Oh my aching back

I hate that my blogging has slowed down so much. I always swore I wouldn't let that happen when the baby came, yet here I am. And it's not because I'm frazzled or sleep deprived or busy. It's because I honestly have nothing of interest to talk about. I tend to deal with the same issues over and over - playground crap, constant vigilance required by toddlers, scrambling to keep this child entertained every day. Many days (not today, thankfully, but yesterday for sure) I spend a portion of the day with this mantra in my head: IhatethisIhatethisIhatethis, but then once both kids are in bed and I'm sitting in the living room reflecting, I think, "we had a pretty good day today." Go figure!

Theo's amazing sleep continues. I give him his last feed from 6-6:30, then swaddle him up and put him to bed. He usually fusses around for about a half hour and I have to keep going in to replace his pacifier, but then he'll sleep until anywhere from 11 pm until as late as 3 am! This also gives me the added bonus of having time to pump in the evenings for babysitter bottles. It's only three more pounds until he's physically capable of sleeping straight through (he's 11 lbs now) - which would be so awesome! After suffering through constant wake ups all night with B for a whole year, I am determined to shorten that considerably with T. I'm already sleeping much better with Theo in his crib. Again, when you know better, you do better!

I hired my handyman for a day of random jobs yesterday. I really couldn't afford it because right now is when I have the least amount of money I have all year - but certain things just had to be fixed, like a leaking outside faucet that was probably costing me a fortune in wasted water (and I hate water waste!). I invested in a portable a/c unit for the playroom so I can actually use it this summer, and my sister can be comfortable when she visits. We installed a cheap baby gate on the stairs leading up to the pool in an effort to make a safe outdoor space for B, but of course he scaled it within seconds...in another couple of months I'll have him back to make a real gate. In the meantime - constant vigilance! If I want to use that space this summer so I can settle down and not have to be on the run all the time, I need to make it useable. B actually played in the improvised sand box I made for him last year for more than five minutes, so I'm hopeful that maybe, just maybe, we can hang out at home more.

I am still counting down the days until B starts preschool, which is coming up end of June. I think it's going to change everything around here - not only does it give me two long days in which all I have to do is entertain him in the morning and give him lunch, then pick him up, dinner, and bed, but it also means the remaining days will be more "special". You know, like other people who have childcare at least some of the time - it makes the time you do have with your kids more precious. Or so I hope!

I won't lie - I'm spread pretty thin these days, physically. My back, legs and feet hurt all of the time from the constant baby wearing, bending and squatting I have to do; when I lie in bed at night as I'm doing now, my ankles and feet burn up from being on them all day. It reminds me of when I would dance hard in heels all night - but of course that was considerably more fun than wiping up spilled food off the kitchen floor all day-!