November 3

Most mornings, Chris wakes me up when he leaves for work at 7:00. I sneak out of bed, leaving Eli to snooze until 8 or 8:30. Lily sleeps until 7:30 or 8, and Caleb and Daisy are already awake and have eaten first breakfast. Usually, I grab my coffee and pumping stuff and we sit at the kitchen table together while I pump and they eat second breakfast. It's a good routine for us.

Some mornings, though, that doesn't happen. Like today. Eli was awake before Chris came in to say goodbye, and he was totally done sleeping for the night. I took him into his room for a fresh diaper, and as I was changing him I heard Lily in her room.

It was going to be one of those mornings, in which I attempt to juggle my own needs, along with the needs of four other human beings.

Eli and I went in to get Lily, and the first thing she said was, "OoooOOHHH! Eli awake!

 (to Eli) Hi Eli! Have good nap? 

(to me)Want Eli in mine bed. Want snuggle Eli."

So I put Eli in her bed, along with the 59 stuffed animals she requires for every nap and nighttime sleep. (Seriously, the collection grows daily. It is getting absurd. Currently, she requires sheet, blanket, big pillow, little pillow, Daisy's pinky, Grandma's pinky, Baby, Other Baby, Minnie Mouse, Little Baby, Miss Amy the bear, kitty blanket, Avfa the puppy, two bunnies... It reminds me of stories I've heard about her Aunt Sally.)

After Lily and Eli both had fresh diapers, we headed into the kitchen. The big two were ready for second breakfast, the little two were ready for first breakfast, and everyone was clamoring for me. I got out of bed at 7:05 and finally sat down to pump at 8:15. One of those mornings. Thankfully, Caleb was off school again today, so instead of rushing for the bus, we decided to visit the zoo.

It didn't matter that Eli was ready for his first nap of the day right when we left. I figured for sure he'd fall asleep in the van on the way there.

He didn't. 

When we arrived, I wrapped him high on my back, confident that he would take a nice long wrap nap.

He didn't.

Still, we had fun. Eli may have been exhausted, but he was wrapped close to Mommy, so he didn't fuss at all. 

This is not a flattering picture of any of us, but I am still sharing it. This was at the Children's Zoo, right after we got to the playground area and  I handed the kids snack bars. They were justifiably distracted.

An hour and a half past nap time, but Eli didn't mind!

Lily does not get the poke-your-face-through-the-hole thing, and refuses to participate.

She was willing to participate with the carousel, though. 

She really wanted to sit on the bench like she has the past several times, but she got kind of swept up in the commotion of the big kids choosing animals, and ended up on a stationary giraffe. I could tell that she was nervous, but she didn't say anything.

Daisy chose a horse that went up and down, and was tremendously happy with herself.

Caleb chose some sort of a weasel or rat that moved up and down. He really wanted to sit on the bench, but his sisters were already situated and there were people on the bench. So he put on his brave pants and stayed put.

Eli rode on my back, tucked inside Daddy's hoodie.

And then we started moving. My nervous boy was suddenly very brave!

Daisy was still thrilled.

And Lily was so very brave. I was proud of her!

After the carousel, the kids grabbed maps and we plotted the rest of our visit. We saw chimpanzees (and a chimpanzee's bottom), gorillas, the bird cage, the giraffes, the zebras, the lions (and lions mating... Oh my!), and then paused for lunch.

I gave Eli pear slices. He loved them. He also smeared them all over himself, requiring a wardrobe change.

The kids really wanted to see the elephants, so instead of heading home after lunch, we took the long, winding path that is the only way to get to the elephants. It was a bad idea. I should have called it after lunch. We were 1/3 of the way down the path, at the hippos, when Lily lost it. She was tired because it was nap time and exhausted from the morning's activity and probably hungry because she was distracted at lunch time. Her fit culminated in me buckling my screaming girl into the stroller and rushing down the path with my toddler-siren announcing my arrival.

But hey - we saw the elephants!

We go to the van and another mom walked past and said to me, "Someone is sound asleep back there!"

In the time it had taken us to walk from the zoo to the van, Eli had finally fallen asleep.

Crap.

Amazingly, I was able to unwrap him and transfer him to his car seat without waking him.

See? Snoozy baby in the back seat.  Love it!