I keep starting a post and then abandoning it because the tone is wrong or the content is off or… basically because it doesn’t fit what my ever-helpful subconscious has defined as a good blog post! As a result, the last few months have whizzed by with much half-written but little finished.
So I thought I’d do a quick stream-of-consciousness update on where we are RN, because everything changes so rapidly. And then if I don’t post again for another 6 months, you’ll know why!
Play KX is our happy place at the moment
Age of babies: just turned 11 months. Nearly one! 🌟
Sleep: still horrendous. A good night is less than 2 screaming sessions per baby between midnight and 6am. A bad night is hourly wake-ups (not uncommon). However we HAVE cracked the bedtime routine and it’s now rare they wake up between 8pm and 11pm now. Small victories!
Breastfeeding: 2-3 hourly if I’m there. Cope fine when I’m not there.
Food: 3 meals per day with a couple of snacks. We wound up doing pretty pure Baby Led Weaning and (apart from the mess obv) it’s been brilliant. They eat most things we eat, and we’ve not had to spoon-feed them at all. Meaning we’ve had our hands free to enjoy our own food! Again, small victories!
Naps: we aim for 2 naps per day (short morning one and long one after lunch) but it’s a battle. They are not synchronised and L in particular has started fighting sleep in the buggy. I continuously, guiltily, wearily feel that if I could “nail the naps” then the nighttime sleep would follow. But on the days that they DO nap to schedule… they still do not sleep overnight. FFS.
Occasionally they fall asleep in a completely inappropriate place but they’re both out so I leave them there and have a cup of tea
Locomotion: both have been crawling for a couple of months and now are cruising round furniture. A can stand balanced on her own. L can climb stairs. They continue to practice their own thing whilst also watching each other’s progress with interest.
Unpacking drawers is a coveted 5* activity in our house
Chat: we have a household of smiling, babbling and warbling babies who are quick to giggle; it’s such a lovely age.
What’s in the bag: 2x bibs, 2x muslins, box of snacks, teething toy, 2x nappies, cheeky wipes.
Are we coping? We are SO tired. They are definitely days we pass the baton of childcare to each other without another word. I miss many aspects of my old life: sleep, spontaneity, seeing friends without it being a military-operation style ballache… but it’s definitely getting easier, we’ve had some gorgeous sunny days recently, and the babies are hurtling towards toddlerdom so I’m trying not to wish this time away.
#dreamteam 😉
What would help? Free childcare! Ha. But seriously: every time I get a couple of hours to myself, I feel so rejuvenated. The baby-wrangling is intensely busy during the day, with rarely time to stop and think about anything, so my brain is cluttered with half-finished thoughts and guiltily abandoned to-do lists. Carving any time out of the day to concentrate on other things is a tall order. But… maybe we’re just not supposed to concentrate on other things right now. C’est la vie!
When Lightning Strikes Twice 