Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Double (not so much) Trouble

Last night was my brother-in-law's birthday and as per tradition, he and his wife went to London to go catch a show in the West End. Why is this relevant to me? Because I volunteered to look after my nephew for the evening! So just after 5pm, Tim & Rachel showed up to drop Henry off before heading out for some continued birthday celebrations, sans baby.

What was I thinking? You may ask. Putting two babies to bed!? Especially when my own little boy has a very specific and hands-on bedtime routine that involves tooth brushing, nappy changing, book reading, and breastfeeding. Have no fear: I was so on top of things I was like Tenzing Norgay. (look it up)
like a boss
The boys were brilliant the whole night through. They ran around the house together, played with Duplo on the floor, sat in my lap to watch an episode of Pingu and a few rounds of Small Potatoes, and even consented to sit on either side of me on the couch while I read them books. It was lovely fun.
E's new favourite book. Image via inis magazine
Even dinner went surprisingly well. Henry took the highchair and ate his way through the better part of two scrambled eggs with barbeque sauce, while Ethan sat in the Husband's lap and - strangely enough - consented to eat nothing but the chili I'd made for dinner! To me, this last is a big deal...E wasn't so keen on the chili the last time I made some, so for him to turn down a baby jar of cottage pie in favour of spicy tomatoes, corn, minced beef, and kidney beans was quite the surprise. (The other surprise came to the Husband this morning in the form of a nappy full of easily recognizable kidney beans...)

The boys "brushed" their teeth quite happily when it was time to start getting ready for bed. Of course, at this age brushing is really just gnawing on the bristles and occasionally letting me wiggle it around over their teeth for a few seconds...but we're getting there. Then, it was the ultimate test: actually putting them to sleep. Henricus was set down in his travel cot with a bottle while E sat on my lap, as per usual, in our rocking chair while I read them both a couple of books. We then cut the lights and continued with E's normal routine until he fell asleep, then - both boys in cots - I left the room and turned on some music so Henricus would fall asleep better. I walked out of that room surprised at how easy it had just been to put two rambunctious toddlers to sleep. I spent the rest of the night reading Bring Up the Bodies, studying for my stupid Life in the UK test (permanent residency had better be worth it!), and basking in the glow of my awesomeness reveling in the unexpected ease with which I managed two babies, pretty much on my own. In case it wasn't painfully obvious I was not only quite proud of the boys for being so well-behaved, but I was immoderately pleased with myself as well.

Let's just hope I never have to put my wildly optimistic assumptions about my parenting skills to the test and raise twins!

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