The last time I did a day in the life post, Livi was 6.5 months old. Wow. So much has changed since then!
I’m kind of exhausted reading that post. Liv stopped getting a bottle at about 8 months. We started weaning it at 7.5 months and it took about 3 weeks. We went down 1/2 an ounce every 3 nights. When we got to 3 oz, we did that for a night and she stopped waking for it. I guess it wasn’t worth it anymore. I was planning on doing 3 oz of water for 3 nights then doing nothing, but luckily she stopped it on her own.
(Note: I stopped/started weaning the bottle when I felt she didn’t need it anymore. She was over double her birth weight and was eating a decent amount of table food.)
SO…our day…
I get up between 6-6:15 everyday. Danny leaves at 6, so he says bye to me and I get up then. If I’m especially tired I’ll stay in bed until 6:30, but that’s rare because I like to get in morning alone time.
I have a cup of coffee, turn on the news and read some blogs. I try to eat breakfast and prepare Liv’s before she wakes up. She wakes up anytime between 6:15 and 7. Today was 6:50 and I got her at 7:05. Her average wake up time is about 6:30-6:40 and then I can leave her for about 10 minutes to play before I get her.
Her breakfast is usually (whole milk) yogurt with some sunflower seed butter and a veggie/flax mixture. She’ll also eat some blueberries. Sometimes we do toast and eggs too. After breakfast mess I clean up and then we play in her playroom until 8:30. (We stop playing for 5 minutes at 8:15 for a bottle.) At 8:30 my sister typically comes over for some coffee and hangs out with us until 9:10. At 9:15 it’s time for Olivia’s nap. We generally stick to 9:15 nap time, but if she gets up super early (like 6) sometimes it’s 9. Today was typical so 9:15 was nap time.
Her morning nap is anywhere from 1.5-2 hours. It’s typically closer to the 2 hour mark, unless she’s teething which makes it 1.5 hours. While she naps I get in my workout for an hour. Today she woke up at 11:15, so 2 hours on the dot. I had time to workout, quickly shower and have a snack before she woke up. I also did 15-20 minutes of work while she continued to nap. (Check and respond to email.)
When she woke up I went upstairs and played with her for a couple minutes. We do peek-a-boo while she’s in her crib. I pick her up and realize she peed through her diaper, so I change her and we head downstairs. It’s lunch time so I get her lunch ready while she plays on the floor. Today it’s random. Leftover baked ziti (which she was mostly uninterested in), toast, mashed avocado and half a spinach/pea/pear pouch. She went mostly for the toast. Every meal is different.
After lunch time, which was about 20 minutes. I clean her up and her area up (which was a MESS) and then I empty the dishwasher. This is always interesting because she loves to climb on the door when it’s down. I give her random things to distract her (bowls, rubber spatulas, measuring cups) and get it emptied. We read some books, play blocks and she plays on her little Pottery Barn anywhere chair. She’s pretty independent and will just crawl out of the playroom in the middle of us playing because she has something more important to do (like eating my sandals.) On some days I make plans for this chunk of time, but we didn’t have anything today, so we’re just playing around the house.
At this point it was noon and I’m got hungry so I slice some tofu and bake it in the oven for 30 minutes. While it’s in the oven I prepare a big salad. I eat and then it’s bottle time again. After that we go outside and I put her in the swing for 15 minutes and sing some songs. I check the time and it’s 1:45 and nap time again. I bring her upstairs, turn on her music and head back down.
(This is where I am right now) I made an iced coffee and settle in to get some work done. This is when I get the chunk of work done for the day. Anything that doesn’t get done now that needs to be, gets done at night after she goes to bed. Half the time I still have to eat lunch, so I do that first. I hate eating lunch when she’s awake because she’s all over the place and I end up eating and walking around at the same time. Today I ate and she played with my water bottle while I sucked it down. (I suppose I could eat when she eats, but I’d have to prepare it beforehand and I just don’t have time to prepare lunch at her first nap.)
During 2nd nap I also walk around and clean up the house and pick up any toys that I need to (like the ones that accumulate in the kitchen.) When she wakes from this nap (usually after 1.5 hours) we will go out/do an errand/visit friends. (She also has a snack at this point, usually a pouch or two if we’re out.) Today we will go for a walk and visit my mom at work. Pretty low key Monday.
Danny gets home at 5 and then we start dinner and mealtime. After dinner we clean up and go for a ten minute post dinner/pre sleep walk. We usually throw Liv in the baby bjorn for this walk. Then there’s more cleaning up, playing and usually some music time (as in we put Spotify on). When we get back (usually 6:30) Liv will get her last bottle of the day and have bathtime. Bed is anywhere between 7-7:30.
After Liv goes to sleep I finish up any work I have (putting orders together mostly) and Danny will finish cleaning up the kitchen. Around 8 we head downstairs for TV. By 9 there’s a 88% change I’m sleeping. 10 o’clock we go upto bed and then we start all over again the next day.
Oh…and in case you think my child never cries… this is what happens when I take my cell phone away from her…
Notes:
- This is a typical day, but obviously not everyday is like this. I try to make plans for us daily whether it’s with a friend or just doing an errend. Keeps us all sane.
- My sister has off this week and also was off last week. Happy me…and happier Liv….tired auntie.
- Liv gets 3 bottles a day (8:30, 12:30 and 6:30). We are getting down to 16 oz by 11 months and will switch to (organic) whole milk at 1 year. We just went down to 6.5 oz from 7 today.
- Olivia doesn’t stop all day. She loves moving and being able to crawl and cruise.
- I can’t wait for her to walk because I’m tired of her having dirty hands when we’re out.
- Liv puts everything in her mouth. This morning I pulled out paper and a fuzz from the carpet. Yesterday she almost ate a rock before my sister stopped her.
- She also gets water at every meal and whenever she wants it. I’ll leave it on the floor in the kitchen and she’ll take sips whenever she wants it.
- I try hard to stick to a routine. She naps the best in her crib so I try to be home for naps so she doesn’t get messed up. On the rare occasion it doesn’t happen it’s fine and we adapt but when she’s happy, I’m happy. If that means less plans for this time in my life I’m okay with it.
- You can see it’s not much time to do work, but for now I make due. I’m still figuring out how to make this work better without adding so much time at night. Often Danny will help me at night so it’s not too bad. (When my sister’s off she helps me during the day.)
This post was so long. love reading other mom’s day in the life post, so I hope you enjoy as much as I do. If I forgot anything please let me know!
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Sounds like a good routine! I feel like I need more things to keep Nia occupied during the day. Maybe I can go out today and get her one new item. We just rent right now, but I’ll be SO much happier when we’re in our own place (hopefully next summer), so I never want to get anything too permanent in place. Nia’s playroom is really non-existent lol. It’s the TV room/my school zone!! We have a schedule right now, but I definitely want to accommodate it to Nia more…just getting more things for her to do besides chasing the dog around haha
I have to say I really enjoy posts like these too. It’s refreshing to get a glimpse into someone else’s everyday, it creates a sense of normalcy. Thanks for sharing.
Can I tell you how much I love these pigtails and headbands she has been rocking lately! WAY TOO CUTE!
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