We’re headed to Japan tomorrow on vacation so I’m not sure how much internet we’ll have.

But now I’m looking at that sentence and I’m laughing because I’m quite sure there will be a lot of internet in Japan but I’m not sure how much access to it we will have.

So while we potentially take a few days off from posting, I leave you to read the notes I made for the grandparents on caring for Eli and Liza. These notes are not because I think that our family is unable to care for our children, but is an attempt to make their lives easier while they are caring for them. It is mostly a list of our methodology to keep from hearing Liza make the screech of melting doom.

This post is at Chris’s request because he swore to us last night at dinner that he once left a longer set of notes on caring for his cats, so he was sure that it must be humiliating to have our parenting reduced to a few paragraphs of notes.

Schedule for the Week:
Thursday-Wednesday: The Granades
Wednesday-Thursday: Don
Thursday-Sunday: Kate
Sunday: The Granades pick them up to come to AL.

You guys will have to make arrangements for pick up times and travel.
Phone numbers are listed below.

Plan to spend 30-45 minutes during a family change over. Liza will deal with the next crew a whole lot better if she has time to adjust to the swap.

Carseats: It takes two people to put Liza’s seat in the car. If you are using LATCH: hook the seat brackets into the car brackets. One person puts a knee in the seat and pushes down while the second person pulls the strap. If you are using the seatbelt then run the seatbelt through the hole in the back and pull the seatbelt all the way out so it catches. Then one person puts their knee in the seat while the other person pulls the seatbelt tight. When you are finished, you should not be able to wiggle the seat easily by pushing on it with your hand. If you can wiggle it, sit on it and tighten it again. There is also a gage on one side to help you see when it is level. When Liza is in the seat, her straps should be flat (not twisted) and snug (no more than two finger’s width between her and the belt). The strap release is under her feet and it’s very easy to let it out some so you can get her in easily and comfortably and then tighten it once you have her in it. Eli’s seat uses the seatbelt. The shoulder strap goes in the hook at his shoulder and then the lap portion should go under the arms of the seat on both sides.

Illness FYI: Several kids at church in Eli’s age group have had a virus that causes ulcers in the mouth. I’m hoping that the one’s who’ve had it were caught in time and that Eli wasn’t exposed. However, if he doesn’t want to eat, seems listless, has a fever–check his mouth and see if he has sores (the sores supposedly look like cigarette burns–gross, I know, sorry). It lasts about 5-7 days so I’m sorry if he has it on your watch. Call the doctor and they can give you further instructions on how to handle it. Obviously if he has it, don’t let Liza eat or drink after him so it cuts the possibility of her getting it as well.

Daily Schedule:
Breakfast – as soon as they wake up. Eli will wake up as early as you let him. We try to enforce him playing on his own until 7. Liza usually wakes up around 7. Eli needs to brush his teeth after breakfast. I let him do it in the morning and then I do it at bath time.
Liza’s A.M. nap – around 9-9:30. She can do without it but she will need a P.M. nap by 12-12:30. Play the blue “Dreamland” CD on repeat during nap, softly.
A.M. snack – depending on what’s going on, if they eat at 5 am then they’re going to need a snack. Most of the time if it’s late in the morning and close to 11, we just eat lunch.
Lunch – between 11 and 11:30.
Nap – both of them nap starting around 1:30-2 and sleep for about 1.5 hours. Eli has a home made “Silly Songs” CD that plays softly on repeat during nap. Liza gets the same CD as her morning nap.
P.M. snack – around 3.
Dinner – 5:30ish.
Bath/Bed – Bath is between 6:45 and 7:15. Both need their teeth brushed. We do them both at the same time. If Liza hasn’t had a morning nap then she will need to go to bed around 7. Liza get the Hometics Soundmachine on the waterfall setting at night, played on low. Eli needs to be in bed by 8.

Liza Specific Instructions:
She eats plants! If you have plants that are sitting low, please move them out of her range. We have worked diligently about breaking her of this habit with little luck. She will open doors and drawers, she can and will pry open a barely open door so be aware of where she is and what she is doing. She is much more stubborn than Eli and often it takes relocating her and giving her something to occupy her (books!) to get her away from the object that interested her.

She is loud! She can make some loud screeches but it doesn’t always mean she’s in pain or distressed. And when she and Eli are playing she screeches at him a lot.

When setting up her bed at a new house the first day, try to set the bed up early and spend some time with her in that room playing around the bed. If she is used to the room, she is less likely to give you fits at bedtime. You can sit and read books with her near the bed and that will probably take care of some of the problem. Make sure there’s a night light in her room as well.

At nap, we turn the music on repeat and rock her for a few minutes or even through the first song and then lay her down.

At bedtime, clip her binky to her PJs. We read 3-5 books from her group of books. Each time we show her two books and she picks which one she wants to read. After reading, sing “twinkle twinkle” and then we usually rock her until she almost asleep. I don’t know how that will work in a different place. You may have to rock her more or pick her up a couple of times. Put her in the crib on her belly and cover her with the pink blanket.

At night, if she wakes up I usually go in and rock her until she settles back to sleep. Sometimes she’ll cry once or twice and then settle back by herself, so don’t rush in at the first cry.

If her teeth are bothering her so you can rub some of the “magic mouthwash” (brown prescription bottle) on her gums. If it’s really bad, give her a dose of Tylenol or Motrin. Doses are listed on the bottles. She weighs 21 lbs. If she has a fever, you can alternate giving the two kinds every 3 hours.

Eli Specific Instructions:
Eli knows the rules. He should be pretty good about following what you ask of him. If he’s having trouble following your directions or listening, ask him if he’s hungry. Often, poor behavior on his part is either hunger or tiredness. If it’s early in the morning and he’s having trouble then he needs to eat some protein or wheat bread or both. If he’s having trouble minding, he can loose some computer time, playtime or attending some event you have planned for later the same day or the next day.

He’s a good resource about Liza. He knows her routine pretty well and I’ve been telling him that part of his job as big brother is to help you guys with questions about Liza. He also knows the signs that she makes and can help you interpret, if you don’t remember what the sign is that she is making.

Eli’s bedtime routine consists of a story, singing “twinkle twinkle”, and usually talking about our two favorite things of the day. He will need water by his bed and a night light. It’s also great if there’s a night light in the bathroom, if he has to get up in the night and go.

TV/Computer Time:
We try to limit Eli’s TV/Computer time to under 2 hours a day. Some days he might get a bit more so I try be extra careful about the limit the following day. There’s a case with videos in it, he can pick what he wants to watch from that or if you have some videos, he can pick from those as well. We generally give him computer or TV time in 30 minute increments.

Eli’s websites:
www.playhousedisney.com
www.pbskids.org
www.babygamer.com (from the menu on top, click toddler games)
Once he’s on the site of his choice, he pretty much can play by himself.

Liza will only sit for the Brainy Baby DVD and then for only about 30 minutes. It’s handy to put in if you are trying to get dinner on the table.

Outside Play:
I’ve included their bathing suits and Liza’s swim diapers (blue with Nemo on them — the “pocket” goes in the back). If you are going to be outside for more than about 30 minutes at a time, they MUST have sunscreen on. It’s spray on kind. Eli will stand still and you can spray him down, including his face if you tell him to close his mouth and eyes first. Liza can be sprayed down and then for her face, spray the sunscreen in your hand and rub it on her face. Don’t forget legs, top of feet, and ears. If you are in the water and are planning to be there for a while, they need a new application about every 2 hours. Both of them have pretty good tans going but I don’t want them to get sunburned!

To Take with You on a Day Trip:
If you take a jaunt out anywhere you need a few things for the two of them, here’s a list:

Liza: a change of clothes, at least 2 diapers (4-5) if you are going to be gone all day, wipes, a few toys, a binky, snacks and some water. If you are eating out, I like to take a bib and one of table stick-on placemats for her to eat off of.

Eli: a change of clothes if you think you’ll be getting into anything dirty, snacks, water, he can pick out a few toys of his own. He likes to take his tiny toys with him but sometimes they get lost. Suggest to him that they ride with you in the car and then wait for you in the car until you return if he wants to take something small.

For Both: music (“Slugs, Bugs and Lullabies” works best in the car) and video if the trip is going to be a long one.

If you are going swimming: obviously you need their suits, towels (I didn’t send towels, sorry!), sunscreen and Liza’s floaty.

Phone Numbers:
This was a very long list of contact information, travel info, and friend’s phone numbers that I’m omitting here for obvious reasons.

Emergency Documents:
We’ve included in the outside pocket of the kids suitcase. It has our wills, a power of attorney for medical treatment for the kids if they need it and a copy of our passports. Here’s praying you never have to get it out of the bag.