleep window at the right time, and the moons being aligned with just the right planets or something.

The bigger kids sleep for around 2 hours. Violet's sleep varies. Sometimes she wakes up to eat right on schedule and sometimes she wants a really long afternoon nap and sleeps through her feeding time.

Lucky for me, Adam comes home around 4:15, and we all breathe a sigh of relief. Often he takes Sebastien and Eden out of the house somewhere, or we all go somewhere together.

Dinner is around 5:30; but with Adam home, it is not the juggling act that lunch time is. Sebastien and Eden go to bed around 7:30. Adam and I take turns putting them to bed, which I really enjoy. Violet tends to want to eat around 8pm, and is asleep any time between 8:45 and 9:30. Since my last post, she has started going 9 hour stretches, and one time almost 10 hours without eating. She sleeps until at least 4:00am, often later.

And then it starts all over again.

Having a newborn in the house again has been very fun. It has created some challenges for sure, but snuggling a little baby really makes up for all those challenges. Not to mention how sweet it is that Eden just wants to smother her sister in kisses, and mimics many of the things we say to her, "You are so cute, Violet" or "Hey smiley!" And Sebastien often just comes up and notes her tiny features, "Tiny toes!" and "Tiny fingers" or simply offers a "Hello Violet" as he passes by.