7:00 am - Ben starts to stir. It usually begins with a series of grunts as he tries to break out of his swaddle wrap. I grab him from his bed and bring him into bed with me. We both stretch and attempt to wake up for the next 30 minutes to 1 hour.
8:00 am - Diaper Change
8:05 am: Ben eats while I watch The Today Show (on our super old color tube TV in the nursery).
8:10 am: Ben hangs out in his crib for a bit while mama gets herself ready for the day.
9:30 am - Diaper...and outfit change (if you know what I mean).
10:00 am - Ben plays on his activity mat while finish up a report for work. Multi-tasking - woot!
11:00: Burp Ben...which then leads to more snuggling, and eventually him falling asleep.
11:15 am - Put Ben down in his crib for a nap
12:30 pm - Ben eats again.
1:15 pm - With his arms secure in his swaddle wrap now, Ben is protected from the spontaneous limb flailing that will always wake him up! He is back down for attempt #2 at his nap.
* Had today been a day where I had left the house to run an errand or meet up with a friend, Ben's early afternoon nap would take place in his car seat and/or stroller. The kid falls asleep in that thing almost instantly once the car is moving when our errands coincide with nap time.
I'm definitely NOT watching episodes of "A Baby Story" while I do all of this...
I hope that in the upcoming months I will start doing a consistent yoga practice during Ben's nap. I am still dealing with some mild back pain from my car accident (we think) so until I have finished with Physical Therapy, I am not back up to speed with yoga. Things seem to be improving greatly though! Baby steps...
3:15 pm - Check in on Ben via monitor - still sleeping!
3:20 pm - Today I feel ambitious, so I'm going through my closet and gathering up old clothes to donate to Goodwill. This seems like a good time to get rid of stuff; If I didn't wear it last Winter/Spring due to pregnancy and I'm not super excited that I can fit into it again this Fall/Winter/Spring, then it's time to give it to someone who can use and appreciate it.
4:15 pm - I hear Ben grunting, (and I miss him), so I decide to scoop him up from his nap.
Let me out of this swaddle!
Freedom!
4:20 pm - Ben eats/I actually do read on my Kindle this time :) He rewards me with an adorable smile after he is done.
4:45 pm - Diaper change
5:00 pm - Tummy time! (Maxwell supervises).
5:15 pm - Greg calls on his way home from work. We debate what to have for dinner (Taco Bell).
5:30 pm - Diaper and outfit change (again). Spit up this time...
5:45 pm - More activity mat action! This time I join him on the floor and blab away about everything I did during his nap.
6:00 pm - Play with a toy/stare at each other.
6:05 pm - Greg/Dad is home!
6:20 pm - Ben eats.
6:45 pm - We eat.
7:10 pm - Diaper change.
7:15 pm - Bath time with dad!
8:00 pm - Ben eats
8:30 - 9:00 pm - I swaddle Ben up and we hit the rocking chair. I'm working hard to (hopefully) not create any bad habits in the sleeping department. (I don't want him relying on being rocked in order to fall asleep...but this is what we do every night). We have our "routine" at bed time. I will either "shhhhh" him, as he most definitely will cry when he is first put in the swaddle, or I will sing "Paparazzi" to him. (I'm not kidding). I've found that most pop, boy/girl love song lyrics can actually apply quite nicely to a mother/son scenario. (Most, definitely not all).
I'm your biggest fan
I'll follow you until you love me, Papa-paparazzi
Baby, there's no other superstar
you know that I'll be your
Papa-paparazzi
Promise I'll be kind, but I won't stop until that boy is mine
Baby you'll be famous, chase you down until you love me
Papa-paparazzi
I'll follow you until you love me, Papa-paparazzi
Baby, there's no other superstar
you know that I'll be your
Papa-paparazzi
Promise I'll be kind, but I won't stop until that boy is mine
Baby you'll be famous, chase you down until you love me
Papa-paparazzi
...anyway...
Once Ben seems to be drifting off, I will carry him into his bed - a little bassinet that we keep in our room - turn on his sleep sheep (he prefers the ocean waves or raindrops) and he will hopefully fall/stay asleep!
Through the night, he will wake up once around 12-1 and again between 4-5 to eat and get changed. We have been incredibly lucky that after another swaddle and a quick rock in the chair, he will go right back to sleep until waking for good between 7 and 8. I have yet to experience the zombie-like state that I had been expecting to be living in during the first months (phew).
9:00 pm - Greg and I will climb into our awesome new bed (finally upgraded to a king!), snuggle up, catch up on our days and watch TV. His new job at Aramark has him waking up pretty early these days, so I am handling the majority of the weekday night time duties.
So that is our day! I'm sure to some it sounds extremely boring and repetitive. If I would have read this prior to getting pregnant (and hey, let's face it - even in the months leading up to having him) I would have felt the same way! There is just something very, very special about taking care of your baby - meeting all of their needs and being there to see each and every thing they do throughout their day! I will continue to savor each and every moment of my maternity leave - it truly is the BEST!
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