Here’s a look at our everyday schedule at this stage:
8:30/9:00 Babies wake up. I get out of bed too, and greet them in their nursery. Abby and Izzy are in one part of the nursery, Ally is in the other (behind double doors). I move Izzy and Abby into Ally’s crib (next to the changing table) and change all 3 diapers. Ally’s crib acts as the “holding cell”, while I change diapers. At this point, I say, “Let’s go eat breakfast” and all 3 girls follow me into the dining room to eat. I give them a cup of milk and they’ll either eat baby cereal mixed with fruit or yogurt, or microwave pancakes cut into little pieces.
Here the girls are in their holding cell (aka Ally's crib)
Abby getting diaper change while other 2 wait patiently
9:30 – 12:00 Babies play in the living room. Sometimes I dress them, sometimes they stay in jammies. They usually get fussy around 11, so I give them a cup of juice/water and turn on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. During this time, all 3 babies poop once, if not twice. (These babies poop A LOT)!
12:00 Babies eat lunch. A common meal includes chopped up Vienna chicken sticks, green beans, whole grain bread and banana. I let them eat with their fingers, which is a huge mess! They drink ice water with their meal.
Here's a pic of the girls after lunch today:
12:30-1:00 Babies play a little more in the living room, while I clean up the food bomb in the kitchen. They usually have another poopy diaper during this time.
1:00 – 4:00 Nap time! At 1, I open the gate and tell babies, “Let’s go night night.” At that point, they all say “nigh nigh, nigh nigh” and follow me into the nursery like little ducklings! I change their diapers, put them in their sleep sacks, and they all go down for a nap. The babies may not sleep this whole time, but I leave them in their cribs for the duration for some “alone time” for all of us!
4:00 Wake up!
5:30/6:00 Babies eat dinner. Common dinner usually includes mac and cheese or chicken and rice, along with other fruits/veggies, cereal bar, pudding, yogurt, etc. (Not all of this… these are just common examples).
6:15/6:30 Daddy gets home! Mommy and daddy eat dinner. I would like to say I cook every night, and would feel better about myself if I did, but that’s currently not the case.
The girls like to follow daddy into our room to change out of work clothes. They head for our door when he says, "Let's change clothes!"
6:30-7:30 Play with daddy. Usually daddy acts as multiple amusement park rides or the “chaser” of the babies where he tackles them and tickles them.
Today, we had a visitor... Here are the girls looking out the windows because they see their "lala" (my mom) in the driveway.
7:30 Bathtime is every other night… Every night if babies got particularly dirty that day. We usually bathe them in the tub, but sometimes I’ll bathe them in the kitchen sink if I’m in a hurry and don’t care about giving them time to play in the tub.
8:00 Night milk. Ally drinks a sippy cup of milk. Izzy and Abby still prefer a bottle at this time. When I say they prefer their bottle, I mean they drink WAY more if I give them a bottle. This is the only time of day they get a bottle.
8:40 “Nigh Nigh”. Babies all go to bed. Sometimes they’ll cry for a few minutes, but rarely more than 5 min. At this time, Matt picks up the toys in the living room and I load a number of sippy cups into the dishwasher and straighten the kitchen.
Usually 1 or more babies will wake up once during the night and need some comfort… If they don’t have a fever or a poopy diaper, I lay them back down and let them cry it out, after some loving from mommy. Depending on the problem, I may also give them infant Tylenol or Benadryl.
I’ve read over and over that the #1 key to a happy baby is a schedule and predictability. As you can see, these babies DEFINITELY get this!
