Thursday, September 21, 2006

Creatures of Habit

Aren't we all creatures of habit? On some level at least? I tease my husband about being a 70 year old man in a 40 year old body since he has his routine and by golly he's sticking to it. He likes to eat late, he likes pizza on Friday's, he religiously watches football in the fall. I tease him but I suppose Ava and I are not really that different. We have (or I should say had) our routine and were pretty content. Preschool days, Chinese school on Sunday afternoons, China buddies playdates 2 times per month, we eat soup or nachos when Daddy goes away on business, she likes at least 45 minutes in the tub, I like a glass of chardonnay after she goes to bed. I can barely function without my weekly fill of Law and Order reruns. I even walk the same 4 mile route across the street several times a week and never tire of seeing the large trees and 30 year old houses.

Then came Olivia. Let me preface this by saying she has got to be the sweetest human being known to man. She might even qualify as the "super human easy baby" award winner for 2006. I'm actively looking for a place to nominate her. I feel so guilty for trying so hard to force her on to our schedule. Whatever that means. I don't even really know what schedule I would choose if I could. Yesterday in a moment of active desperation and trying to gain control over a household run by a 10 month old, I dug out a pink post-it note and jotted down a sample daily schedule. It includes the 4 bottles, 3 meals, playtime, and 2 naps. I have it stuck to my calendar.


This is my half assed attempt at a baby, household and world peace. Miss Olivia blew a big fat rasberry when I showed it to her. She is apparently a fly by the seat of her pants girl. She likes to sleep late and eat often. No schedule required since Mommy and Ava look at her all day trying to read signs of what she needs or wants.

So it is onward and upwards for us. Today she slept until 9am after sleeping through the night, how can I even utter one word of whine with that? (Did I not say perfect kid?) Schedule smedule...maybe we will just continue to wonder what our next hour will be like for the next several weeks. So what if I can't seem to get out of the house for more than 30 minutes at a time since she either gets hungry or tired or poops all over the place anytime I attempt to plan to set foot more than 30 paces away from the playroom. Perhaps tomorrow I will pull out the big guns, the lime green post-it notes and rethink the schedule.

Some people have asked me recently about ziplocs. I'm letting go of the schedule thing and I will talk about ziplocs and packing soon. For those of you who haven't taken time away from your precious world to hang out here at twoladybugs I was somewhat crazed about ziplocs before leaving for China last month. Ziploc folks recently wrote me a letter thanking me for the 2 gallon sized endorsement. I'm expecting kickbacks, I wrote back. Anyway, yes ziplocs are the bomb and ironically they hold "the bomb" too, if you are having to deal with baby bombs if you get my smelly drift. Heee.

More to come on my bouts with mental retardation and small ingenious breakthroughs where China packing is concerned.

7 comments:

Johnny said...

Does Ava look at you, shrug, and say, "What the......?" by the schedule of her little sister?

OziMum said...

WOW! Sleeping til 9am?!!! That's amazing!
Good luck with the lime green notes, and the routine...
I'm looking forward to the "ziplock" news.

atomic mama said...

I have yet to see the 2 gallon ones, but I remember being pretty damned excited when you announced their existence...

Stephanie V said...

9:00a?

Bitch.

Spill the secret because the Bug? Still hanging on to the 4:40a. schedule.

I am in hell.

Elisa...life as we know it. said...

Olivia is just adorable..even on her own schedule. I have "Mr i'm 3 years old" and totally independant little boy plus if I get a miss independant next yaer my house will not be my own either!

Anonymous said...

Stephanie V. made me laugh very loud! At least you have something over on one other Mom, Perrin. That would make any Momma smile. Sorry Stephanie! I hope you get sleep soon - really I do. (I can say this because Honey Bunch and I have been up for the past two nights on three different occasions. Blasted reflux, ears and teething!)

Seriously, isn't it funny how bringing a new baby in the house feels so unfamiliar? I feel like I've never done this before.

Doc says three sit down meals and four six-ounce bottles. OKAY......! If I want her to puke all over the house I'll do just that. I have yet to manage all of that inside one 18 pound baby. Seriously, how big could her stomach be? The formula is making it in, sit downs are happening but we're far from sit down "meals". With that said, our girl can tear down some food. I can't imagine how those four little teath can eat hamburger, etc. She does not refuse anything!

Okay, enough about Traci and her search for Mommy Stardom. Back to you. What did you say again?

Peace!

Susan said...

My kid digs a schedule and lets you know quickly if you deviate from it. It used to not be that way but she slowly grew into it. Glad you're able to get some sleep (poor Stephanie). The girls are super duper cute and I love the updates.