What to do with a baby all day?
So yesterday I basically stayed home all day. Matt took Dylan out a couple times which gave me a chance to relax, sleep, take a shower, all that good stuff. Then later in the day we painted an accent wall in our living room (I say "we" but really matt did all the painting. I did tape things for him first though). Today I've only left the house to run to the post office and drop off some packages. I'm starting to go a little stir crazy now. I think Dylan is too. There's only so much time he can spend in his jumperoo. Right now he's watching the end of Ice Age. I know you aren't supposed to really let babies watch TV, but he loves it so much. So he usually gets to watch a few minutes here and there. But our typical day pretty much goes like this:
Wake up and play with his crib mobile for 15 minutes, while I contemplate the fact that I need to get up. Then he'll play on a blanket with his toys for a few minutes while I check my email. Next we go downstairs and I clean up in the kitchen while he sits in the high chair and either watches me or chews on some teethers. Once the kitchen is clean I move Dylan into his swing and I make myself breakfast. He's usually asleep by the time I'm done eating at which point I transfer him to his crib for nap #1. Depending on how tired I am and how early he woke up I do one of the following during his naps: sleep, watch TV, go on the computer, do laundry, clean the bedroom, take care of the dog, or make phone calls. Once he wakes up we both get dressed for the day. At this point I usually go and run whatever errands I need to do that day. Or if we're staying home I have to figure out ways to entertain him until his next nap. This typical consists of rotating between playing with toys on a blanket, bouncing in the jumperoo, going for a walk, playing with mommy on the bed, and reading some books. Pretty much the whole rest of the day is spent this way: eat, nap, play time. By about 3:00 I'm bored and tired of our typical routines. I try and get books that recommend activities to do with a baby, but until they are about 6 or 9 months, they really dont have anything that we dont already do. So from about 3:00 until I start making dinner, I'm just trying to keep my sanity and keep Dylan from getting too cranky. Then once I start making dinner Dylan goes back in the high chair in the kitchen with me until Daddy gets home. Once Daddy is home Dylan gets all happy and excited. I know it's because he likes spending time with his dad, but I also think part of him is thinking "thank god, someone besides mommy to look at." Dylan always sits with us in his high chair while we eat dinner. Lately I've been giving him a little bit of milk on a spoon while we're eating. I do this for several reasons: 1- he gets used to eating from a spoon since we'll be starting solid foods in a few weeks, 2- he gets to be involved in dinner time, and 3- it gives me something interesting to do with him. After dinner, we play for about another hour or so until he starts getting cranky beyond distraction. That signals that he's ready for bed. So I start his bath and get everything ready for bed. He's usually in the bath for about 5-10 minutes depending on whether or not it's a soap night. Dad usually takes him out of the bath while I clean up. Then we put on PJ's. At this point he's usually getting really cranky (though he's pretty happy in his bath and up until the pjs go on), so we turn out the lights, turn on the night light, and I read him a few books until he starts getting cranky again, at which point I feed him. He falls asleep pretty easily as long as it's close to 8:00 (anything before that and he'll eat and then just cry until 8 anyway). I put him in his crib, close the door, and that's the end of the baby's part of the day. After he's in bed I always have all this ideas of things I can do uniterrupted, like finish putting laundry away, doing the dishes from dinner, cleaning something or other... but I typically just get myself a bowl of mango sorbet and go to bed. Some days if I have enough energy, or if my back hurts a lot I'll take a bath first. But usually I'm in bed by 9 and asleep by 10. It's such a glamorous life.
Most days I try to plan some sort of mid-day outing. Like going to the mall, visiting my parents, going to a playdate, or something along those lines. This helps to keep me from getting bored by 3. We also have some more structured activities like Babygarten at the library, my weekly mommy group/lunch, and in November we're going to take a swimming class. At some point we'll probably also take a Baby Sign class, but I'm already starting to teach him signs at home... when I remember. But these activities, while fun for Dylan, or just as fun for me because it gets me out of the house and I'm able to talk with other moms/adults. Usually when we go out we'll get home around 3, and THEN I start the typical baby activity rotation, which is fine because I only have to do it until about 5, when I start making dinner. Which means only about 2 hours of keeping Dylan entertained, as opposed to a WHOLE day.
And that is a day in the life of Jessica. At least at this moment. I'm sure once Dylan starts crawling and walking things will get much more hectic. So I'm trying to enjoy him in his non-mobile phase. Actually this is a pretty good time as far as baby's are concerned. He's far more interactive than he was a few months ago (when he was in lump mode), but he's not crawling around and getting into trouble yet. Plus he laughs and smiles at pretty much anything we do now, which makes it all worthwhile.
Wake up and play with his crib mobile for 15 minutes, while I contemplate the fact that I need to get up. Then he'll play on a blanket with his toys for a few minutes while I check my email. Next we go downstairs and I clean up in the kitchen while he sits in the high chair and either watches me or chews on some teethers. Once the kitchen is clean I move Dylan into his swing and I make myself breakfast. He's usually asleep by the time I'm done eating at which point I transfer him to his crib for nap #1. Depending on how tired I am and how early he woke up I do one of the following during his naps: sleep, watch TV, go on the computer, do laundry, clean the bedroom, take care of the dog, or make phone calls. Once he wakes up we both get dressed for the day. At this point I usually go and run whatever errands I need to do that day. Or if we're staying home I have to figure out ways to entertain him until his next nap. This typical consists of rotating between playing with toys on a blanket, bouncing in the jumperoo, going for a walk, playing with mommy on the bed, and reading some books. Pretty much the whole rest of the day is spent this way: eat, nap, play time. By about 3:00 I'm bored and tired of our typical routines. I try and get books that recommend activities to do with a baby, but until they are about 6 or 9 months, they really dont have anything that we dont already do. So from about 3:00 until I start making dinner, I'm just trying to keep my sanity and keep Dylan from getting too cranky. Then once I start making dinner Dylan goes back in the high chair in the kitchen with me until Daddy gets home. Once Daddy is home Dylan gets all happy and excited. I know it's because he likes spending time with his dad, but I also think part of him is thinking "thank god, someone besides mommy to look at." Dylan always sits with us in his high chair while we eat dinner. Lately I've been giving him a little bit of milk on a spoon while we're eating. I do this for several reasons: 1- he gets used to eating from a spoon since we'll be starting solid foods in a few weeks, 2- he gets to be involved in dinner time, and 3- it gives me something interesting to do with him. After dinner, we play for about another hour or so until he starts getting cranky beyond distraction. That signals that he's ready for bed. So I start his bath and get everything ready for bed. He's usually in the bath for about 5-10 minutes depending on whether or not it's a soap night. Dad usually takes him out of the bath while I clean up. Then we put on PJ's. At this point he's usually getting really cranky (though he's pretty happy in his bath and up until the pjs go on), so we turn out the lights, turn on the night light, and I read him a few books until he starts getting cranky again, at which point I feed him. He falls asleep pretty easily as long as it's close to 8:00 (anything before that and he'll eat and then just cry until 8 anyway). I put him in his crib, close the door, and that's the end of the baby's part of the day. After he's in bed I always have all this ideas of things I can do uniterrupted, like finish putting laundry away, doing the dishes from dinner, cleaning something or other... but I typically just get myself a bowl of mango sorbet and go to bed. Some days if I have enough energy, or if my back hurts a lot I'll take a bath first. But usually I'm in bed by 9 and asleep by 10. It's such a glamorous life.
Most days I try to plan some sort of mid-day outing. Like going to the mall, visiting my parents, going to a playdate, or something along those lines. This helps to keep me from getting bored by 3. We also have some more structured activities like Babygarten at the library, my weekly mommy group/lunch, and in November we're going to take a swimming class. At some point we'll probably also take a Baby Sign class, but I'm already starting to teach him signs at home... when I remember. But these activities, while fun for Dylan, or just as fun for me because it gets me out of the house and I'm able to talk with other moms/adults. Usually when we go out we'll get home around 3, and THEN I start the typical baby activity rotation, which is fine because I only have to do it until about 5, when I start making dinner. Which means only about 2 hours of keeping Dylan entertained, as opposed to a WHOLE day.
And that is a day in the life of Jessica. At least at this moment. I'm sure once Dylan starts crawling and walking things will get much more hectic. So I'm trying to enjoy him in his non-mobile phase. Actually this is a pretty good time as far as baby's are concerned. He's far more interactive than he was a few months ago (when he was in lump mode), but he's not crawling around and getting into trouble yet. Plus he laughs and smiles at pretty much anything we do now, which makes it all worthwhile.
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