I just read this hilarious description of Henry's schedule at 8 months old so I thought I would write one down for Eleanor since she will be 8 months tomorrow. I guess it's hilarious to me because it's so different from E's day.
Okay, first, she wakes up at either 5:45 because she pooped, or at 6:30 because she heard her brother screaming like a rabid animal at the other end of the house because he needs me to turn the light on for him to pee, or it's the weekend and dad's home to deal with Henry and we get to sleep in so she wakes up when she would naturally want to (sans poop) around 7. If she's up before Henry or I don't have Henry morning detail, I nurse and change her diaper, giver her a thousand kisses, make her giggle, stand her up on my stomach while she peeks over at my bedside light like a moth (Justin calls her moth-girl). I have a bowlful of toys she cleans off with her mouth and then I dress her in one of her 50 ridiculously cute outfits my mom or MIL bought, hanging in her section of my closet. Deciding what to dress her in takes longer than it does for me.
There is not an exact schedule we follow because weekends are different from weekdays and workdays (MWF) are different from home days (T,TH) so a lot depends on that. But typically the three of us eat breakfast together. E in her high chair and Henry and I at the table. Henry either wants oatmeal or cereal. E gets Os on her tray and some yogurt, or cut up fruit. Today she ate half a peach. I didn't even dice it (although w/ most fruit I do but a peach is so soft and juicy she could handle it). I gave her the half and she sucked all the fruit off the skin. She does not have a single tooth yet but can eat green beans, most fruit, bread, crackers etc. The only reason for purees at this point is b/c you can get a lot of different fruits/veggies in one meal and it's less messy.
Next, we go to the backroom so Henry can watch Sesame street and E plays independently with her toys. I check my email and read the news. Then I play with her a bit, get Henry a snack, clean up a bit. Make Henry's school lunch. Pick out something to wear. Iron if I need to. Wash my hair if I need to. E is usually content this entire time. If not, it's usually because she woke too early and wants to go back to bed. So I rock with her a minute in the chair and see if she is sleepy. If she closes her eyes that means yes and if she doesn't that means she just wanted some attention so then I just carry her while I go about my household chores. Either way, Chela arrives by 8:00 so if E is still awake, Chela takes her for a walk in the stroller for about 30 min and then I shower or clean up or play with Henry. It just depends on what all needs to get done before work/school. This past week Henry sat in my baby seat on the back of my bike and we went for long rides.
E takes her first nap around 8:30 and sleeps at least an hour and sometimes two hrs. It depends if she woke on her own or got woken up by poop, or Henry. If I'm home and it's not a work day, this is when Henry and I read books, color, play play-do, play ball, cars, chat, go outside on the porch, wrestle, play blocks etc. If it's a workday I then get him dressed and ready for school and we leave between 9 and ten. Today we left at 9 and then went to the bank and grocery store together. I drop him off after staying with him 5 min when he's ready to say goodbye which he always is so I might as well wait for him to say so and then I either go home to feed E one more time or I just go to work, depending on the time.
If it's a non work day E will wake around 10 or so, we all have a snack, and then we go out. Story time, our yoga class (which was at my house last week and I plan to post the video), errands, the park, etc. We get home sometimes in time to see dad and other times just in time for everyone's nap, which is about 12:30. Both kids nap about two hours and sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.
By the time nap is over, there is only one more hour till Justin gets home, so we usually just stick around here , eat snack and play toys. Lots of times we have a dance party.
When Justin gets home at 4 we divide and concur. I usually want to get out of the house w/ Henry. Yesterday, Henry and I went out in the rain and splashed in the puddles, getting completely soaked, for an hour, while Justin got his baby time (or E napped?). On my work days, Justin picks Henry up from school, comes home and relieves Chela, he plays w/both kids, and makes dinner and I get home around 5:15, just in time to eat (so nice!).
Either way, we eat at 5. Then we play in the back and do silly things and the time flies. Baths at 6 (together). E would get books but she is usually so hysterically tired, all we can do is dress her for bed and put her down. But if she takes a late afternoon nap (50%) she can hang w/ Henry for books and go to bed at 7 as opposed to 6:30.
If she takes her paci out of her mouth it means she's not ready to be put down yet. 85% of the time though, she is ready. If not, we read more or I hold her while rocking/singing in the chair next to her crib.
J and I go to bed between 9 and 10 and she wakes up around 11ish and then 3ish for milk. Sometimes more, sometimes less. It is so brief (5 min?) I can't tell and I don't have a clock I can see in the dark in my room. The crib is next to my bed and once she has had her first wake up I just keep her in bed with me so it's not really a big deal when she wants to eat. Sometimes I don't feel like sharing the bed though and I just put her back. She doesn't seem to care either way. I just have a totally different perspective on this sleeping thing with her than I did with Henry, b/c I know it is all so fleeting and any bad habits can be broken with a couple nights of protesting. It's really not that big on an issue like it was (in my mind) with him.
So that's our routine, basically.
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