Day in the Life with a 4 Year Old and 8 Month Old

You don't realize just how quickly time flies by until you look up and it's been 5+ months since your last allegedly monthly day in the life post. Oops! It's not that things have been particularly harried around here, I just rarely have down time at the computer, and I haven't had the energy or desire to document. It's impossible to adequately fill in the last 5 months without rambling on for pages, so a few highlights:

• We survived the summer! I was so nervous how August especially would go since Emmett didn't have any school then, but it flew by pretty painlessly. It's kind of a blur now, but in a good way. Luke's folks took him for four days that month for adventures in San Antonio. We had our own fun with Adelaide doing things that are hard to do with a preschooler in tow (like visit a non-kid-centric museum, and make fun lengthy dinners like paella).
• Adelaide WAS an amazing sleeper. Key word: was. She slept 10-12 hours without waking from months 3-6. We thought we were golden. Nope! The 6 month sleep regression happen, and never actually ended. I'm averaging 2 wake ups a night, which luckily are just nurse and go back to bed. A few weeks ago, it was nurse and then listen to her squawk and party in her crib for another 45 minutes.... Momma is a little bit sleepy zzzzzzzzzzzzz
• We're in a nice groove with Emmett back in school, now 3 days a week. He does after school cooking class (how cute right?!) and explorers class as well, so some days A and I have nearly 5 hours to do our thing. Often when we pick him up, we stay and play on the playground with his pals as late as 3 or 4, and those days fly by!
• Luke and I got to get away to New Orleans in September while his awesome parents came to Austin to stay with the kids. We had the best time attending a friend's wedding, eating, drinking and catching up with folks.
• I'm getting allergy shots (hello, cedar fever!). The office is around the corner from E's school, so A and I are in a nice groove of popping over there after we drop him off, now once a week (used to be 2-3 times in the fall). I have to stay 30 minutes after each shot, so I bring a picnic blanket and a few books and toys and we play in the courtyard just outside and have a super gentle time. It's nice no-chore time for me to really focus on her.
• Adelaide now has 4 TEETH (at this age, Emmett was still toothless). Her first 2 popped up at 4 months and we didn't realize she was teething other than some drool. The second 2 came with a bit more fussiness, but we survived with the help of our friend Tylenol ;)
• She's sitting strongly and has a wide wingspan to reach toys and interact. She's rolling around everywhere and can get pretty dang far even though she's not crawling. She's saying Dada, but not Mama despite my best efforts! She enjoys grabbing foods, but isn't eating a ton of solids yet - work in progress! 
• I thought I would've gotten back to freelance work by now, but see comment above on little free computer time. Emmett dropped his nap in September (props to him for keeping it up all summer for me - my goal). So my free time during the day is limited to when he's watching TV and A is napping, and usually I'm cooking/doing laundry/mouthbreathing then. The good news on the dropped nap is that bedtimes are much smoother and earlier (usually 8 again), whereas before sometimes we could still hear him awake at 9:30!

Here's a day in the life. And oops, I forgot to photograph the food. DOH!!! Sorry :D

7 a.m. I wake to the sounds of Adelaide. We're a bit flip-flopped this morning. Usually Emmett rolls into our room between 6:30-7:15 and quietly wakes Luke and they head downstairs and A and I snooze until 8ish. But she skipped her second wakeup last night (woot woot!) so she's the first up today. It's coooold out so Luke scoops her up and I nurse her in bed while Luke showers.

7:30 Emmett STILL isn't awake (surprising!) but we know he'll be sad if he misses breakfast with daddy, so we wake HIM up for a change. Luke plops Adelaide on E and he wakes up smiling. He LOVES snuggling with his sister!

8 a.m. Breakfast is served! PBJ oats with blueberries - a Robison family classic.

8:45 a.m. We wave bye bye to daddy, then head to the play room to play with a new Christmas toy - a magic truck. You draw a line with a thick black marker and turn the truck on, and it follows the path you make. Pretty cool! It takes us a while to figure out how to turn it on (hello cheap Amazon toy), but I prevail and we're entertained for quite a while.

9:30 a.m. I realize A is probably hungry and could use a nap. I turn on Emmett's current favorite show - If You Give a Mouse a Cookie - while I put A down for a nap. Then Emmett helps me take down Christmas ornaments, vacuum the car (his idea! one of his favorite activities), garden in the front yard.

11:30 a.m. We head inside to warm up some leftover soup for lunch (recipe below. Emmett LOVES soup, especially brothy soup - chicken noodle is a favorite. He doesn't like kale so I just scooped his bowl before adding the kale at the end).
Adelaide wakes up right as it's warm so I grab her and she plays with some pasta, carrots and kale from the soup in her booster chair while we eat. Then I nurse her again while Emmett sulks (kid would love to watch TV every time I nurse - ha!).

12:15 p.m. The cold morning has turned into a BEAUTIFUL day, so we head out on a neighborhood balance bike stroll. E is actually getting really good on his pedal bike without training wheels, but still needs a little help getting started/getting off which I can't really manage by myself with A, not to mention I can't keep up with how FAST he is! Though over the break we met some friends on a trail and Luke biked with the boys for 4 MILES - go E!

1:00 p.m. We get back and have a tea party, then head upstairs to play sleepover in his room. Lots of snuggles and horsing around and fun!Then I pull out a book a friend gave him for his birthday - 5 Minute Pete the Cat Stories. He LOVES Pete the Cat so it's awesome to binge read several of these. I nurse Adelaide and Emmett turns the pages for me.  E and I are hungry, so I pack a picnic per his specifications - apple, banana, raisins, cheese and pretzels and we gobble down.

2:20 p.m. We had tentative afternoon plans to meet up with his bestie Max at a playground, but I need Adelaide to take a nap first! Max's mom and I text and her youngest hasn't napped yet either. We decide to abort the playground idea and plan to meet up for happy hour/dinner later. I head to A's room and nurse her and put her down for a nap. Emmett and I horse around in my room jumping around the bed (three cheers for setting a good example - whoops!). Then we see a funny video my sister posted on Instagram of her two boys dancing and we watch it over and over. So then naturally we take a dance video and send it to my sister - Emmett thinks it's hilarious!

3:00 p.m. Adelaide wakes up from her nap - womp womp. I half-heartedly propose a trip to Costco to get a few things we kinda need, but look outside and it's still SO nice out and say OR we could swing in the back yard. No brainer!

4:00 p.m. Time to nurse Adelaide again, and I let Emmett watch a bit more TV. We cap our day at home with an afternoon dance party to KUTX's Old School happy hour (every Friday 4-7) and they are ON IT with jam after jam. I'm glad Emmett isn't old enough to be embarrassed of me yet :D

5:00 We hop in the car and head around the corner to our favorite neighborhood restaurant - Santorini. We're meeting up with his bestie Max and his family, so we're in for a fun night. I make sure to pack all sorts of glow sticks, a frisbee and a ball to keep the party going. The grown ups enjoy sangria, we all enjoy mozzarella sticks, and I get my favorite falafel gyro. They have a great outdoor area with kid toys to play around with, and we always have that area to ourselves. Adelaide happily sits in the middle of the picnic table the whole night being little miss social. It's a great night!

7:15 p.m. We head back home, and I realize it's been 3 hours since A's last nurse. I pop her on to nurse in my bedroom while the guys run around being silly a bit more. She tries to pass out but we keep her awake. Then it's tubby time, jammies and books.

8:15 p.m. Adelaide and I say goodnight to Luke and Emmett. L&E snuggle in his bed, while I head to her room to nurse her and but her down for a late 8:30 bedtime.

8:30 p.m. We kick up our feet and watch a TV show, then do some reading.

10:15 p.m. Lights out!

Sausage, Shell and Kale soup

1 pound sweet Italian sausage
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
1/2 tsp dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
8 cups chicken broth
Parmigiano Reggiano rind, optional
6 ounces pasta (I used small shells - Emmett loves them!)
1/2 bunch kale, chopped

In a large dutch oven over medium high heat, brown sausage and break it up, 6-8 minutes. Remove sausage and place in a bowl. Warm olive oil in the pan and add veggies and saute about 5 minutes. Season with spices. Add broth and bring to a boil. Pour in pasta shells (and parm rind if you have one) and cook, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes. Stir in kale and cook 2 minutes. Add additional salt if needed.