Eventually I would like to start waking up about an hour before the kids to have some slow-paced time to myself...kind of along these lines:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ya5ICVKUERg&mode=related&search=
But I'm not a morning person and I'm just not there yet. Actually, that's pretty much the opposite of how things are right now-- but that's ok. I know there will be plenty of time for Edvard Grieg at another time in my life. And I'm guessing that when that time comes I'll be wishing I could wake up and discuss the pros and cons of Hello Kitty versus bumblebee undies with Kiera or give Luke zerberks on his bellybutton.
Kiera usually wakes up around 7am after about twelve solid, uninterrupted hours of sleep in her cozy bedroom. She walks to the gate at her door and calls down to me so that I can come unlock it for her.
We walk down the stairs quietly-- she is aware of the fact that Luke is still asleep and we whisper to each other in the mornings. I'm constantly being surprised by her consideration for him-- I think it's remarkable considering her age and the fact that he pulls her hair all the time.
Right away we pull off her pink princess Pull-up, she puts on undies and gets dressed if it's a school day. If it's a non-school day she stays in her pjs a bit longer and then selects either her princess dress, one of her tutus or her Tinkerbell outfit. More often than not she has worn one of these outfits to bed the night before. This makes getting ready easy. If the weather is cold it's then up to me to be creative with suggesting layers to put on over or under her outfit of choice so she won't be freezing all day. This usually involves a discussion about the fact that ballerinas wear stockings and even long sleeves sometimes when they warm up before their performances. They need to keep their muscles warm. Around December (!) she gave up long sleeves completely and it took me a week or two to realize it was because none of the ballerinas she saw in books or on YouTube ever had on long sleeves and princesses usually don't either.
Then Kiera's ready for her daily 30 minutes of boob tube. And she always wants Dora. No other cartoon will do. And she almost always comments about Swiper's purple boat during the intro. "Mom, that boat i' for Swiper!" She repeats this until I acknowledge that I have heard her.
'Min' is to Dora the Explorer as mint juleps are to the Kentucky Derby. 'Min' is the banana-oatmeal-honey-spinach-flaxseed breakfast shake that Kiera loves. It's the only thing she has had for breakfast since she was approximately a year old and could eat honey. I can count on two hands the number of times in the past two years she hasn't had min and it's usually been because we ran out of milk. David and I love that it's quick to make and so packed with nutrition- including an entire banana and a large handful of spinach leaves!
Once Kiera is situated I know it's only a matter of time before Luke starts chatting in his Pack n Play so I usually try to eat, shower, get dressed and make Kiera's lunch for school in about a minute and thirty seconds before he wakes up or right as he's waking up. If I try to take care of all those important things with him up and once Kiera's show is over it will definitely take about thirty times as long.
Luke's usually up around 7:30ish. He still wakes up to eat a couple of times at night but it's remarkable that he sleeps as well as he does. He can sleep through the cats crunching food, scratching in their litter boxes, having huge loud fights (usually because Julio is following Peanut around to get a rise out of her), the cats occasionally using the sides of his Pack n Play as a scratching post, Ella's long toenails clicking on the wood floors and the incredibly loud sound of David's footsteps when he wakes up early to go to work. He tries to be as quiet as possible but I don't think people with size 14 feet can tiptoe. Can you picture him tiptoeing? It makes me laugh ;)
Once Luke starts cooing Kiera's often the first to hear him and she runs in (loud footsteps from her big feet as well) and jumps into his Pack n Play with him. This usually buys me enough time to comb my hair and finish getting ready because they play for a little bit and she talks baby talk to him. ("Good morning wittle guy...Wittle Wukie Pie...") No one's sure where this came from because neither Dave nor I talk baby talk to our babies. It's cute.
Right around when I'm set to go Luke starts to get overwhelmed by the intense showing of emotion and smothering so early in the morning and lets me know he wants to get out and be free.
Then the kids play for a little bit and we eventually get out the door. If it's warm we walk to school with Ella and tie her to the stroller while we walk Kiera to her classroom. She usually runs down the hallway to get to her room, gives us both hugs and kisses (smothering Luke's face just a tad bit) and then doesn't look back.
By this time, little Luke is worn out and ready for his morning nap.
Stay tuned for 'A Typical Afternoon These Days...'
