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I used to pretend I had a sibling all the time when I was younger. I’d dream of having a sister to play dolls with or a tea party. Sadly, my sibling didn’t arrive until I was fourteen and it was a boy. Needless to say, I was very disappointed. I don’t think having a sister would have made the pre-teen me much happier either, to be honest. Having spent much of my life as the center of attention, it was something I had grown to appreciate, thank you very much.
My husband on the other hand grew up with a brother close in age. He even had to share a room with him for most of his life. Given the type of person his brother is, I’m not sure what kind of irreparable damage that may have caused (Just kidding…maybe)
My husband and I knew we wanted to have more than one child and we knew we wanted to have them close together. Because my husband’s brother has no desire to have children and my own brother is too young to be having children, we knew that any children we had wouldn’t have any cousins close in age, if any at all.
So for some crazy idea, we decided to try for another when my oldest was only nine months old. Fast forward and we had a newborn and a toddler. What were we thinking?!?
The first few months were crazy. Luckily, I had my mother to help while I recovered from having a preterm c-section. The first couple of months with a newborn is always crazy with late-night feedings. Add in a toddler that is used to being the center of the universe and you will get a glimpse into the first few months of having two under two.
Now things have gotten much better. We have gotten the schedule down to a science. My kids stay up late and they rise later than most children. I was also lucky that both of my kiddos slept through the night sooner than most as well. I am also formula feeding as I wasn’t able to breastfeed due to a whole bunch of reasons.
Schedule
7am: Mom wakes and showers on a good day
8am: Toddler and littlest wake and on most days so does mom, bath for toddler and littlest as needed, tummy time, breakfast, and cartoons.
9am: Littlest gets bottle
10:30am: Nap for littlest
11am: Table activity for toddler, the toddler gets snack
12:30pm: Littlest gets a bottle
1pm: Lunch for toddler, followed by a nap for toddler
2:30pm: Nap for littlest
4:30pm: Bottle for littlest
6pm: Dinner
8pm: Teeth brushing, storytime, sleep for the boys
Activities
My oldest is very active and loves to get into things all the time. During the day we do a lot of running around the house, wrestling on the floor, and dancing to music.
Table time activities often include coloring, working on word flash cards, or playing with his sorting bears. Right now toddler time usually lasts about 15-30 minutes. If I sit and participate in the table time activity with him then he is happier for longer. If I do chores, table time usually ends much sooner.
We do watch way too much television. My oldest takes every opportunity to get into things if I am busy. This is especially true if I am dealing with his little brother. Often that means turning on Daniel Tiger or Blue’s Clues to keep him distracted. I am trying to figure out other ways to keep him entertained but I haven’t had much luck yet. One of my goals for December is to watch half as much TV.
Do you have two under two? If you have a young toddler, how do you keep them entertained? I’d love to hear how you fill your days.
