Technically I'm a lawyer. I went to law school (loved it), took the California Bar Exam (hated it), and then never practiced (I guess I'm indifferent) for reasons that are too boring to talk about now. Anyway, I now have the inordinate good luck to be a stay at home mom. Not only that, Jeremy works from home! No kidding. He's got stuff going on of course, but it's almost as if PomPom has both parents at home raising her on the daily. Lucky girl!
PomPom plays in her first fort!
We get up between 8-9 AM. Oh yeah, baby. It used to be more like 7-8 AM, but PomPom has now been night weaned (no longer nurses in the middle of the night), and she started sleeping later! Totally the opposite of what I expected. Anyway, night weaning is another post.
PomPom nurses, gets a diaper change, and we dress her. I say we because she's pretty helpful these days--pushing her arms through and trying to put on her shoes.
We have breakfast. That means PomPom gets breakfast and I sneak a few bites she doesn't eat. From my understanding this kind of parent-scavaging is typical. Never in my life would I have thought I would eat what's leftover from my kid's meal, but there you have it. I do. PomPom's breakfasts are pretty awesome if I say so myself. Her favorite thing is buckwheat-banana pancakes (Gwyneth Paltrow's recipe, no less). We mash the bananas and mix into the batter instead of slices. Make up a big batch, freeze them flat, then toss in a bag in the freezer. You can pop them in the toaster and PRESTO, pancakes for breakfast every day! You'll thank me for this tip. We also give her some fruit (strawberries and oranges are favorites these days) and try to get her to eat some Greek yogurt. She loves Greek yogurt, plain and unsweetened, but it's a little tough getting her to eat it right now because she enjoys feeding herself but does not yet use a spoon...so we have to convince her to let us give her the odd spoonful through breakfast. While PomPom eats, I'm usually in eyesight in the bathroom brushing teeth, washing face, and slapping on a bit of make up. Jeremy gets up at 8:40 (unless he has something scheduled early), and heads to his office in the basement to start work at 9 AM (lucky guy!).
After breakfast, it really depends on the day. We might have a playdate, or be meeting up with other mamas and babies for some exercise, or running errands. Sometimes we stay in the house so I can get some household chores done while PomPom entertains herself. That self-entertaining thing is not happening so easily right now. She used to play self-directed for over an hour. I think she's starting to get to the point where her usual activities are old hat and not stimulating enough. So, then I end up playing, reading, and dancing to music with PomPom. If you haven't discovered Caspar Babypants, please give him a listen on Pandora. Raffi is great and all, but Caspar Babypants is where it's at. Jeremy is, of course, working during this time, but sometimes we luck out and he comes up for a visit, and sometimes even brings me a steaming cup of awesome (I mean coffee).
About 11 AM PomPom starts to lose her mind. That means it's time for lunch followed closely by nap. She might nurse before lunch, sometimes not. We're getting to a stage where she's decreasing her nursing. Totally fine by me. Lunch is usually vegetarian, consisting of beans, veggies, and cheese. Again, she digs feeding herself and makes a giant mess, but it's cool. It's all in the name of development, right?
PomPom's critical naptime start is between 12 and 12:30 PM. She'll usually sleep about two hours, but not if you get her into her crib after 12:30 PM. Talk to other parents, most will tell you that naptime rules their schedules. A well-rested baby really makes everything else possible!
I try to get as much as possible done during naptime, but I can't do anything too noisy after she has been sleeping for over an hour or she'll wake up. There is definitely some strategy going on here. Today I got some beets roasting (from our CSA box!) to put in a salad at dinner, called Azure Standard (an online bulk natural foods company) about a problem with my order, made lunch for myself and Jeremy, planted some plant starts in the garden, and started some beansprouts. I meant to fold diapers and do this blog post also, but I got to chat with a dear friend instead.
Today PomPom woke up at 2:15 PM, though it varies. She nursed a bit, had a snack (graham cracker, orange pieces), and then I tried to make her play by herself while I started some homemade coconut milk. I made it happen, but PomPom was holding up her arms ("up") and whining the whole time. I moved into the living room to fold those diapers and she "read" a couple books, but was still whining at me. We turned on the Caspar Babypants station and danced a bit. She's finally playing right now, as I blog! Sometimes after nap we go out and do stuff, just not today.
At about 3:30 PM PomPom starts to get hungry and will snack consistently until dinner, and then eat a full dinner. Maybe I need to just make a fourth meal after nap, but I haven't tried that yet. We're dealing with snacking now. We'll see what happens.
At 5 PM, [ideally] Jeremy comes up from work and entertains PomPom while I make dinner and we're eating by 6 PM. Tonight I'm going to a workout at six, so hopefully dinner will come together a little quicker.
Following dinner, it's bath time for PomPom. She LOVES baths, but recently went through a stage where she was absolutely freaked out by the bath. It was so strange, but we got her over it by having her shower with me instead. It totally worked (thanks to our pediatrician, Dr. Thompson, for suggesting this) and now we do either shower, or bath. Please note, if you want to shower with your baby, there is some finesse required. A wet and sudsy baby is slippery. Try not to drop your baby in the shower!
Jeremy is in charge of bath time. Which goes: wash up, play in the water a bit, dry off and lotion up (if necessary), coat the bottoms of her feet and spine with doTERRA essential oil blends Balance and Serenity to help her calm down and go to sleep (ask me about doTERRA if you're interested in essential oils!), and stuff her in some jammies. Then it's bedtime!
It's about 7 PM when she's ready to lay down. I nurse her one last time if she's interested then read her a book. We close the blinds, turn off the lights (PomPom has been flipping the switch herself for months!), turn on the space heater set to 75 (if necessary), turn on the white noise, and giver her Ducky (a Wubbanub pacifier with a little plush duck attached). I usually sing her a lullaby unless she's pushing off me to get into her bed. Tuck her in (she graduated to a blanket at a year), give her back a little rub as she's a tummy sleeper, and head out. She's sleeping until between 5-6 AM when she needs help going back to sleep (give her Ducky, which is usually on the floor, and lay her down again). She goes back to sleep and we're ready to start again at 8 or 9 AM the next day!
It goes without saying, I hope, that every family is different and parents do the best they can for their children. This post is not meant to be a judgment of others' lifestyle, nor is it an invitation for others to judge us. Thank you. ;)
Yay for your blog! I think I might be your dear friend who impeded your writing :-)
ReplyDeleteYou were, but it was a good trade and I wrote the post anyway! Win-win. :)
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