A snapshot of my life with a five year old and a not yet mobile seven month old
It's time for another snapshot of my life! I did this when Nolan was first born, which you can read about HERE.
Emily is five years old and Nolan, not yet mobile, is seven months old
Each day is different in it's activities, errands, and the ways we spend free time; however, our days revolve around Kindergarten and Nolan's naps. I very much enjoy the structure, the predictability, and how fast each day blends into the next. I never have time to get bored! Just for example, here's how the day went for us yesterday, Tuesday the 17th:
6:00am - David's and my alarm went off. I showered and got dressed for the day while David got Nolan up, changed his diaper, played with him in dim light to help wake him up and then, brought him downstairs for me to nurse. Then he woke Emily up. David always gets the kids up first thing in the morning since mornings are the only time he sees them.
6:30-8:00am - While I nursed Nolan, David fixed Emily's breakfast, supervised her brushing her teeth and putting on the clothes she picked out last night, packed her backpack with the lunch I made last night, and let her play with her toys in her room from 7:45-8:00am. I put Nolan in his exersaucer in the kitchen for David to watch him while he cleaned up and made his lunch so I could fix Emily's hair and get her dressed in her coat, hat & mittens (it was only 29 degrees outside this morning!).
8:00am - I put Nolan down for his morning nap and then took Emily to school. David normally takes her but today was my day to read her favorite book The Pout-Pout Fish to the class. School starts at 8:20 and I read and helped lead the discussion about the book from 8:30-9:15am.
9:00am - Nolan woke up from his one hour nap. David got him up, changed him, played with him and then, fed him his breakfast (4oz pureed butternut squash and 2oz apples pureed with bluberries).
9:30am-12:00am - Once I got home, David threw in some laundry and left for work. I cleaned up the kitchen from Nolan's breakfast, got online to check email, Facebook, and start this post while Nolan had some tummy time (more like practice rolling time!). Then, I nursed Nolan at 10:30am, changed a poopy diaper, nursed the other side at 11:00am and put him down for his second nap of the day at 11:45am. After some rolling to his tummy and back onto his back and even spinning a complete 180 degrees in his crib, he finally fell asleep at 12:30.
12:30-2:30- My most productive time of day! While Nolan was napping, I finished addressing our New Year's Cards (I had no time to do Christmas cards this year) which included stuffing, sealing, and putting stamps on 72 cards. I also had time to put the laundry David washed in the dryer and fold & put away the load that was in the dryer overnight; eat lunch; work on this post for 10 minutes; hang up the portraits we had made over Christmas and then, dust all the furniture in the living room after seeing all the dust on the fireplace mantle where I was replacing older portraits; and fold & put away the second load of clothes that finished drying. Because of Nolan's later-than-normal nap this afternoon (we don't believe in waking a sleeping baby!), David picked Emily up from school at 1:40pm and brought her home. I played hopscotch and Tic-tac-toe with her outside to help her burn off some of that energy from school as well as to let Nolan nap.
2:30-4:00pm- Nolan woke up from his two hour nap at 2:30pm. After changing his diaper, I nursed him and got him in his jogging stroller and we all took a walk down to the park to enjoy the sunshine for an hour as we have rain moving in for a week starting late tomorrow. Once home, Emily and I baked cookies and brownies for a bake sale Edison is having tomorrow morning (the proceeds are going to a local family who's 5 year old child was shot and killed). Nolan was happy to play with a musical book and chew on his toys up in his little high chair for that half hour!
4:00-5:30pm - Gave Nolan his dinner, about 1/4 cup of pureed ground turkey with vegetables, while helping Emily with her homework and then, got them both in the bath at 4:30pm. Emily loves taking a bath with her brother, she loves to help me and be a part of it all. I put lotion and pajamas on Nolan on the bathroom rug (to stay with Emily while she was still in the tub). I got Emily out of the tub and dressed in her pajamas while Nolan was laying on his play mat in the living room, and then had Emily play with her toys in her room so I could take Nolan upstairs to nurse him and get him into his crib. That took 35 minutes total and Nolan was passed out at 5:30pm. One of the many perks of having children so far apart in age (5 years) is that Emily not only wants time alone to just play in her room after being at school most of the day but she can be counted on to be safe and quiet in her room for as long as we need her to be.
5:30-7:00pm- Once Nolan was in his crib, I made dinner for Emily and while she ate it, sitting at the kitchen bar so she and I could talk, I prepped dinner for David and I and packed Emily's lunch for tomorrow. David came home at 6:45pm and took over the bedtime routine which includes supervising Emily brushing her teeth and cleaning up her room. Then, he and I both listened as she read through each of her Alphabet books that she has made thus far in school. They make a book for each letter of the Alphabet as they learn all about it and each book has pictures they've colored beginning with that particular letter as well as a short sentence with sight words (for, here, it, is, go, to, can, like, see, my, etc.). Lastly, we each read books to her that she chose for 30 minutes and it's lights out at 7:00pm. We really cherish this quality time with her alone.
7:00-10:00pm- This is known as free time. Adult time. Time for just David and I to eat dinner, clean up the kitchen, enjoy an adult beverage (or two!) talk about our days, watch television, and do things for ourselves like meet up with friends, workout, blog, read, and such.
10:00pm- Bedtime for me. I need my eight hours of sleep and there's rarely anything urgent enough to make me stay up later. David is a night owl and tends to stay up until 11:00pm or Midnight playing video games.
I do chores, clean up, and keep the clutter cleared throughout the day, mainly during Nolan's naps or when he's entertained in his jumperoo. I typically run errands while Emily is at school, between Nolan's naps, which is about 2 hours every morning between 9:30-11:30am. We often have play dates at our house or go to play dates at a friend's house after Nolan's last nap before the hustle and bustle of dinner and bed time. It's really easy to get around these days with Nolan still in his car seat and really happy to just hang out and with Emily being pretty well-behaved. I'm really enjoying this age with both kids! :)
Emily is five years old and Nolan, not yet mobile, is seven months old
Each day is different in it's activities, errands, and the ways we spend free time; however, our days revolve around Kindergarten and Nolan's naps. I very much enjoy the structure, the predictability, and how fast each day blends into the next. I never have time to get bored! Just for example, here's how the day went for us yesterday, Tuesday the 17th:
6:00am - David's and my alarm went off. I showered and got dressed for the day while David got Nolan up, changed his diaper, played with him in dim light to help wake him up and then, brought him downstairs for me to nurse. Then he woke Emily up. David always gets the kids up first thing in the morning since mornings are the only time he sees them.
6:30-8:00am - While I nursed Nolan, David fixed Emily's breakfast, supervised her brushing her teeth and putting on the clothes she picked out last night, packed her backpack with the lunch I made last night, and let her play with her toys in her room from 7:45-8:00am. I put Nolan in his exersaucer in the kitchen for David to watch him while he cleaned up and made his lunch so I could fix Emily's hair and get her dressed in her coat, hat & mittens (it was only 29 degrees outside this morning!).
8:00am - I put Nolan down for his morning nap and then took Emily to school. David normally takes her but today was my day to read her favorite book The Pout-Pout Fish to the class. School starts at 8:20 and I read and helped lead the discussion about the book from 8:30-9:15am.
9:00am - Nolan woke up from his one hour nap. David got him up, changed him, played with him and then, fed him his breakfast (4oz pureed butternut squash and 2oz apples pureed with bluberries).
9:30am-12:00am - Once I got home, David threw in some laundry and left for work. I cleaned up the kitchen from Nolan's breakfast, got online to check email, Facebook, and start this post while Nolan had some tummy time (more like practice rolling time!). Then, I nursed Nolan at 10:30am, changed a poopy diaper, nursed the other side at 11:00am and put him down for his second nap of the day at 11:45am. After some rolling to his tummy and back onto his back and even spinning a complete 180 degrees in his crib, he finally fell asleep at 12:30.
12:30-2:30- My most productive time of day! While Nolan was napping, I finished addressing our New Year's Cards (I had no time to do Christmas cards this year) which included stuffing, sealing, and putting stamps on 72 cards. I also had time to put the laundry David washed in the dryer and fold & put away the load that was in the dryer overnight; eat lunch; work on this post for 10 minutes; hang up the portraits we had made over Christmas and then, dust all the furniture in the living room after seeing all the dust on the fireplace mantle where I was replacing older portraits; and fold & put away the second load of clothes that finished drying. Because of Nolan's later-than-normal nap this afternoon (we don't believe in waking a sleeping baby!), David picked Emily up from school at 1:40pm and brought her home. I played hopscotch and Tic-tac-toe with her outside to help her burn off some of that energy from school as well as to let Nolan nap.
2:30-4:00pm- Nolan woke up from his two hour nap at 2:30pm. After changing his diaper, I nursed him and got him in his jogging stroller and we all took a walk down to the park to enjoy the sunshine for an hour as we have rain moving in for a week starting late tomorrow. Once home, Emily and I baked cookies and brownies for a bake sale Edison is having tomorrow morning (the proceeds are going to a local family who's 5 year old child was shot and killed). Nolan was happy to play with a musical book and chew on his toys up in his little high chair for that half hour!
4:00-5:30pm - Gave Nolan his dinner, about 1/4 cup of pureed ground turkey with vegetables, while helping Emily with her homework and then, got them both in the bath at 4:30pm. Emily loves taking a bath with her brother, she loves to help me and be a part of it all. I put lotion and pajamas on Nolan on the bathroom rug (to stay with Emily while she was still in the tub). I got Emily out of the tub and dressed in her pajamas while Nolan was laying on his play mat in the living room, and then had Emily play with her toys in her room so I could take Nolan upstairs to nurse him and get him into his crib. That took 35 minutes total and Nolan was passed out at 5:30pm. One of the many perks of having children so far apart in age (5 years) is that Emily not only wants time alone to just play in her room after being at school most of the day but she can be counted on to be safe and quiet in her room for as long as we need her to be.
5:30-7:00pm- Once Nolan was in his crib, I made dinner for Emily and while she ate it, sitting at the kitchen bar so she and I could talk, I prepped dinner for David and I and packed Emily's lunch for tomorrow. David came home at 6:45pm and took over the bedtime routine which includes supervising Emily brushing her teeth and cleaning up her room. Then, he and I both listened as she read through each of her Alphabet books that she has made thus far in school. They make a book for each letter of the Alphabet as they learn all about it and each book has pictures they've colored beginning with that particular letter as well as a short sentence with sight words (for, here, it, is, go, to, can, like, see, my, etc.). Lastly, we each read books to her that she chose for 30 minutes and it's lights out at 7:00pm. We really cherish this quality time with her alone.
7:00-10:00pm- This is known as free time. Adult time. Time for just David and I to eat dinner, clean up the kitchen, enjoy an adult beverage (or two!) talk about our days, watch television, and do things for ourselves like meet up with friends, workout, blog, read, and such.
10:00pm- Bedtime for me. I need my eight hours of sleep and there's rarely anything urgent enough to make me stay up later. David is a night owl and tends to stay up until 11:00pm or Midnight playing video games.
I do chores, clean up, and keep the clutter cleared throughout the day, mainly during Nolan's naps or when he's entertained in his jumperoo. I typically run errands while Emily is at school, between Nolan's naps, which is about 2 hours every morning between 9:30-11:30am. We often have play dates at our house or go to play dates at a friend's house after Nolan's last nap before the hustle and bustle of dinner and bed time. It's really easy to get around these days with Nolan still in his car seat and really happy to just hang out and with Emily being pretty well-behaved. I'm really enjoying this age with both kids! :)
I did the same thing yesterday. :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like you've fallen into a nice routine. It's great that Emily's old enough that she isn't jealous of her brother and can play independently when you need her to. That's the biggest challenge we're having with Celia right now. I'm also very jealous of your kids' early bedtimes!! It's really nice that you have some time to relax at night.
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