This is the first in a series of blog posts my fabulous friend, Meghan, and I are doing in an attempt to document our lives as new moms. So here it is: the good, the bad, and the beautiful.
Our first topic is to describe a typical day in our lives. I made the mistake of reading Meghan's beautifully written post in which she'd included a number of adorable pix of her adorable son before writing my own post and now I'm incredibly intimidated. But - per usual - I've waited until last minute so now I have to just do it. So here goes. :)
Sunday, September 7th, 2014 - Reese is 10 months, 1 week
3:00 am - I am zonked out. I finally wound down enough to fall asleep two hours ago. I hear a Reese whimper above the nature sounds that are coming through the baby monitor. It's not enough to fully wake me so I drift back off. I hear the whimper again - a little louder this time. Again. Again. Again. Louder. Louder. Louder. I wait a few minutes to see if he'll self-settle. That's what the books say to do. But deep down I know it's just wishful thinking. He means business - I can tell. He's been sleeping through the night sporadically but, apparently, not tonight. FULL ON CRY. Self-settle is a no-go. Duh.
Funny how during the newborn days, a deep breath was enough to make me bolt upright and jump to his side, boob at the ready. Ten months later, I make him work for it a little. Like, really? Do you REALLY need me? You better really need me.
OKAY, I'm up. I go into his room and scoop him up, change his diaper, and settle in to nurse. I rock him while he eats and I cuddle him securely in case I accidentally drift off. In 45 mins or so, he's back out. I might have drifted off. I can't tell. I hear the dogs start whimpering in the living room so I put the slumbering Reese back in his crib and take them outside for their mid-night potty break. When I come back inside, Reese is awake and crying.
SHIT.
Maybe he'll settle. I give it a few minutes. He's still crying. My husband, Justin, wakes up. Oops. We have a brief team meeting to go over the game plan. He agrees to get up and give him a bottle so I fall back asleep.
8:30 am - I wake to hear Reese chirping in his crib! I love the sounds he makes in the morning. He is always so happy. Is there anything better than a baby playing? The answer is no. I am also incredibly happy thankful that Little Man let me sleeeeeep. Mama needed it. It's better for everyone involved when Mama gets a little shut eye.
Reese nurses and then I put on a cd of kid songs with his name interjected here and there. He loves it! We listen to it everyday. EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. Multiple times. I have it memorized. I even have a few coordinated dance moves.
We play and practice standing until Daddy wakes up.
9:00 am - It's Sunday so Daddy is home which is awesome because Reese LOVES Daddy! We all pile in the car for a trip to Starbucks. Mama and Daddy chat while Reese babbles on and on. Sweet boy, always has so much to say. While out, we decide to go to Lowe's for some supplies for a project on which we are working. Reese loves people and makes friends everywhere we go so shopping is one of his favorite things to do.
10:00 am - We get home and it's time for our second breakfast (and every time I call it that I absolutely think of Pippin from LOTR). We opt for a few puffs and 4 oz of pureed pears. You know, to get things moving. And just a side note: if you don't want to read about poop, this is not the blog for you.
10:30 am - I nurse Reese down to a nap. Hubby and I work on house projects and drink coffee while Baby Man sleeps.
12:30 pm - Baby Man is awake! That was an awesome nap. We are poised for a pleasant afternoon with a happy, sweet Baby Man. I put Reese in his high chair and pull him outside where Dad and I are working on fully enclosing the patio area for our pets so they can come and go freely through the pet door and not get out of the yard.
Reese eats a whole banana by himself! This boy would live off bananas if I'd let him. And I might except that bananas are supposed to be… binding for babies and since he has constipation issues, I usually try to limit the culprits. He also downs a few puffs before getting started on a 6 oz Sweet Potato, Apple, and Chicken baby food meal. I'm eating a plum and I offer him a bite which he takes. Daddy gives him a bite of his peach but Reese is not interested.
2:00 pm - We just have so much playing to do that I don't know how we're going to fit it all in today. We mostly prefer to play with things we're not supposed to - Mama's phone, the baby monitor, any remotes we can get our mouth on, and any wires that are hanging around. As hard as I've tried to baby proof this place, some things have to be plugged in somewhere sometimes. And if that's the case, Reese WILL find it.
3:00 pm - Reese is sleepy so I nurse him down for a nap. He is soooo sweet looking when he sleeps. I usually end up rocking and holding him much longer than necessary in order to soak up some precious cuddles. Especially since cuddles are becoming increasingly rare now that he's mobile.
Hubby and I do some more work around the house and have some more coffee.
5:15 pm - Reese is awake! We nurse quickly and I change him into a fresh outfit so we can head to dinner at Justin's cousin, Travis' place. Travis and his wife Kristen have a 4 month old daughter named Samantha - we call her Sam. We head over and Sam is down for a nap so Reese is the star of the show! He's a little overwhelmed by all the people - maybe he's still not fully awake. He shows off his standing abilities and crab crawls around in pursuit of their cats. I try to monitor him closely as he is normally a bull in a China shop. Kristen is so sweet and always has toys to offer. The girl is ridiculously prepared for everything! We eat dinner. Kristen made, among other things, this killer garlic bread for which I MUST get the recipe. I might have had three pieces. Justin plays with Reese while I eat. SCORE!!! I take Reese back over and feed him 8 oz of a Butternut Squash Puree from squeezable pouches. Everyone remarks how quickly he woofs it down. You'd think we hadn't fed this boy in months. He has some puffs and then it's off to play. Soooo much playing, so little time. We're facing a real crisis.
We stage a little photo shoot with Reese and Sam before eating some homemade peach pie with vanilla ice cream. Seriously, I need some more Kristen in my life. That was the BEST pie I've ever had!!! My Weight Watchers program is but a distant memory.
7:30 pm - We pack up Reese and head out. We have a couple of essential errands to run and Reese is inexplicably tired. He had two great naps today and he's only been awake since 5:15 pm. He cries in the car the whole time and I hate myself for not taking him straight home but we really needed to get these things done.
8:30 - We are home and Reese is ready for bed. I usually distract Reese with a new object while I do Baby Maintenance. Tonight, the object is his thermometer and maintenance includes nail clippings. I've been putting it off too long. Reese screams and kicks especially violently - if anyone heard him, they'd swear I was burning him with cigarette butts - so I put it off as long as I can. He has a couple small scratches on his face as a result of the nails though and people are going to start commenting on it. They always do. This makes me feel like a horrible mom. So I brace myself and go in for the kill. The thermometer distraction mostly works. I make it out with only a few kicks to the jugular.
Baby kicks can't kill you, can they? Don't answer that.
We are ready to move on to lotion - first Curel and then prescription hydrocortisone cream. I absolutely HATE doing this part. I'm terrified it's going to end up in his eyes or mouth. But this kid has HORRIBLE eczema and if I miss even one application, he breaks out something awful.
All right. Clean diaper and Sleep Sack and we are ready for bed! And just in time because Reese is sleepy! I turn on his nature sounds and night light and nurse him down to sleep. He's out in about 10 minutes. I gaze at him, pat his back, stroke his arm, and take him all in. I have such a beautiful, sweet baby.
9:15 pm - I finally put him down.
My sweet baby boy.
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