Holding down the fort

My Dad always used to say that when he & my mom left us kids home alone..."Hold down the fort".

So I feel like I'm doing an okay job of doing just that now that I'm on my own with these two babies. 

It's not easy though.  I feel like most days, I'm barely surviving getting them fed, changing diapers, dealing with the latest meltdown of a certain toddler who shall remain nameless...getting dinner ready, keeping up with laundry.  Sweet Jesus, the laundry!  If I thought we had a lot before...it's only multiplied now that there are 4 of us, and 2 of the 4 are dirty little buggers!  

I get most frustrated that I can't seem to get anything else accomplished, like that stack of clutter on the counter that's been there for oh....forever?  Good thing I'm too sleep deprived to think of everything else that needs to be done around here. 

But then I remind myself, constantly, that they are only little once. 

Who cares if there's stuff to be done?  Snuggling is waaaaay better ; )

Joey just turned 4 weeks old yesterday - where has that time gone?  It's been a blur.  He is staying awake for longer periods of time during the day and even gave me a 6-hour stretch of deep sleep last night.  (Too bad it was from 6pm - 12am!) 

But I can't complain because usually in the middle of the night he's waking twice:  We change the dipe, feed, and then it's right back to sleep.  Except for the times he needs a paci or needs to be burped a little more.  Luckily I am catching on to his cues and usually know what he needs.  He's still in the bassinet in our bedroom and I love having him close to me.  He's starting to track me with his eyes and I feel like he's really looking at me when I talk to him up close...he smiles sometimes when I talk to him - so sweet!

As for the Tazmanian Toddler (her new nickname), she turned 17 months old a few days ago.  What the What???  She continues to learn something new every day.  Her new words include "Ball", "Done", "Mommeeee" (FINALLY!!!), "Was Sat?" (What's that?), "Sh, sh, shooooes!".  We read books all day long (especially when I am nursing Joey bear).  I think we read "Who's Making That Smell?" 214 times yesterday.

I can only take pics when she's held captive in her high chair...you see she is tryingto grab my phone, right?

It's clear she gets frustrated with trying to communicate her wants/needs and can't find the words. So there's a lot of whining and "Oooh, oooh OOOOH!!!" By the same token, she is also understanding commands and questions and it's SO fun. Yesterday I asked her to pick up the burp cloth that was on the floor and hand it to me - she did it! She knew exactly what I was talking about! She's also into feeding me her food now and gets such a kick out of it when I eat something from her fingers.  And lately she loooves climbing up onto the furniture, particularly the couch.  She's very cautious, but I don't dare turn my back for a second.  I also line the floor with lots of pillows ; )

She's pretty good with Joey, though I have to be close by at all times. She gets a little agressive...it will start with a sweet pat on the head. Then it turns into a poke...then a harder poke. Then she'll try to smack him! I know it's a part of testing limits and curiosity, but that poor boy!

The Hubs was off last Friday and we had a great family weekend. We hit up the zoo on Saturday.  While it was eleventy billion degrees out and JAM PACKED, it was still nice to get out. I was bummed it was so packed and hard for Morgan to see many of the animals, but we have a pass and will definitely go again.

 She was so funny, she had this ultra-serious look on her face most of the time at the zoo.  I think she was hot & tired.