Monday, January 14, 2013

How We're Living: January

Natty

January is tough in ways I didn't expect. December was very busy but there was lots of time with Patrick off of work and lots of time with family anxious to see us and snuggle the baby. January feels like living in that record-screeching sound effect. You know the one:


Patrick is back at work as usual, my work has picked back up, everyone is dieting and hiding from the flu... it's a pretty stark contrast from last month's merriment and I feel just a bit off-kilter right now. Soon we'll be back to rights, but for now, the days can feel fairly long.

7 a.m. - Everybody up for the day! Georgia nurses, then we laze around in bed, Patrick and I enjoying a few cups of coffee before the day kicks off.

9 a.m. - Patrick has left and Georgia's ready for her first nap. This nap used to reliably run until 11 but now it's more usual for her to sleep only until 10, maybe 10:30. It's tough because I used to be able to have breakfast, get a good chunk of my work done during that nap and then take a shower and get dressed. Now I have to choose between work or a shower. I won't tell you which one usually wins.


10 a.m.to noon - Georgia nurses, then she has some time in her high chair with chunks of avocado or sweet potato or smashed peas. At last check, I was being weird about solids but now that she's six months old, I'm happy to offer her all kinds of fruits and vegetables. More on that later this week. Snack time is often followed by a very necessary bath.


Noon (ish) to 2:30 p.m. - Time for a nurse and a nap. This tends to be her big nap of the day, lasting two to two and a half hours. I grab some lunch and eat while working. I love it when I can squeeze in 30 minutes of working out too, but that's not always in the cards.

2:30 to 4:30 - This is our time for having a visit, taking a walk or running some errands because Georgia and I are sick of looking at each other. Sick of it! if it simply isn't possible for us to get out, I try and move our play to a room we usually don't hang out in during the day just for a change of scenery. Wild times, people, wild times.

4:30 (ish) p.m. to 5:30 (ish) p.m. - G nurses and goes down for her last nap. I keep thinking this one is going to fade out, but then I try and power through it, but I've learned that THAT IS NOT A GOOD IDEA.

5:30 p.m to 7:30 p.m. - G gets up, nurses, and we putz around until Patrick comes home. Once he's home, he takes over while I make dinner. We three have dinner together, then have a little play time, then Patrick gets her ready for bed. I wish we could have her bath and a book then, but both of these activities get her so amped up, we have to do them at other times.

7:30 p.m. to whatfeelslikeeternity - I put little G to bed. Some nights, it's not that bad. We nurse, we rock, she gets sleepy, I put her down, she knocks out, and I get to be a Real Live Grownup for a few hours before bed.

But... it doesn't work out like that very often. It's usually nursing and rockin and putting her down, listening to her cry and cry, picking her up, repeat from the beginning. Many nights, we just get into bed together and I let her nurse until she falls asleep and I hang out, looking at crud on my phone until I pass out to. Patrick comes and gets the baby out of bed before he gets in and puts her in her crib. Once she's down, she wakes up once or twice (or not at all, which should be awesome but when she doesn't nurse at night, I've got crazy big ol' boobies that wake me up anyway.)

I know all this may sound like a lot of complaining, and I guess it is? But it's really okay. It's all a phase, it's whatever works, it's what I'll look back on with so much fondness when I'm an old lady. We just need to get back into a good grove.

Cori
Everett loves Mexican food
I'm with Natty, this month has been a little rough.  All the half days and 4 day work weeks got me used to having Bran around often.  Our routine was thrown out of whack last month, and that was OK because it wasn't just me and I didn't rely on routine quite as much. Now we're back to Everett and me home all day.  Alone.  I'm having a hard time finding that groove that I was in before the holiday craziness.  In good news, I'm only pumping 3x a day at this point, producing about 30 oz of milk a day, so I am only pumping solo once a day.  Also, E is a big boy and in love with food, eating 3x a day.  Big appetite, my boy.  This is what a typical MWF looks like. 

6am - wake up and pump, check email, drink a cup of tea

6:55 - leave for bootcamp

7:00 - Bran and Everett wake up and deal with the morning ritual (bottle, B's shower and work prep)

7:15-8:15 -EXERCISE

8:30 - Home from bootcamp and Bran takes off for the day

8:35 - Feed Everett brekkie - usually a whole banana, milk, cereal.  Then he gets bath and goes down for a nap.

9:00 - 1st nap and I hustle up a shower

9:45/10 - Everett is UP AND READY TO PLAY.  I like to get the eff out of the house now. 

12:00 - Everett takes his second nap and I make a sandwich and watch bad TV.  Or clean.  Probably clean and listen to NPR.

12:45/1 - Everett is up and wants to eat again!  He gets avocado or cheese (he loves feta!) or puffs or ...!!!   Or all of the above.  He loves to sit in his chair and hang with me while I clean the kitchen or do laundry.

1:30 - I pump for the second time of the day, so we both sit on the living room floor and hang out.  We like to leave the house after this pumping session as well.

3:30 - Everett's last nap of the day.

4:30 - He wakes up and we go for a walk.

5:40 - Final stretch of alone time and I feed Everett ground turkey with garlic, peas and avocado and he shrieks with joy! Everett will feed himself while I prep dinner and pour myself a glass of wine.

6:30 - DADDY HOME!  Daddy takes over.  Mommy off hard duty (diaper changes, cleanup, etc), except to snuggle and play.

7:30 - Daddy reads Everett some stories, sings to him, rocks him, gives baba, and puts Everett to bed by 7:45ish.

8:00 - Mommy Daddy hangout time.

9:00 - I pump and we watch TV.

9:30/10 - I go to bed!

This month really isn't too dissimilar to other prior months.  Everett's naps are, sadly, usually 45 minutes to an hour.  We are going to work this month on staying up a little later in the mornings and trying to nap from 10-11:30 or 12.  I find that Everett will wake up after 45 minutes, but I can get him to go back to sleep if I work at it (rock and bottle), but the author of the No Cry Sleep Solution tells me I should go in right before I think he's going to wake up and keep him from doing so, so I'll try that. I trust it will work itself out.

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