Day in the Life Archives - Montessori-ish Mom

Day in the Life – 11 1/2 Months

September 22, 2017 8 Comments

Good morning and happy Friday!

I realized I hadn’t done one of these posts since James was 9 1/2 months – I’m sure you’ve been on the edge of your seats wondering what we’ve been up to 😉 Just kidding, but I do like to capture these moments to look back on.

This was our Monday.

Per my September goals, I set my alarm for 5:30. I got up, poured some homemade cold brew and started working on a project for James’s birthday. I’m working on editing a bunch of the videos we’ve taken this year and putting them together for a birthday video. It’s been really fun to re-watch the old videos and also to learn how to use the program (I’m using VideoPad and it is free and super easy to use).

James woke up at 6:25 and talked happily to himself in his bed. After a few minutes I went to greet him, always one of my favorite times of the day. He gives the best hugs when he wakes up.

We played in his room for a while and then went to eat breakfast. I don’t have any breakfast pictures because I hadn’t decided to do this post yet, but he ate (5!) homemade banana mini muffins and a hard-boiled egg, a new favorite. He would normally eat fruit too, but we really need to go to the grocery store and are all out.

Right after breakfast, we go for a stroller run. I knew it would be a busy day and we likely wouldn’t have time later, plus it would be really hot.

You guys, this run was not the best. It was super humid out (not normal for Austin) and my stomach was cramping up. I think I need to drink more water in the mornings before I run. Still, we ran three miles and it felt great to get it done.

The only thing I don’t like about stroller running is the inability to shower right away when I get home. I went to wash my face (love my current rose face wash, it smells so good!) and James followed me into the bathroom and decided to play in the bathtub for a while. Whatever works little buddy.

We then played in my room so I could at least change out of my sweaty clothes. James rearranged the books for us – thanks buddy.

He always gets out this Sitting Still Like a Frog book and wants me to read it to him. It does look like it would be a kids’ book, but it’s really a book of mindfulness exercises for children and he is always disappointed lol (it is a good book though).

We eventually move into the living room. I clean out the fridge while he plays with tupperware. I then start to roll out my injured foot with a lacross ball – I am super bad about doing this, but it really helps when I do. James decides the ball looks way too interesting and we roll it back and forth instead. Oh well.

It’s almost nap time so we go sit in the backyard for a few minutes and sing some quiet songs. I find this really helps him unwind before naps.

I change his diaper, read him Global Baby Bedtimes and Flip, Flap, Fly, sing him a song and put him in his bed around 9:20. We’re using this HALO Sleep Sack for naps lately and I love the length, it should fit him for awhile! It does run big though, we got a large at first and had to exchange for a medium, and James is really tall.

I finally took a quick shower and then started cooking some chickpeas and writing this post. I also sent some emails for my sister’s upcoming bachelorette party, which is coming up and I’m super excited about!

James woke up around 10:15. I nursed him and we got ready to go to Trader Joe’s for the week. We had been hoping to meet up with some friends at the Wildflower Center, but sadly James and his little buddy are on opposite nap schedules and it didn’t work out, so grocery shopping it was!

I was SO bummed that they didn’t have the cold brew I mentioned last week! I was assured it was just out of stock, not discontinued, so fingers crossed….

We got home just in time for James to eat lunch. I almost always eat lunch with him, but I wasn’t hungry yet and also wanted to get the groceries put away, so I did that while he ate today.

He ate a super random lunch of peas, healthier mashed potatoes (made with olive oil and greek yogurt), black beans, zucchini fritters, and part of a peach. He is a hungry little guy!

I ate a little later while he played and crawled around the living room (spinach, brown rice, chick peas, carrots, hemp seeds, and tahini dressing). I had never had this brand of kombucha before and I loved it, it’s my new favorite.

We read books and sang songs (and climbed furniture…) until it was time for his afternoon nap at 1:30.

While he slept, I made another batch of kale salad for the week, did the dishes and some general cleaning and wrote some more of this post. I also started researching how to introduce whole milk to babies when they turn one – any tips?

Some light reading with a side of bed head

James woke up around 2:45. I went to greet him and he seemed a little grumpy for some reason, but we made the best of it. I nursed him and we played in his room for a while. He still seemed grumpy and I decided to try giving him an afternoon snack.

He’s in kind of a weird place where he seems to be starving by dinner time, but is not always interested in an afternoon snack. Today, he was all about it though!

He ate chickpeas and we shared the rest of his peach from earlier. (I tried to start daily afternoon smoothies at one point, but the blender seems to be his #1 fear in life, so we’re taking a break from that.)

After that it was pool time! We put away his little pool when there was a big storm and never got it back out so he hadn’t played in there in weeks. He was loving it today.

I set up a blanket right next to the pool so he could climb in and out when he wanted and he had a blast. It was so fun watching his excitement. This was definitely the best part of my day.

We eventually moved back inside and played in the playroom until my husband got home from work. We were having leftovers for dinner, so I quickly assembled everything and we ate together.

Salmon, pasta, avocado, butternut squash, broccoli

After dinner was the normal bathtime, nursing, and Goodnight Moon. James has only wanted like 5 minute baths lately for some reason. He doesn’t mind getting in the tub, but starts climbing out after few minutes.

After he went to bed at 7, I poured a glass of wine and we watched a couple of episodes of Bloodline on Netflix. We just started it, but I am totally hooked!

We didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, but it was a really good day.

What was the best day you had this week?

What’s your favorite part of a normal week day?

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Day in the Life

Day in the Life – 9 1/2 Months

July 21, 2017 8 Comments

Good morning and happy Friday!

Here is a look at our day yesterday:

I woke up at 5 for some reason, but I slept super well all night, so felt great. Now that James sleeps through the night, I don’t usually get up super early anymore, but I kind of love it when I naturally wake up early and have time to ease into the day.

I poured some cold brew coffee (super easy if you have a french press – just add one cup coffee ground to a french press, fill with cold water, and let sit over night) and started working on this post.

A little while later I make some oatmeal. (I’m not good at food photography, but is looked like a bowl of oatmeal…or a “bowl full of mush” for my fellow Goodnight Moon aficionados 😉 I’ve been really trying to eat my meals with James, but he doesn’t eat breakfast until around 8 and I don’t want to wait three hours today.

I read a few blogs and then work on a personal writing project. It feels so good to get something done before the little guy wakes up, I may start setting an alarm for 5, we shall see….

He starts peeping around 6:30 so I give him a few minutes to wake up and talk to himself (so cute) and then go greet him to start our day!

He gives me a big smile and a big hug. I love going in to see him in the morning. I breastfeed him and change his diaper. We just started doing stand up diapering, which I’ll talk more about next week. I get him dressed and he plays in his room.

He almost always takes everything off the top of his shelf to start. He plays for a while and then he goes over and chooses a book. He gets a big smile on his face when I read him Polar Bear Polar Bear, one of his current favorites. I read it twice and read some other books too. He sits and watches and listens and turns the pages. Reading books is one of the only times he is still!

We play in his room for about an hour. Toward the end, my husband comes in and plays with him while I make breakfast and empty the dishwasher. James eats half of a banana and some oatmeal. He seriously loves this picture of a group of chefs on the back of one of my cookbooks and gives it the biggest smile every time he sits in his chair.

He plays with an empty oatmeal container while I clean up. After breakfast, we go for a morning walk around the neighborhood.

Some days lately it’s already felt super hot in the morning, but it feels pretty nice today!

When we get home I change his diaper, read a couple more books, and he takes his morning nap. I work on this post and an upcoming post for next week. I generally use James’s morning nap for “computer stuff” (blogging, writing, working on his baby book, planning our upcoming vacations) and his afternoon nap for “house stuff” (prepping dinner and cleaning).

He wakes up around 10:00. I change his diaper and we play in his playroom for a while. He races over to choose Hello Bugs right away. I had put this book away for a while and just got it out again a couple of days ago. He is SO excited it is back; we read it about one million times a day right now and I don’t mind a bit.

We read some more books and look out the window for a while. He plays with some toys.

After thirty minutes or so, I breastfeed him and then we head out to Barnes and Noble.

James LOVES crawling around Barnes and Noble. Despite his current love of books, he has pretty much no interest in sitting to read books when we’re there, there is MUCH too much to see. Crawling around the store, examining things, and watching the big kids was probably the highlight of his day. I have no pictures because I was following him around and trying to keep things out of his mouth. I also got Starbucks while we were there. I try not to get it too often, but I am loving iced soy lattes this summer.

We come home just in time for lunch. Both James and I have avocado toast with eggs and “cherry plums,” a new fruit I found at Trader Joe’s that we’re both loving. I’ve never been much of a plum fan, but these are great! James also eats peas and a few Happy Baby puffs while I’m making lunch (fun fact: I interned for Happy Baby in college, love them!)

James makes it pretty clear when he’s done eating.

I clean up as much of lunch as I can while he’s still in his high chair, talking to him about what I’m doing. I then speed clean the rest with one eye on him while he crawls around.

After I’m done cleaning up lunch, I watch James explore the living room, pulling up on tables, playing with coasters, and examining the blinds. Then it’s time for nap #2. I’m so thankful that he rarely cries now at nap time and bedtime. He just talks to himself for a few minutes and passes out.

James thankfully took a long (for him) nap after a couple of days of short naps. I worked on this post, cleaned the counters and floors, and most importantly, settled on a race to run with my little brother! We’re planning to run the 3M Half Marathon in Austin next January. My brother lives in Chicago and I’m so exited he’s coming down, and so excited to be running a race! It has been years since I’ve done one due to my injured foot and I am really looking forward to it.

James woke up around 2:20 and I breastfed him again and then went to the library for baby play time! Baby story time is on hold for the summer, but the very nice children’s librarian still puts out toys and books for the babies on Thursday afternoons and we always have so much fun there. Its been more hit or miss as our little ones have gotten older and nap times have changed, but the stars aligned and all of our little buddies were there today. James was in a great mood after a good nap and I think we both had a lot of fun.

We got home a little after 4:00, I breastfed him again and then my husband came home! A lot of people in his office are on vacation this week and he’s been able to come home a little earlier the last couple of days, which has been so nice.

James crawled around the living room, playing with coasters, exploring ice cubes, sorting through my recipe cards, and examining a deck of cards.

Eventually I make dinner. We had leftovers from yesterday’s burrito bowls, so it was super easy. James had a deconstructed version (black beans, brown rice, avocado, tomato with green onion, and fresh mozzarella because we ran out of cheddar). I also gave him greek yogurt with some easy blueberry chia jam I made yesterday since a lot of dinner was smaller / harder to pick up foods.

My husband cleaned up dinner while I read a few books to James and then James had a bath. He’s recently transitioned out of his baby bathtub and he seems to really be enjoying crawling around the big tub and having more space to move. He is in a really great mood tonight.

After bath time, I breastfeed him one more time, we all read Goodnight Moon together, I sing him a song and he goes to bed a little before 7:00.

I am finishing up this post, and then will likely watch an episode of my latest Netflix obsession, Friday Night Lights. Yes, I’m a little behind the times.

After a couple of days with short naps and afternoon grumpiness, today was such a fun and happy day!

How has your week been?

What was the best part of your day yesterday?

Day in the Life

Day In the Life – Weekend Edition

June 14, 2017 4 Comments

Happy Wednesday 🙂

I realized none of the DITL posts I’ve done have been about weekends, so decided to capture a Saturday this time.

We were supposed to have a friend come stay with us this weekend, but he sadly got strep throat and had to cancel, so we had zero plans all weekend.

Saturday morning I woke up at 6:15, followed shortly by the little buddy at 6:25. It looked beautiful outside, so I decided to take him for an early morning walk. Now that the summer heat is in full swing here, I’ve been trying to get out earlier in the day. I actually love hot weather, but don’t want to keep the little guy out for too long in the mid day heat.

It was a really beautiful quiet morning, with traces of pink still in the sky. We saw cardinals, mockingbirds, blue jays, and lots of mourning doves while we were out.

When we got home, I nursed him and then we played in his room for a while. I felt his gum to see if his first tooth had poked through, but not quite yet! It feels like it’s close; there is a definite little bump. Eventually, it was time for breakfast. He ate his favorite oatmeal, and I ate a grown up version.

He almost always eats breakfast in his weaning chair, but I scrubbed it thoroughly yesterday and want to add another coat of natural wood finish before he uses it again. I’m hoping another coat will seal it better and make it easier to clean.

I usually leave his pajamas on until after breakfast since oatmeal is messy and he would just have to change clothes again anyway.

It is still really nice out, so we have play time in the backyard after breakfast. He is fascinated by the grass and loves to crawl around in it.

He sees an ant and gets a huge grin as he tries to chase it down.

His Dad wakes up and comes out to join us – the fun continues!

After a while, James is getting tired and it is time to get ready for a nap. We read The Napping House in his new reading nook and he goes to sleep.

I didn’t sleep that well the night before and am feeling a little lethargic, but really want to go for a run while he naps. My injured foot was bothering me last week and I hadn’t run all week. So glad I went! I felt a little slow to start with, but ended up having a great run. I don’t have a working Garmin right now, so I’m not sure how far I went, but somewhere between 4-5 miles.

I listened to my Austin Marathon playlist from a few years ago. It’s a super random mix of my favorite songs from throughout my life. Highlights include John Michael Montgomery’s Cowboy Love from one of my first cds in 4th grade, our wedding song by Jackie Greene, and lots of Eminem. Each song reminds me of a different time in my life and I love it.

When I get home, I hear James right away – apparently he did not have a good nap (told you I would jinx it!) I take a quick shower and play time resumes.

James is in a pretty good mood despite his short nap and we all play with random stuff around the living room and kitchen. Really, mostly my husband plays with him while I sit and watch. I’m feeling tired and chugging both water and cold brew coffee.

James nurses again and a little while later I make him lunch.

He eats a pancake (I made a big batch last weekend and now have a bunch in the freezer), scrambled eggs with spinach and onion, and roasted sweet potatoes.

My husband starts up the grill while James is eating and James stared out the window in a trance – he loves watching his Dad!

After cleaning up lunch and a little more play time, it is time for nap #2. I work on this post while he sleeps and enjoy the delicious smells coming from the grill outside.

I failed to take a picture because we were trying to eat quickly before James woke up, but we ate delicious burgers and a salad I made with spinach, baby kale, strawberries, and honey goat cheese – so good. I’m not really into restaurant burgers, but love burgers straight off the grill!

The little guy woke up right before 1:00 and was ready for more play time! My husband played with him while I talked to my sister on the phone (mostly about our upcoming Disney World trip…SO excited). I heard periodic squeals and bursts of laughter from the other room and it made my heart so happy.

When I got off the phone it was time to nurse James again and then we were ready for some more outside time. It was a cloudy day and not so unbearably hot as it has been some days so we took full advantage. We headed to the backyard for some splashing in the kiddie pool, one of my favorite things lately.

We spent quite a while out there and then it was time for one more nap for James. He’s in the midst of the 3-2 nap transition and it just depends on the day, but since he hadn’t had any long naps today he needed a third one. He fell asleep almost immediately at 3:05 so apparently that splash time wore him out!

I raced out to do some top-secret fathers day errands and got home a little after he woke up.

I nursed him again and then we had a little more play time in the new playroom. The playroom is not finished, it’s just an empty room with a rug and a couch, but he already seems to love playing in there. As he wants to explore more and more, it’s nice to have another space that is set up for him.

Soon it’s time for me to make his dinner. He has part of one of the burgers my husband grilled, avocado toast, green beans, and watermelon. Dinner takes a LONG time today, which is unusual for him, but he seems really into eating his food, just slowly.

He particularly likes the avocado toast and, of course, the watermelon.

Because dinner took so long, we divide and conquer and I clean up dinner while my husband does bath time. James’s hair brush is one of his favorite things to play with at the moment.

Then it’s time to nurse James one more time, wrestle him into pjs, read him Goodnight Moon, and sing him Forever Young one more time for the day.

He is in bed at 6:15 and passes out almost immediately; I don’t hear a single sound after I leave the room.

Despite not taking good naps today, James was in the BEST mood all day, constantly laughing, and it was a really fun day.

After he’s in bed, we eat random leftovers for dinner and I drink wine and eat ice cream while we watch a new to us show (Red Oak – only okay so far). I then pass out myself, so tired and so happy.

What was your Saturday like?

Day in the Life

Day in the Life – 7.5 Months

May 17, 2017 8 Comments

Here was our day yesterday – it was an interesting one….

We’ve fallen into a general pattern of staying home (apart from walks) about one day a week, running errands a couple of days, and doing things just for fun a couple of days. This was a just for fun day.

James slept really well last night (or so I thought…), waking up at 4:30 to eat, but otherwise sleeping soundly. I used to always get up for the day if he woke up around 4-5 to eat, but I’ve been really tired and decided to go back to bed. I get up for real just before 6.

I eat oatmeal and drink coffee (delicious cold brew from Trader Joe’s – this stuff is SO good) while working on blog posts. James wakes up at 6:45 and I go get him at 7:00. I find him playing in front of his mirror when I go in.

I change his diaper, nurse him, and put his toys on his shelf so that he can play. I’ve started putting his toys up at night to minimize distractions from sleep since he can now easily get out of his floor bed.

I thought James slept well, but he is pretty grumpy and seems tired this morning so I suspect he was quietly awake for a while, just not fussing or making noise.

He started army crawling last week and zips around his room. He crawls back into bed for the first time this morning – I’m glad to know he can do this now since he’s been able to get out of bed, but not back in, for a while now.

At around 7:30, we go in to see his Dad – always a happy time. I take a shower and make James’s breakfast while he plays with his Dad.

James eats baby oatmeal mixed with applesauce, coconut oil, cinnamon, chia and hemp seeds, and wild blueberries. I used to think he didn’t really like breakfast until I started giving him this concoction, which he LOVES.

He usually finishes it, but is still seeming tired and is not that into it this morning.

James plays on a blanket nearby while I clean up his breakfast and then we go play outside in the backyard. Now that the days are getting hot (already!), I’m trying to get outside with him in the mornings more when it’s still pleasant out.

Being outside seems to calm him down and he plays and explores quietly until it’s time to go inside and get ready for a nap.

We read The Runaway Bunny and I sing him a song and put him in his bed for nap time around 9:00 AM. He gets out of his bed twice and I go in to put him back without any words or eye contact. He then settles down and goes to sleep.

I get dressed, get a second cup of coffee, work on this post, steam some green beans for James, and load the dishwasher while he naps.

James woke up a little before ten after sleeping for around 40 minutes. I know this is not enough sleep for him considering how tired he was all morning, so I try to help him fall back to sleep. This works sometimes, but not today!

I change his diaper and nurse him and we get ready to go meet some friends at the Wildflower Center. This is where things got interesting…

We were in the car ready to go, but the car wouldn’t start. It just made a bunch if clicking noises and flashed a bunch of lights. Change of plans.

This was disappointing, but luckily my husband was working from home today, so he could take a look at it (I know nothing about cars). Even though he was home, we share a car since he bikes to work, so we were still stranded.

James played in his room for a bit, still tired and grumpy, but holding it together. I then made him lunch. Today he had green beans, whole wheat pita bread with olive oil, and red lentils cooked with ginger, red onion, and coconut milk. These are all things he likes, but he didn’t eat too much today. I knew this might happen since he was tired, but thought I’d at least try.

After lunch, we went for a stroller walk around the neighborhood. As you can see, he was thrilled 😉

I listened to Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child on Audible, but soon realized it was making me feel really depressed that James has been napping so poorly, so I turned it off and listened to Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman instead. I mostly kept thinking about naps though and now have no clue what is going in the book.

After we got home, one of my husband’s friends came and jumped our car. My husband then took it to an auto shop and it turned out it needed a new battery. I’m glad it was an easy fix.

James played a little more and then I read him a story and sang him a song and put him in bed for nap # 2. He doesn’t get out of bed at all this time and passes out almost immediately.

While James naps, I work on this post and eat lunch – leftovers of this delicious pasta salad (we used half chickpea pasta, goat cheese instead of feta, and added chicken and basil – so good!) and some cherries. Then I waited anxiously to see if James would take a good nap….(spoiler alert: no, no he would not).

James woke up right at 1:30. Honestly, this was really discouraging, but I tried to rally and enjoy more play time with him. He was actually in a surprisingly good mood, but was still tired, and took another nap at 3:00.

I prepped his dinner and did stuff around the house while he slept. He slept a record 24 minutes….

I sat outside with James for a little bit and then gave him an early dinner.

He ate ground beef with onions and tomatoes, avocado slices rolled in hemp seeds (to make them less slippery), green beans, and pear slices.

He ate surprisingly well considering how over-tired he was by this point.

He had a little more play time, then a bath, and a super early bedtime. Hopefully this extra sleep will help him be more rested tomorrow!

I’m so happy my husband got the car fixed earlier today because I had dinner plans with a good friend I hadn’t seen in a while. This was actually the first time I went out to dinner without the little guy since he was born. It may be time to find a babysitter!

It was a great, much needed end to a kind of rough day. On days like this though, I try to remember that even the hardest days with James are so good and so worth it. Here’s to a better tomorrow!

What was the best part of your day yesterday?

What was the hardest part?

Day in the Life

Day in the Life – 5.5 Months

March 17, 2017 2 Comments

Good morning! I hope you’ve had a great week and are looking forward to something fun this weekend. I’m hoping to do a day in the life post once a month, so I can remember what life was like at each little stage. This was our day on Tuesday.

I woke up at 5:20. James was squirming, but not crying or anything. I fed him so that he would go back to sleep for a little longer. He stayed half asleep while he ate and then went back to bed.

While he slept, I ate breakfast, drank coffee, and then did a 30 minute Barre3 workout (<- referral link). One thing I like about Barre3 is that you can select a whole workout, or just choose 10 minute segments, so I don’t have to worry about him waking up and needing me in the middle of the workout. This time I did get to finish the whole thing though and it felt great! I don’t always feel like doing it, but I feel so much better when I get a workout in first thing in the morning.

James started squirming again at 6:59 – perfect timing. I feel like it works best when he wakes up around 7. When he wakes up earlier, he’s still super sleepy all morning and when he wakes up much later, he doesn’t take good naps. I give him some time to wake up while I unload and load the dishwasher.

I used to go in immediately when I heard him, but have started trying to give him at least ten minutes or so to wake up first. He almost always wakes up in a happy mood in the morning and rolls around and talks to himself. I hope having time in there alone helps him feel comfortable and safe in his room as he gets older. I am also a major introvert and feel like I’d be heavily annoyed if someone came in and started talking to me right when I opened my eyes every morning 🙂

As a side note, I wish the baby monitor took pictures / videos. Does anyone know if this is a thing? I feel like it should be, I’d buy it. He is too cute squirming around in there and chatting up a storm.

We have a new favorite morning tradition. After I greet him and we snuggle for a few minutes, we go sit outside on the back patio. This has been a different experience since daylight savings, but I figured he is never outside when it’s dark, so maybe it’s interesting? I love all of the morning sounds and there is something so nice about getting outside first thing. I know it puts me in a good mood anyway. Sometimes we sing songs out there and sometimes we just listen and enjoy the stillness.

Today it is just starting to get light and the moon is out. I think this may be the first time James has seen the moon, which makes me really appreciate all of the wonder of such a beautiful morning. It was a little chilly, so I put on his cozy fox hat – I can hardly even handle the cuteness. We sit out there until he starts to get antsy and then I change his diaper and get him dressed for the day.

We go in to say good morning to his Dad – always a highlight of the morning.

After snuggling and playing in our bed for a while, I feed James and then he plays in front of his mirror. He has been initiating wrestling matches with his blankets lately and it is highly amusing to watch. I sit next to him and read about the upcoming milestones to expect in a baby development book until he wants attention.

I hold him upright while he bounces – his absolute favorite activity of the moment! I feel like he has very little interest in practicing sitting up because he just wants to MOVE. Bouncing is much more his speed.

He is getting sleepy eyes so we sit in the glider while I read him “Polar Bear Polar Bear, What do you Hear?”. I then turn on the white noise, sing him a song (Forever Young – our goodnight song), and put him in his sleep sack for his nap at about 9:10.

While he naps, I work on my Baby Sign Language post and this post. I also clean the kitchen, dining area, and living room. Yikes, I need to work on cleaning the floors more often before he starts crawling!

James woke up a little after 11. I fed him and we set out on the day’s adventure! My husband was working from home today, so he joined us for lunch.

His favorite taco place (Taco Deli) is right next door to my favorite juice / smoothie place (Juiceland), so it works out perfectly. They also have outdoor seating, which gives the little guy a lot more to look at. We go here probably once a week.

When we got home, James had some play time before his afternoon nap.

He goes back and forth between two and three naps these days. When he takes a long morning nap, he often only takes one afternoon nap. This is especially true on days like today where he is in the car / on our laps for a lot of his awake time and hasn’t gotten to roll around get his energy out.

He napped from about 2:30-3:30 and then we sat in the backyard again for a little while. It was seriously beautiful out today. He played a little more while I folded laundry.

I fed him and when my husband was done with work, we went for a long family walk.

Today was the first time we put him in the stroller without his car seat / converter. He’s been really squirmy in his car seat lately so I looked up when he could go in the stroller without it…8 weeks. Whoops. #newmomfail. He seemed much happier in the stroller this way so I’m excited to hopefully be able to take some longer walks!

After our walk, James played some more and then we took his 24 week pictures…hard to believe!

Then is was bath time…one of his and my favorite times of the day. After plenty of bath time fun, I fed him, gave him a massage and we all read Goodnight Moon together before putting him to bed. I seriously love this stage. It was a great Tuesday.

Day in the Life

Four Months – A Day in the Life

February 10, 2017 2 Comments

James is just over four months old. The past nineteen weeks have been both a blur and an eternity. While some days are hard (for instance, Tuesday, when he barely napped), this is one of those rare times in life when I’m able to recognize, right in the thick of it, that these are the “good old days,” the ones I’ll look back on when I’m old and remember with aching fondness. I remind myself of this often. Yet despite trying to appreciate each day, I’m already finding it hard to remember the details of the early days…back when James was “little,” ha. I’m hoping that periodically recording a “day in the life,” just a normal, mundane day, will help me remember once the fog of sleeplessness has lifted and these sweet days have slipped away.

As is currently typical for him, James woke up once in the middle of the night (2:40 AM) and once in the early morning (5:07 AM). I always get up after this early morning wakeup while he sleeps a little longer. Thankfully, this has shifted from the four o’clock hour to the five o’clock hour recently. I find I have a much better day if I have a little time to myself (and a lot of coffee), before being “Mom”. I ate breakfast and watched an episode of the West Wing – it was a good one.

He continued dozing and quietly entertaining himself for quite a while, so I completed this 40 minute strength workout before going to get him. He was still calmly playing when I went in, but was clearly wide awake at this point. Going in to get him in the morning is one of my favorite things. He always looks at me blankly for a couple of seconds before registering that it’s me and giving me a big smile. I pick him up and cuddle with him for a few minutes in the glider. He is such a busy baby, always on the move, and doesn’t like to be held for long unless he’s just woken up, or is getting sleepy, so I cherish these times. I changed his diaper, got him dressed, and he played for a little while in front of his mirror, looking at himself and his mobile, and practicing rolling, while I straightened up his room.

We then went in to have cuddle time with his Dad before he went to work – another one of my favorite parts of the day. We do this most mornings and it is so nice to have some time all together before the day gets going. Before too long, the little guy was getting restless, so I fed him, changed his diaper again, and he had some more play time in front of the mirror (this time with his crocheted rattle), before going down for his first nap at 8:45. He fell asleep independently (something he’s been working on) within five minutes.

While he napped, I unloaded the dishwasher, showered, and got dressed for the day. His naps have been a bit unpredictable since he started rolling. He always wakes up after thirty-five minutes, but sometimes goes back to sleep for two hours or so. Once it was clear he had fallen back asleep, I made another cup of coffee (obsessed with the Nespresso I got for Christmas) and got to work on this post.

At 10:15, I turned off the white noise app that helps James sleep. I don’t usually do this, but I wanted to take him to story time at the library later, and knew if he kept sleeping, he’d be ready for his next nap right when it was time to leave. He woke up within a couple of minutes and I went and snuggled with him and fed him.

After feeding him and changing his diaper, we went for a walk. We normally do this in the afternoon, but it was ridiculously nice and sunny out. When we got home, James had some play time. We usually move to a new room in the house for each different play time, just to mix up the environment a bit. This time, he was in front of a window in my room. I like to give him a chance to play independently at the start of each play time. I set him up in front of a mirror or window and put one or two toys, or a book propped open to look at, nearby. He looks out the window, practices rolling, tries desperately to crawl, and reaches for the toys. I either sit by him while he does this or do some type of house work in the same room. He eventually asks for attention, or gets frustrated by his crawling attempts, and then we play together. I sing him songs, which he loves lately, read him books, help him grab a toy, or talk to him about what we see out the window. After singing lots of songs, he eventually got sleepy eyes, and went down for another nap at around 12:30. He needed a little help falling asleep this time, so I rubbed his back, avoiding eye contact so as not to stimulate him. His afternoon naps are usually short (35 minutes…on the dot), so this timing worked out perfectly for making it to story time at the library…woohoo! While he slept, I made a smoothie and got everything ready to go.

He woke up just in time and we went to a nearby library that has a story time for babies under one year old. They sing songs and read a short book and then the librarian puts out toys and blows bubbles. James sits in my lap, stunned, looking around at the other babies (“I’m not the only one!” I imagine him thinking.) I go mostly for selfish reasons, to get a chance to talk to other moms, but I do think he gets something out of seeing other babies sit and crawl and walk. He fell asleep in the car on the way home…and I drove around for thirty minutes to let him get a decent nap. He used to keep sleeping if I brought him in from the car, but this is no longer the case. The day before, he fell asleep for five minutes and was utterly convinced that counted as his nap. I was listening to an audio book (The Happiness Project, one of my favorites) so I did not mind the extra time in the car.

When we got home, I fed him and changed his diaper again and then we had some more play time. Nick got home a little while later and joined us. James started getting a little grumpy, so we started bath time, which always cheers him up. I then fed him and Nick did the bedtime routine, which we take turns with. For bedtime, we give him a massage with lavender lotion, read him a book, sing him a song, and place him in his bed. Sometimes he goes to sleep on his own and sometimes he cries, in which case one of us stays with him and pats his back / rubs his tummy until he is calm or asleep.

It was a completely ordinary, extraordinary day.