A perfect day
29 July 2020 : 23 months (2 years)
“Do you love mama?” I asked as we cuddled on the rocking chair in the nursery. Lochie’s head was on my shoulder, his feet snug in his sleeping back, his arms against my chest. He clutched his sleep blankie in one hand. He had waited quietly for me, standing at one end of his cot. I saw it on the monitor and couldn’t resist one more tiny cuddle. “What is it, Lochie?” I had asked, as his hands pulled upwards, chmok chmok sounded his dummy, and he pointed to the rocking chair. “Cuddle.” “You want a cuddle?” He nodded enthusiastically. As we snuggled into the rocking chair, he pressed his head on my shoulder and took in a big breath. I whispered the alphabet and the numbers and he chmok chmoked with his dummy. He giggled, pulled back, then leaned onto me again. “Do you love mama?” He leaned back to see my face, made a definite nod, and tugged on a soft long ear sticking out from under my butt. “Bunny.” I was sitting on his bed rabbit. When I finally put him back into his cot, one arm was holding his sleep blankie and the other was wrapped around his bunny.
This is the second night that I am putting my older son to sleep. It’s been 5 months since I used to put him to sleep every night – almost 5 months since brother Jono was born. Jono is demanding and I’m with him practically all of the time, so Lochie has received less mummy. As much as I know daddy loves putting Lochie to sleep, I need to re-establish my presence in my son’s bedtime routine so that he knows that no matter what happens, mummy will always be there at bedtime. He needs to feel that mummy’s presence is abundant, not scarce, and there is plenty of mummy enough for everyone.
Today was the perfect day. After a difficult night of almost no sleep (thanks Jono), the morning officially begun when Lochie burst into my room and climbed onto the bed to give mummy a hug. Jono was toasty next to me (he co-sleeps for half of the night as I am too tired to put him back into his cot between hourly feedings). I needed that hug. Lochie ran off to his cot to grab his sleep blankie and brought it to me. He evidently thought mummy needed the comforter during our morning hug.
Nanny took the kids while I splurged on a rare long shower. I came downstairs to both babies playing quietly and a cup of coffee waiting for me. Today is Wednesday, the best day of the week, when the four of us spend the entire day together – 4 month old Jono, 23 month old Lochie, our beloved nanny and I.
0400 – No sleep, Jono is restless
0500 – I change Jono’s nappy to prevent spillage, since he often pees himself at 6am and it comes out of the nappy
0600 – Just as Jono and I are falling asleep, he starts crying. I discover that he managed to pee onto my bed outside of his nappy, like magic.
0700 – Jono and I finally pass out.
0730 – Nanny comes, daddy feeds Lochie his milk, and the day begins.
0745 – I wake up to Lochie bursting into my room for a cuddle.
0800 – Shower while kids play downstairs.
0830 – Breastfeed Jono, have coffee. Nanny feeds Lochie his banana porridge.
0900 – Morning walk to the nearby park. We put on our masks, pack Lochie into his red car and Jono into his bassinet, cosy and ready for his morning nap.
0945 – We run into Lochie’s twin Oscar, from mother’s group. Oscar is 2 days older than Lochie. They have been mates practically since birth. They even wear matching clothes and have matching red cars. Jono sleeps in the pram while the boys play with cars and flowers in the park.
