I wanted to document a typical day in my life right now. It's not glamorous, often monotonous and boring, but this is what we do and it will change as Isaac gets older. We don't get out of the house much right now since he is so dependent on getting good naps, but hopefully that will change as well.
February 10, a random Thursday
6:15 I am vaguely aware of Rodney leaving for work.
7:30 I wake up and start my day. I'm not expecting Isaac up for at least 30 minutes, so I get out of bed and check email, facebook, and google reader for a few minutes of alone time before he starts the day.
8:15 Isaac is awake. I usually don't know when he wakes up until I see him on the video monitor. He doesn't make a peep, just lays there and looks around. I go in and wait for the first smile before I unvelcro his swaddle and watch him stretch after a long night of sleep.
I feed him his first bottle, we do a diaper change, then he has some time in the bouncer while I grab a quick breakfast and take Cash out. After those tasks are done, we go to the nursery for some playtime.
9:25 He's getting cranky so I pull the window shade, suck his boogies, turn on the sound machine and turn off the light. We sit and rock in the chair with his pacifier and a book.
9:31 I lay him down in his crib and turn on his seahorse, then make my way to the living room where I will watch him on the video monitor. As soon as I get to the living room I see that his paci has fallen out, so I turn around to go replace it.
We're going through a new phase right now that I like to call Nap Hell. I used to be able to rock him for a few minutes, put him down, and he would fall asleep within minutes. Today I laid him down and his eyes went from drowsy to wide awake, and he is laying in his crib throwing his legs up in the air and rolling from side to side. I'm only expecting him to sleep for 30-35 minutes, which has been the norm lately. At that point he may or may not go back to sleep with my help. The 30 minute nap is fine, but he gets cranky before his next bottle because he didn't get his whole nap in, and he becomes a bear to deal with.
9:38 The seahorse stops playing music so I go back in to turn it on again. He's usually asleep by the time it plays through once. He has calmed down considerably and is no longer flailing around in his crib.
9:45 The seahorse is finished again. I can tell he is on the edge of sleep but fighting it so hard. I decide to leave him alone for a few minutes to see what happens.
9:52 His eyes close and he finally surrenders to sleep, with a few final twitches.
10:22 Just like clockwork, his paci falls out at the 30-minute mark and by the time I get back there to put it back in, he's lying wide awake in his crib. I leave him for a few minutes to see if he'll go back to sleep.
10:40 Isaac is talking up a storm in his crib so I get him out and put him in his rock n play in the bathroom while I take a shower. He quietly sucks his paci and watches me closely as I get out and put my contacts in. We play and laugh for a few minutes.
11:10 Time for another bottle, followed by a diaper change. After that Isaac plays on his playmat while I start a load of laundry and quickly vacuum the living room. From the playmat we move to some tummy time and then he plays in his Bumbo seat and practices holding toys. This is usually the time of day that I get him changed out of his sleeper and dressed in real clothes.
12:15 Nap time. We rock and read one book.
12:20 I put him in the crib and this time he falls asleep right away. I know he's exhausted since he's only had 30 minutes of sleep all morning. I'm hoping he'll take a longer nap this time, but I know I may only have 30 minutes, so I pop a frozen pizza into the oven and take Cash outside for a potty break.
1:10 We passed the 30 minute mark with a few squirms and stretches, but he is still out cold, so I consider washing bottles and dishes. I'm afraid that he'll wake up as soon as the sink fills, but I go for it anyway. Sure enough, he lost his paci 3 bottles in, but I was quick in getting it back in and he settled back to sleep. With bottles and dishes done, I move the laundry to the dryer and get myself dressed and presentable.
2:00 I sit down for some "me time". Upload pictures, read blogs, read my library book, daytime tv.
2:30 Cash requests another trip outside and I oblige, hoping this is the last time I'll have to take him before Rodney gets home.
2:45 I hate waking Isaac up for any reason, but on days like this where he takes a super short nap and a super long nap, I usually end up waking him up so our "schedule" doesn't get too messed up and he doesn't get in bed too late. After a 2 hour and 25 minute nap (hallelujah!) I decide to slowly wake him up so we can stay on track for the rest of the day.
He went from this...
to this...
Bottle, diaper change, and playtime in the bouncer. After a few minutes in the bouncer, it becomes obvious that he needs another diaper change. I change his outfit while we're in there because I forgot to put a bib on him and the whole top of his onesie is soaked with drool.
(Typically if we leave the house to run errands this is when we do it, unless it's a lunch date.)
3:25 Isaac plays in his bumbo while I get towels out of the dryer and fold them in the nursery.
4:00 I've seen several yawns come from the boy so we start our wind-down routine.
4:05 I lay him in the crib and turn on the seahorse. He is definitely not as tired as last time and starts "talking" and kicking his legs almost instantly. We'll see what happens.
4:12 I go in for seahorse round 2, but Isaac sees me and gives me a big smile. At this point I'm confused. This is the baby who can only stay up for 60-70 minutes at a time, but is he telling me he's not tired enough yet? That he can stay up longer now? I consider getting him up and playing for a few more minutes, but I know he's tired, so I get him out and rock him in the chair. I turn him toward me, tummy to tummy, and rock him to sleep. I hold him for a few minutes as I read another chapter in my book. I'm a big fan of him learning to fall asleep on his own in his crib, but I have to admit I love holding him while he sleeps.
4:25 I put him down and cross my fingers. I should be doing something productive around the house, like cleaning the bathrooms, but I plop my lazy butt down on the couch. A few minutes later, I get my lazy butt off the couch to find a snack.
5:15 Isaac wakes up crying so I go and put my hand on his chest to soothe him. That didn't work too well so I scooped him up and took him back to the chair, where he snuggled in and closed his eyes. I held him and read my book until time to make his bottle, but when I put him in the crib he started screaming again, so I carried him into the kitchen while I warmed up his bottle. Around this time I get a text from Rodney telling me he is probably going to be late. He usually gets off work at 5:00, and during tax season it is 6:00, but today they were super busy so he wasn't sure how long he would have to stay.
5:45 Bottle and diaper change. I walked around the house with Isaac for a change of scenery. I feel like we alternate between bouncer, playmat, tummy time, and bumbo during every awake period. I get bored, but I'm not sure if he does or not.
6:15 Rodney calls to say he's on his way home, so I put Isaac on his playmat while I start dinner. Tonight's dinner is what we call "box meal", so named because everything comes in a box. It's cheap, not bad on the taste scale, and most importantly, easy.
6:35 Rodney is home.
7:00 We put Isaac in his swing for a nap while we eat dinner on the couch, watching something from the DVR. This time of night is tricky for Isaac. He needs another nap before bed, but he never sleeps well right now. We usually try a variety of techniques to get him to sleep well at this time.
7:37 I check the video monitor and Isaac is awake in the swing. He was asleep, and I have no idea how long he has been awake. It's too early to start our bedtime routine, but if we get him up he'll be cranky because he would like more sleep. We leave him in the swing and play with him for 15 minutes until Rodney gets him out and rocks him in the glider.
8:00 The "witching hour" is upon us and nothing is making him happy, so we start our bedtime routine a little earlier than planned. Even when he is super fussy, the bath makes him happy every time. After bath we do lotion and fresh PJs.
8:25 Rodney feeds him his bedtime bottle while I set up the video monitor in our bedroom and lay out his sleepsack. After this bottle we keep him upright for a few minutes to let everything settle, read a book, then lay him in his crib with his seahorse for a final wind-down.
8:55 We swaddle Isaac and place him in his pack n play for the night. He is asleep within 5 minutes.
Rodney and I sit on the couch and watch shows from our DVR.
10:00 Everyone is tucked into bed and the house is quiet.
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