Moving on, you actually get a 'day in the life' post today! I'd sort of fallen off the wagon on reminding people, and had kind of given up hope on the series. But thankfully MommaBird sent me over a post. So please enjoy a little peak at her day!
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Hello, I'm the Momma to BabyBird, my bouncy & happy {almost} 15 month old boy, and I blog over at MommaBird and I've been a follower of Ashely's blog and adore her photographs of her everyday life and those adorable pics of Ryann, so I am really excited to be here today. I live in Boulder, Colorado with my husband of 6 years. I work part-time and I'm home 2 days a week with the little guy, and here is a sneak peek at one of those days.
7:30 am : BabyBird stirs and wakes up. Most of the time he plays quietly in his crib for a little bit and once he is bored {after he has thrown all of his blankets and toys out of said crib} he'll call out for someone to get him. It's usually daddy that goes in to greet him and change his diaper and get dressed, but once in awhile I'll be the one to go in. You would think the kid would be happy to see his beloved momma walk into his room to rescue him from his crib, but nope! Once he saw me, he looked up and asked for 'Da-da??' well okay then, daddy it is. I hand the kid off to dad and I jump into the shower.
8:00 am : On this particular day, we had music class in the morning that we enrolled in for the spring semester and have been going to on a weekly basis. BabyBird loves music. Or as he calls it, 'nic' and requests it whenever he sees an iPod or our stereo. He loves to bob and groove to music. We eat a quick breakfast, which for him consists of greek yogurt and I grab a cereal bar for the road.
10:00 am : After class, we pack up and drive over to Whole Foods for a quick grocery store trip. Did you know Whole Foods offers a free snack of the day for kids? I didn't, until another mommy friend told us about it and what a great idea to promote & advertise healthy snack foods for kids. Oh who am I kidding? Free crackers to keep my kid occupied while I shop in peace for 10 minutes, surely it was a mom in Whole Food's marketing department that thought of this. A quick spin around the store and I bought the usual - organic blueberries, yogurt melts, greek yogurt, bread, cheese, organic applesauce & broccoli {and sushi for my lunch} and walked out of there with two bags of groceries.
11:00 am : Arrive at home from the store, unpack quickly and prepare lunch for the little guy. Somewhere during this time, BabyBird pats his leg area and says 'da-pa' which translate to diaper in baby sign language and his way of telling me that he just pooped his pants {I live a glamorous life, I tell ya!} and needs his diaper changed. We started teaching him baby sign language at a young age, maybe around 5 months old? and he has done so well. He can do the signs for milk, more, all done, and just recently does diaper when he needs it changed. Lunch is prepared and we sit down together. Mac & cheese salad, tofu, bananas {not pictured}, edamame, chicken korma {indian style chicken from the deli, which he did not like at all} and a rainbow spicy salmon sushi roll for me.
12:15 pm : Lunch is cleaned up and I head upstairs to lay BabyBird down for his nap. This kid loves his naps {that is if I time it just right, if it's too early then he's not tired and does not want to nap and will ask for me to read several books, but if I wait too long then he's over tired and won't nap no matter how many books we read} but today he was tired and went down without any fuss.
12:16 pm : From this moment until he wakes up, is my mad dash to get anything I want accomplished done in the next hour, or two if I am lucky. I quickly pick up around the house, read blogs, un/load the dishwasher, check facebook, throw a load of laundry in the dryer/washer, prep for dinner, catch up on emails, read blogs, check facebook, and {sometimes} I take a nap or watch a show from start to finish in one sitting. But these last two things are pretty rare.
2:15 pm : I had plans today to meet up with an old high school friend who was visiting from out of town at a local park. Before he woke up, I prepared his snacks and loaded the car up with our stroller so once BabyBird woke up, a quick diaper change and we were out the door.
3:00 pm : Arrive at the park and lay out our picnic blanket in nice shady spot in the grass. Boulder is absolutely beautiful this time of year, nice a sunny but with a cool breeze so not too hot. We hanged around the park for an hour or so, and he loved being outside. He would wander off a few week from our picnic blanket, look back and then run back into my arms. Nothing is better than seeing your little one run into your arms. Am I right, to the other mommas out there? Since being a mom, it's been hard to keep in touch with my non-mom friends. It is so true that you automatically join this club once you become a mom, and it's so hard to describe to non-mom friends on what is new in your world. Well, lets see what's new... My kid has learned to sass me and is now a walking parrot so I have to be really careful what I say around him. He went from stumbling around to full. on. running. My heart actually skips a beat when he runs from me and I actually have to quicken my pace to catch up to him. Hmm, nope haven't seen that show, or movie or been to that restaurant yet. It was great seeing her and catching up on what's going on in her life and talk about my little guy and what he's been up to. I am so proud of her on what she has accomplished academically wise {getting her PhD} and how much I am in awe of how much research and work she has put into it.
4:30 pm : Head home from the park and start making dinner. Tonight we are having chicken, black bean, corn and tomato enchiladas. It was really easy to make and very yummy. To keep BabyBird occupied while I cook, I turned on 'nic' {translation - music} and this kid loves Adele. So we both jam out to Adele. Did I tell you that this kid has moves? He totally dances and bops to the beat with his hands in the air. In between chopping and mixing, BabyBird is running around playing with toys in his play room {which we turned out "formal" dining room into a play area which is just off the kitchen} and once in awhile he'll come into the kitchen to show me a toy and then runs off to play. Daddy calls me his anchor, that no matter what he is doing in another room, he'll venture out and find me to just to check up and then runs off again.
6:15 pm : Daddy's home! We were on the floor singing and his little face lights up once he hears the garage door open and sees daddy walks in. BabyBird greets daddy with a little dance and they hang out for a few minutes as I get the rest of dinner together and on the table.
6:20 pm : We all sit down and eat dinner. We try and make this a family tradition each night that all 3 of us sit down and eat together.
7:00 pm : Bath time! Daddy takes a sticky BabyBird upstairs for his bath each night. They have a great bedtime routine put together, you can read more about that here.
7:30 pm : With PJs on, they head downstairs to play piano. They do this each night and it melts my heart seeing my little guy sitting on daddy's lap while they play piano {together} each night.
8:00 pm : I warm up a bottle of milk {I know, I know... he's been weaned from the daytime bottles, but this one before bed has been the hardest to give up} and we head upstairs for the rocking chair. We cuddle up {maybe this is why it's hard to give up this bottle?} with his little legs hanging off of my lap and he drinks his milk. Daddy comes up and every night we share what our best parts of the day were. They usually {okay, most all of the time} involve BabyBird and what his shenanigans where that day. I help him brush his teeth and lay him down for the night.
8:30 pm - 11 pm : This is my time. I usually pack our lunches for the next day, clean up the kitchen, put away laundry and then relax. We either watch a show like Mad Men, or A Daily Show with Jon Stewart, or lately I just got into Scandal. Or most nights, we spend time in the office on the computer. Me browsing blogs, pay bills, pinterest or writing. Then bedtime!
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What are some tips you would give to new moms, or soon to be mommas? Remember to take time for yourself. I know this is easier said than done, and even now after being a mom for 15 months, this is a hard one for me. But you will feel better and less frazzled if you take time for yourself each day, even if that means a shower or being able to eat a meal alone, take the time. Also remember that these moments are phases: kid not sleeping at night? It's just a phase, and it'll get better. Teething? Yes, that tooth will finally come and relief is in sight. Remember this and you'll be able to tackle each moment so much better knowing that it is not going to last forever.
What are your top three baby products? 1. A support group. My amazing doula, recommended a new mom support group that met each week and you bring your newborn with you. It was an amazing atmosphere of being able to share, get advice and just feel like you are not alone in this journey. This really helped me in those early months. 2. A boppy pillow. We still use ours today. 3. Amazon.com - We made nice with our UPS delivery guy. He was the bringer of diapers, wipes, toys, everything and anything that I needed for the baby.
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Thank you Mommabird, for sharing your day with us!
1 comment:
What a sweet boy! I've been meaning to email you- I would love to do a Day in the Life sometime!
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