My First Week with Two

This was my first week at home on my own with Ella and Ollie. For the first six weeks of Ollie’s life my parents were living with us, and then Andy was on school holidays. I’ve been pretty lucky to have had all that support for nearly two months. But alas, the time has come for me to begin my life as a stay at home mum of two! (Though, to be fair, Ella has daycare three days a week so I get a pretty good break on those days.)

I’m a lot more realistic about what I can get done during the day than I was when I had Ella. With Ella I naively thought I’d have heaps of free time during the day while she napped, and I committed to some extra work projects such as exam marking and creating online maths tutorials. Although that brought in some extra money, which was nice, it did mean I put some unnecessary stress into my days when Ella was 4-5 months old. That was on top of cooking, cleaning, and of course looking after a baby. This time I have pretty low expectations for my day, looking after Ollie and making sure I eat well and drink lots of water are key. Other than that, on my Ella free days my priorities are:

• Shower
• Dinner prep
• One load of laundry
• Exercise - either a walk or a yoga video (bonus if I can do both)

If I get all four of those things done I consider the day a success. Anything accomplished on top of those four things and I’m pretty much wonder woman.

The days I have Ella my priorities are simple:

• Shower
• Survive

Seriously, at this point I’m just looking to get through the day with as few tears from the three of us as possible. A word about showering: I know there is a lot of talk about not worrying if you don’t get out of your PJs or shower as a new mum, but I hate doing this. I just feel so much better if I’m clean and in clothes that I could leave the house in. Getting a shower and feeling like I am somewhat presentable are important for me, and give me a better sense of wellbeing overall. Hence, they are high on my list of daily priorities!

Monday

Today Ella was in daycare. I got to sleep until about 8am when Ollie woke up. I was so tired in the morning that I didn’t even hear Ella and Andy get ready and leave. First thing to do was of course to feed Ollie, which takes about 45 minutes at the moment. Then I put him on his play mat where he actually stayed without crying while I made myself a coffee and some toast for breakfast. For the first 7-8 weeks of his life Ollie hated being put down, so playing on his play mat is major progress for us. 

After eating I took Ollie up to the bathroom while I took a shower. Again, he was quite content here, lying on a towel with a fan heater blowing on him. This boy loves to be warm, and our house is SO COLD in the winter, so Ollie is happiest when there is direct heat on him. We do the same thing right before his bath and I swear this is his calmest time of the day. I might have to just start hanging out in the bathroom more often, haha! 

After this he was ready for his first nap so I put him down in his cot while I did a yoga video. I’m currently working through the 30-day “True” series on Yoga with Adriene.

Once Ollie woke up from his nap I fed him and then we went for a walk in the Hug-a-Bub. We had to go to the post office to mail off my Canadian passport renewal, as my old one expired in May. Oops! I travel on my Australian passport now so hadn’t noticed!

The rest of the afternoon was spent feeding and playing with Ollie, while trying to get dinner ready. Andy picked up Ella from daycare and dinner was ready by the time they got home. I got all four of my priorities completed today, so I’d say it was a success!

Tonight’s dinner: Sumac Roaster Cauliflower and Quinoa salad from my beautiful new cookbook: Community by Hetty McKinnon. It has all these amazing salads and I can’t wait to try them all out. Andy and I liked this dinner but it was a tough sell for Ella. She did eat some cauliflower and tried the quinoa salad bit but there was parsley and mint leaves mixed in, and getting her to eat any sort of green leaves is impossible. I think next time I will serve her a “deconstructed” version: cauliflower, quinoa and tomatoes all separate. And I’ll swap the feta for some good old cheddar cheese for her!

Tuesday

Andy woke me up at 7:15am today as he was leaving for work, and man did I miss the extra 45 minutes of sleep I would normally get. Bleary eyed, I went downstairs to see Ella sitting on the sofa, watching TV and eating a pear. Two of her favourite things. I made us some porridge and a coffee for myself and was just sitting down with Ella to eat when I heard Ollie wake up, about half an hour earlier than usual. Of course! I got him up and brought him downstairs and fed him, while trying to convince Ella to eat her porridge and get dressed. What a mission! To be fair, Ella was pretty helpful and got dressing willingly. This can be a battle sometimes, she’d definitely stay in her PJs all day if she could. We only had one minor meltdown about which socks she could wear. (She wanted a pair that were on the drying rack and still wet, I preferred she wear a dry pair of socks. I won that one.)

The whole morning revolved around trying to get us all out the door in time for Ella’s gymnastics lesson at 10am. This is her first term doing gymnastics, she did a trial just before the school holidays and absolutely loved it. I thought the program was really well organised and I think Ella will get a lot out of them.

Twisters Gymnastics, Northcote

We got to Ella’s lesson on time so I was pretty proud about that achievement. The lessons are parent assisted so I had to take Ollie with me in the carrier. He was a dream and slept the whole time.

When we got home we FaceTimed my parents. Ella was really funny and cute and wanted to show them their bed they slept in while they were here. We had a good half hour chat and then Ollie woke up and wanted to be fed. Overall we had a pretty fun and smooth morning.

The afternoon was a bit more chaotic. Ollie wanted to be fed non-stop (or so it felt) and he only had a 40 minute nap in his cot. I managed to scrape together lunch which was leftovers from last night’s dinner, crackers and cheese, and fruit. Ella only picked at it and I don’t think she ate much. I’ll have to be more thoughtful about her lunches in the future!

Ella did a pretty good job playing with her toys by herself while I fed Ollie and tried to get him to nap. We recently rearranged her play area to give her more space. We’ve also made her toys more accessible to her, which really helps as she can get things out to play with without my help. 

New play area - the table and play mat used to be switched around

She also watched quite a bit of TV during this time - or rather the TV was on while she went back and forth between watching, playing, and climbing on me while I tried to breastfeed. Mums have zero personal space! Ella's other favourite activity is having her dolls and stuffed animals do whatever Ollie is doing:

Ollie and "Ollie" the doll both doing tummy time

By the time 4pm rolled around I was counting down the minutes until Andy got home. I am constantly thinking about how to bring some structure to the days with both kids, but it will probably be another month until Ollie has settled into a napping and feeding routine. Thankfully Andy got home around 5pm and Ella could play with him. Around that time Ollie went down for a nap and slept until 7:15pm! Kind of an odd time for a long nap but it did give us time to make and eat dinner with just Ella which was nice.

Tonight’s dinner: Chicken fajitas. I normally use this Jamie Oliver recipe instead of buying the pre-made fajita spice mix and I think it tastes much better. It’s healthier this way as well! This usually is a good one for Ella but tonight she just ate cheese and a tortilla wrap. She hasn’t had the most balanced meals today, I hope they feed her better at daycare tomorrow!

Wednesday

We had our 8 week check up with the Maternal Child Health Nurse (MCHN) today. It was at 9:30am, so we were up, fed, showered and out the door by 9am. Pretty good! The MCHN is only a 12 minute walk away. It was a cold but sunny morning, I loved the crisp weather and brisk walk. The appointment went well, Ollie is now 4.8kg and 55cm, and doing very well according to her! Great news.

After the appointment I took an extended route home to get in a longer walk, and then it was time for Ollie’s next feed. About an hour and a half later he was ready for a nap, and I used that time to do some yoga. He was pretty unsettled when he woke 40 minutes later, so after feeding him again we went on yet another walk. When we got home he stayed asleep in the wrap for two hours, so I had time to cook and eat dinner with Andy and Ella. 

On one of our many walks by the Merri Creek

Tonight’s dinner: Lamb and Vegetable Gratin from the latest Woolworth’s magazine. I made 1.5 times the recipe which will last us for two dinners, and it was a huge hit! Will definitely be making this one again, and next time I might even try to sneak in some extra veggies.

Thursday

We had a pretty lazy day today. Last night Ollie slept six hours straight for the first time. Yay! He went to bed last night at 8pm, then woke at 2am, 6am and then at 9:30am. Now that’s a sleeping schedule I can get into! It did mean that by the time I fed Ollie, played a bit, and then showered it was already 11am and Ollie was ready for his nap. I spent that time doing yoga and some admin on the computer before he woke again at 12pm. Time for another feed which took about an hour. I spent this time watching YouTube videos (mainly Stephen Colbert and CNN) ripping Trump apart for the disastrous meeting with Putin last week. The videos were hilarious but the whole thing is pretty scary. What the heck is going on in the US?!

After his feed I put Ollie on his play mat for tummy time. He started looking sleepy so I got my running shoes and the Hug-a-bug on, planning on taking him for a walk. But by the time I’d gathered all my stuff he had fallen asleep!! I left him there to sleep while I got dinner prep and some admin done on the computer. He woke 40 minutes later so I gave him a quick feed and then we went out for a walk. Andy and Ella got home around 5pm and dinner was ready for us all, so another successful day. I’m loving the slow pace of my days with Ollie. 

Tonight’s dinner: My favourite super easy, healthy soup: Chickpeas, red lentils and chilli from the BBC Good Food website. This one is always a hit and is SO quick and easy to make.

Friday

Ella woke at 5:55am today, ouch! Thankfully Andy let me sleep until 7am when Ollie woke up and he left for work. I fed Ollie and then he was ready to go back to bed, where he slept until about 9:30am. During this time I made some porridge for Ella and me, and then we had a long FaceTime with my parents. Ella engaged with them for long periods on her own which gave me time to tidy the kitchen and make myself a coffee, which was nice!

After Ollie’s feed he fell asleep on me. Instead of putting him upstairs I indulged in some baby cuddles and he slept there happily until nearly noon! Ella was very good during this time although she took advantage and kept disappearing into the kitchen, returning with a mandarin or apple. She did this about four times! The girl would live on fruit if she could!

The afternoon was rainy so we never ended up leaving the house. I thought we might make it to the playground but no luck. Because of that the day dragged on a bit. I managed to get Ollie in his cot for a nap around 2pm and was able to give Ella my undivided attention, which she definitely needed. Our best activity was getting some soapy water and sponges and washing the yoga mats and her play mat. It’s so great when you can disguise chores as play! Andy finishes early on a Friday so was home at about 2:30pm. He took her to her swimming lesson about an hour later while Ollie and I went for a walk. It was cold and windy but after being cooped up all day it felt great to be in the fresh air. Dinner was leftover Lamb Gratin from Wednesday so there was no stress around getting dinner ready. Having leftovers on my days with Ella will save my sanity if I can make that a regular routine.

That evening both kids were in bed by 7:30, so I got in a half hour yoga practice before settling down with a glass of wine and Netflix to celebrate surviving week 1!

Overall the week went pretty well, even if we didn’t really do anything exciting. My goal next week is to get to a playground with both Ella and Ollie - weather permitting. (We’ve had a lot of windy and rainy days lately.)

Here are some lessons learned and routines I’d like to try to keep up with so that I can enjoy my time with both kids with as little stress as possible:

• Pick out clothes for me and Ella the night before.
• Have all dishes cleared up at night so that I start each day with a clean kitchen.
• Have Ollie’s diaper bag packed and ready to go.
• Spend quality time with Ella each day - no phone or laptop allowed!