The R’s are creatures of habit. Truth be told, their habits are ones that we worked hard to instill. By being steadfast with their schedules and their routines I created intentional downtime for myself and the predictability of their schedule has been comforting to them as well. Joe and I joke that we’ve raised Pavlov’s babies.
In the morning they come downstairs and whimper while climbing the stove waiting for their milk to be warmed. As soon as they are handed their sippies they run to the living room where a blanket is laid out for them (ALWAYS the night before) and they circle around finding the right spot, drop down to their backs and roll over to drink their milk. Their legs are always bent at the knees while they gulp furiously. Joe always turns on the Weather Channel during milk time and they have come to expect the muzak that plays out of the TV. God forbid the blanket is not down when they come to the living room with their morning milk. They circle frantically, whimpering, unsure of where to lay.
Nighttime is no different. Dinner, baths, then bedtime. Sippies while they get diapered and dressed. Then they stand in order to back up their tiny heineys onto Daddy’s lap for exactly two books.
It’s crazy how routine they are and how much we’ve also gotten used to this level of independence.
As they’ve gotten older, more independent and more observant they have started to add to their routine. It used to be that they would just abandon their bottles/sippies haphazardly once they were done drinking. Now they stand up and walk their sippies over to the coffee table or nightstand for us to collect. They ask for their milk, be it by signing or speaking. They lift up their legs for diaper changes. They scale their cribs to find their pacis at night and they toss their pacis back in their cribs when we lift them out in the morning.
Our mornings and evenings are so commonplace and easy that sometimes I forget that we worked to get here. This is probably my biggest fear about parenting a newborn again. Starting from ground zero. Having a new tiny human who is 100% dependent upon me for all things. It’s so easy to forget how far you’ve come with toddlers. I imagine that there will be many things that make me appreciate the simplicity of little Lola in comparison to the tantruming twin tornadoes. But tempers aside, I am sure that their new little sister will make me realize, even more, how far my “babies” have come.
