brief candle life

At some point I realize that nursing has turned into indiscriminate rabbit kicking and intermittent high pitched shrieks. So I fumble for my glasses (unless Baby has crawled over me to get them for me, and by "get" I mean shake like a cocktail and bend back the wrong way), my feet find the floor and I roll Baby off with me. He slithers away and runs to sister on the couch. We say Boo to her when we arrive. An alternate version is if we get up before her, we go to the couch, and when she wakes up she sneaks up on us to shout Boo on the couch. 

We then veg for a show or two. I have to hide the remote, my glasses, and cell phone under my pillow, and clear the coffee table of all water containing vessels. At some point the need for coffee and food align with the ending of a show and I ceremoniously emerge from my morning twilight to turn off the TV. Whining ensues, "I don't wanna go potty!!!!" I grab the baby and say over my shoulder, "follow me to the bathroom..."

As I'm changing his diaper, she arrives meekly in the bathroom, her whining having fallen flat in front of the dark television. She might start playing with all her barrettes or something but finally gets on the potty and does her duty like a little racehorse. I then have to use all my energy to keep Baby from pulling her off the stool as she brushes her teeth. 

Then we move on to their bedroom. I try to catch one last shred of rest on her big girl bed as I tell her to go pick her outfit. This can take anywhere from 10-30 minutes. She brings me socks, undies, pants, and a tank top (oh, it's always a tank top) piece by piece. Baby runs around, playing with the dinosaur ball ramp toy, throwing stuffed animals into his crib, and banging on the door once in a while for good measure. I chase him around the room on my knees until both his legs are in pants and his shirt or onesie has fit onto the rest of his body parts. He's really good at getting his own arms through a shirt. He'll be 15 months old tomorrow!

Now, it's time to move back out to the living room. Yay! I have approximately 5-8 minutes to make coffee and start breakfast before Baby spots me from the depths of the toy room and remembers that he wants to be back in my womb immediately.

I make the rest of breakfast dragging a hysterical baby with my knees until he sits in his high chair  with some food that he will begin eating with great gusto. Toddler angles for some computer or tv time while I make breakfast, but will generally retreat into imaginary play for the duration of the prep. 

Everyone sits at breakfast, and I take a nice deep sip of my black coffee with sugar.