6:00 am: Logan wakes up to eat. I feed him and put him back down in the crib to sleep, which he does immediately.
6:30 am: I go take a shower. If Logan wakes up any earlier, I usually go back to bed and take a shower later, but I knew Ethan would be waking up soon, so I took my opportunity to get clean.
8:20 am: Ethan plays with his apple toy on the couch beside me while I feed Logan again. I want to give Logan a little snack before he goes back down for a nap. He usually eats every 3-4 hours these days. He only stays awake for about an hour before needing to go to sleep again. The "apple" (as Ethan calls it) is a great source of entertainment and learning...Ethan adores it and we take it with us everywhere (except church, because it is loud.)
8:40 am: Ethan goes with me to lay Logan down for his nap and then we go to the playroom for a few minutes before Casey leaves for work. Ethan plays with his cars and ramps. He also likes to draw with his crayons right now, but is only interested in drawing suns and animals.
8:45 am: Casey leaves for work. We still go out to the garage every day and say goodbye to him. Ethan waves and tells Casey, "good day!" (which means "have a good day.")
9:30: We put the brownies in the oven to bake, and while we are waiting, Ethan plays with his nativity set while I wash up some dishes, tidy the kitchen, and load the dishwasher.
10:00 am: The brownies come out of the oven and I join Ethan in the living room and we read almost all of the Christmas books we've just gotten out and also his Lightning McQueen book that has all sorts of buttons to push during the story.
10:30 am: We move into the office, where I open some mail and do a little filing while Ethan watches Thomas the Train on the computer...thanks to Netflix instantly streaming movies.
11:00 am: The dishwasher is done with it's (loud) cycle so Ethan helps me put the dishes away. He puts the pot lids back on the pots in the cabinet. He knows which one goes where because several months ago, playing with the pots and pans was a favorite activity of his. He also helps me put away the tupperware and lids...and he knows where they go too (for the same reason as the pots).
11:30 am: Ethan decides it is time to go outside for a while. He gets his shoes out and puts them on (his crocs). He goes down the slide and plays in the fort for a while.
12:00 pm: I get Ethan's lunch ready and then we hear Logan is awake. Ethan eats his lunch while I go get Logan. He has a turkey and cheese "quesadilla," an orange, and some blueberries...with milk. While Ethan is still eating, I feed Logan on the couch. Usually daddy comes home for lunch to eat with us, but today he has a lunch meeting.
12:45 pm: Ethan goes upstairs to take his nap. He takes a nap most days (about 2-2.5 hours long), but sometimes he refuses to sit still in his room long enough to fall asleep. There are no toys in his room to play with, but he will sometimes still occupy himself with talking, singing, and scurrying around his room to avoid falling asleep. This is one of those days.
1:00 pm: While we listen to Ethan not sleeping upstairs, Logan and I have a few moments together before his next nap. He smiles for me, which I love.
1:15 pm: I go put Logan down in his crib again and then go put Ethan back in bed and tell him it is time to sleep and/or rest...in bed. On the days that he doesn't sleep, I still have him stay in his room for a while. Sometimes he will fall asleep if I leave him in there, and sometimes we just both need the down time!
1:20 pm: Both boys are in their rooms. Both are quiet right now, but I think only one is actually asleep (Logan). But at least Ethan is in bed. He stays quiet (maybe asleep?) so I use this time to do work for my part time job, housework, edit photos, or read blogs. Today I edit some photos and do some entering in Quickbooks for my job.
3:00 pm: I hear Ethan finally pipe up so I go check on him. I am not sure if he slept or not...but he is not in a good mood! He either did not sleep long enough or he did not sleep at all. These photos are evidence that a good nap is still needed for our big 2.5 year old. Poor buddy!
3:10 pm: The tears are quickly dried as we head downstairs and he realizes he can play with his toys now. He plays with his character figurines from the Rudolph movie and has a snack of raisins and water. I continue working on the computer while he is occupied.
4:00 pm: We go outside to check the mail and that leads to a longer-than-expected outdoor outing. Ethan hunts for different kinds of leaves. He loves leaves. I follow him around with the camera, taking photos and looking at his collected leaves.
4:45 pm: We hear Logan on the monitor and go get him. He gets a turn in front of the camera with mommy, resulting in an out-of-focus photo. I feed him, and then he plays on his playmat while Ethan plays with his "felt pieces." They are the felt bugs, flowers, and other sundry items that go to his felt book. This is another toy that he absolutely loves.
5:30 pm: Ethan eats dinner and Logan is still going strong on the playmat. Ethan eats some plain pasta, green beans, and chicken. After he cleans his plate, he also gets some cinnamon bread...a favorite of his!
8:00 pm: We usually watch some TV together, or if there's nothing on and nothing recorded, we sometimes read, get on the computer, or do other things we want to do. I hardly ever "work" in the evenings unless I have to.
9:30 pm: I go to bed. I'm an early-to-bed person anyway, but since Logan is still not sleeping through the night (he is waking up once around 2-3am), I make it extra early! (UPDATE: It has taken me a week to get this post together with the photos and everything so now Logan IS sleeping through the night...twelve hours, in fact. So I might stay up a little bit later now, but not much!)
