Warning: This post is obnoxiously long, filled with pictures (seriously it may not even load on your phone - I actually didn't post half of what I took because it was taking so long), and maybe not be that interesting to many people, but I like to post snap shots of our life from time to time and see how they've changed. Here's a peek into our life right now (on the weekends at least)
4:28 am
I wake up for some reason super early. I can see the plows going back and forth outside, and everything is lit up in only the way it can be when it's covered in fresh snow. I try to go back to bed for a bit, but just end up on my phone.
6:05 am
I finally go downstairs and check out all the snow we got. It's pretty, and it's supposed to be gone in a few days since it's going to be in the 60s all week. I make myself some coffee and turn on the news. The house is quiet and I spend some time writing in E's baby book.
7:02 am
E wakes up and I go upstairs to get him. He's in his crib, chatting to his pacifiers. He's collected a few in the corner, putting them in his mouth, one at a time. I pick him up and he spends a few minutes putting his fingers to my mouth as I blow raspberries at him. He laughs and laughs.
Tom's awake now too, and heads out to shovel the driveway. E and I get him dressed and spend some time chasing the kitty. He spending less time playing with his toys in the morning and more time crawling up and down the hallway after the kitty.
7:28 am
We head downstairs to play in his zone of fun. He spends some time playing with a new toy from his aunt. He chases the balls back and forth and tries to stick them in his mouth. Maia has followed us downstairs and is hanging out inside the pen. She tries to put on a front like she doesn't like the baby, but she sure does seems to be around him a lot...
E gets hungry and we cuddle on the couch while he eats a bottle.
7:49 am
I wrap E up in a warm blanket and put on his fuzzy hat, and we go outside to say hi to Tom and see the snow. The sun is out and the snow is shining - it's almost pretty if I wasn't so done with winter at this point.
None of the other neighbors are out yet - we're the first to get to shoveling.
8:07 am
We head back inside and have some breakfast. Banana zucchini muffins, orange slices and egg for E. Some days I can't put food in front of him quick enough, and then days like today he's not really into it. He has a few bites and then is done.
8:16 am
We head into the living room for a change of scenery and new toys to look at. Maia joins us again, and curls up in the sun.
8:49 am
Tom's done shoveling and our driveway looks spotless! He also cleared off the path even though I told him not to bother today because I thought it would be too much work for him. He knows I like it cleared off, though, so he shoveled it out as well as made sure the end of the driveway was widened so I could turn in easily with my beast of a car.
9:09 am
E starts to melt (always almost exactly 2 hours after he wakes up). We've tried to keep him up longer, but it doesn't often work. I know Tom's on his way back inside so I wait to put him down so Tom can squeeze him first. Tom gets his squeezes and put him down for a nap, and then heads to shower.
9:45 am
Tom goes to grocery store, and with E still sleeping, it's my turn to shower! I take the baby monitor in the bathroom with me, but I'm confident E won't wake up early. He's been napping like a champ lately. (*Knock on wood*Don't jinx us*)
10:28 am
I finish getting ready, and throw in a load of laundry. I take E's clothes out of the dryer from a load we started last night. I sneak into his room and grab some hangers and check on him again. He's changed positions and is cute as ever. I head to the guest room to start folding his clothes and getting them ready to hang in his closet. I also lay out his outfits for the week. One day he won't let me pick out his clothes for him, but until that day I'm having fun with my own real life baby doll.
11:00 am
I finish with his laundry as Tom pulls into the driveway. He's back with groceries and coffee for me. What's better than fresh coffee delivery on the weekends??
11:02 am
E wakes up. I could have guessed that would happen. Even though he slept 2.5 hours yesterday during his morning nap, he could smell the fact I was about to sit down to enjoy my coffee.
11:08 am
E helps me change over the laundry and then plays in our mirror. He recently learned how to clap (Thank you daycare for teaching him that!) and he needed to show his friend in the mirror.
11:15 am
I try to drink my coffee again, but E steals my straw. (Yes his straw obsession is still a thing..) Tom tries to give him a decoy but he doesn't seem convinced.
11:37 am
E finally remembers that he's hungry, so Tom gives E a bottle. He looks so big sitting on his lap! I have an urge to look up old picture of Tom feeding him. I can't believe how big my baby is getting!
11:57 am
As is our routine most weekends, we spend some time playing in the living room. This is where you can find us most days. Not at the movies, not running around doing things, just sitting here on the floor watching E move from toy to toy. I drink some more of my coffee, Tom takes out the trash, and then joins us to play on the floor. Maia's here again, too...sleeping on the couch next to us.
Now that E can crawl, it's cool to see him more in control of what he wants. He was on the floor and started whining, and then crawled right over to where I was sitting on the couch and motioned that he wanted me to pick him up. After going through a few options, I decided he was cold. He's been crawling into my lap a lot lately when he's cold and giving me a hug. Then I rub his back and legs up and down quickly until he warms up. Then he stops whining, and crawls off to play again. I decide to use him as an excuse to turn the fire on.
1:09 pm
E melts again so it's time for nap #2 for him, and lunch for us. I spend some time going through pictures, writing some blog posts, and watching TV. It's rare down time, but it's needed to keep my energy up. When E wakes up, he'll be fully recharged and expect us to be too.
Maia's napping too, and she changes positions as often as E seems to.
2:19 pm
I'm changing laundry around when E starts making noise. I know it's too early for him to wake up, but I decide to check on him anyway. I use my trick of sticking my phone in the room and taking a picture to see what he's up to. Still sleeping, just making some noise. He settles down after a few more seconds and goes back to sleep.
Did I mention I also pick out my outfits ahead of time? I don't have a ton of free time in the mornings, so every minute I can save helps. Seems like this might be the week of polka dots!
2:33 pm
I spend a few minutes in front of the fire and finally finish my coffee!
Maia is still getting used to the gates we've put up all over the house. We've removed a few bars so she can move through them, but sometimes she forgets and panics.
3:11
Right on cue E starts talking to us over the monitor. I run upstairs to grab him and he's super happy and chatty, with a pacifier in each hand. We play on the changing table for a bit, and watch the kitty walk around the room.
Back downstairs he gets another bottle from Tom, and I pack up the diaper bag so we can head out on a quick adventure.
4:26
We decided to go shopping just down the street for a reason to get out of the house. We needed some new PJs so we figured we'd look. E charmed everyone in the store. He apparently learned to wave today and every time someone would look at him, he would flap one arm up and down at them and smile. Then if they smiled back, he'd start giggling at them. Boy did he make a lot of friends.
5:02
We weren't quite ready to go home, so we popped in to Barnes & Noble to get a snack and wander. E got a big treat and got to eat one flake of white chocolate off the top of my cheesecake. I think he liked it because he about jumped out of the stroller trying to grab more. I'm not surprised, he'll eat anything we throw at him!
5:31
We get home just as E decides he can't possibly be in the car a minute longer. We've been talking about changing out his car seat, and I have a feeling that's going to come up soon. He's just not very comfortable in his infant seat.
We give E some dinner - muffins, fruit, egg, toast with peanut butter or guacamole. He devours everything like a hungry hippo. He even skips a bottle, so fingers crossed he doesn't wake up screaming an hour after we go to bed and decide he's hungry.
6:00
After eating, E is a mess so it's bath time for him. We weigh him before getting in the bath, and he's lost an entire pound since the last time I weighed him! I knew that babies tend to lose weight when they get mobile, but with how much he's been eating lately, he must be burning energy left and right! It's tiring to be a Bubba! Tom gives E his bath, and Maia helps me finish up my laundry. After finishing mine, I go back to E's laundry again. I swear I should buy stock in Shout - we go through that stuff so quickly with all the stains that E gets on his clothes.
6:18
I clean up from the aftermath of the bath, while Tom brings E to his room to get him ready for bed. He's got a bit of a cold, so Tom was being the boogeyman and wiping his nose, which he hates. And all of a sudden I heard "MA-MAM-MA-MA-MAAM" coming from down the hall. So I ran in to save him and he was was holding his arms up to me like he does when he wants to be picked up. I swear I have Tom as my witness that it definitely sounded like he was calling out "Mama" to me.
6:23
We recover and read some books together. I read "Llama Llama, I Love You" which was a Valentine gift from his buddy at daycare. Tom reads "Harry the Dirty Dog" but things start to go south as E starts doing flips off us and rolling all over the place. He ends up at the book shelf, pulling all his books off.
6:43
E starts melting a little early, but since he only had 2 naps today, we call it and decide to put him to bed. We put him in his sleep sack, turn on his sound machine, and give him his pacifier. I give him squeezes first before passing him to Tom. He's so tired he put his head down on Tom's shoulder, almost falling asleep.
Tom puts him down in his crib, we shut off the light, and we don't hear another peep out of him.
7:00
I sort through the clothes we bought earlier, and cut off all the tags. Tom cleans up the kitchen a bit, and then we head to the couch to watch some TV and relax. Does it seem like it's been a long day? It always feels like it's a long day. A lot of fun, but a lot going on!
8:34
Bed time for us! Need to rest up in order to chase around this little one again tomorrow...
