12:38 am - Wake up to Marshall fussing. Hungry again? I fed him twice before bed last night and again at 10 because he woke up. Growth spurt? Diaper change, back into bed, but Marshall is wide awake, talking, playing, and eventually fussing.
1:30 am - Wake up Terry because I can't get Marshall back to sleep and I'm exhausted. He swaddles him, then goes back to sleep, and Marshall is awake again within ten minutes. I start getting frustrated. He never gives us trouble going back to sleep! I try feeding him again. Terry burps him, puts him back to bed, and we all finally go to sleep.
5:35 am - Marshall is up again, and I'm nervous. Sometimes when he wakes up at 5:30 he's able to go back to sleep; sometimes he's up for the day. I feed him, Terry burps him (Terry is already up for his work day), and Marshall is miraculously willing to go back to sleep.
Unknown time - maybe 6:45? - Terry comes in to say goodbye to me as Marshall is waking up yet again to eat. Yes, I'm pretty sure it's a growth spurt. I cuddle up with the little guy in bed and he falls asleep next to me. Hooray! Another hour of sleep for both of us.
8:06 am - We're awake! I say good morning to Marshall and let him play with his toes on the bed while I brush my teeth and put in my contacts. Diaper change, another meal for M, and then he poops again! We head into his room for a diaper/outfit change and talk and play while he's on the changing pad. Lots of smiles and laughs today!
8:45 am - I let Marshall play on his mat, then chat with Jenn via e-mail. Meanwhile I make my own breakfast (same as yesterday) and start emptying the dishwasher and cleaning the kitchen. I pop my head around the dining room table every few minutes to check on Marshall, who rolls over! Yay! He still only rolls to his left (back to tummy), but he's less upset when he gets to his tummy now. I eat breakfast while chatting with Marshall.
Are you kidding me with those thighs? Too cute.
Marshall's second breakfast: a hearty serving of toes. (He literally just managed to get his toes into his mouth for the first time last night!)
9:04 am - Marshall seems to be getting tired already, so we head into his room for quiet time and read Are You My Mother? Turns out the kitten is not the mother, guys. Within a few minutes Marshall is avoiding eye contact with me and turning away from the book, so it's nap time. I swaddle him (we got rid of the swaddle a long time ago, but lately he's been extra-flaily with his arms and keeps waking himself up or preventing himself from sleeping, so we're back), put him down, and turn on his mobile (we bought a mobile from Target this week in hopes that it will help him put himself to sleep in the crib). I leave him and write an e-mail to Terry while he babbles and chats to himself.
9:23 am - Marshall's chatting has turned to crying, so I head in to the room and find him out of his swaddle. Where's Dad when you need him? Oh, well. I swaddle him again, rock him for a few minutes, try the pacifier (not interested), and put him back down when he's calm. I sing "Somewhere Out There" and he just stares at me while I'm singing. Super cute. When the song is over, he smiles and looks away, so I leave the room. Within a few minutes he's asleep! What the heck? I never know what's going to work with this kid.
9:31 am - Start this blog post. Say hi to my friend Amanda on Gchat and write back to Terry.
9:52 am - Spend the rest of Marshall's nap cleaning up the house (make the bed, organize my diaper bag, wipe kitchen counters, etc.).
10:53 am - Marshall is still sleeping! I take a break to check a few blogs and cuddle with Scout.
11:00 am - Throw Scout's mouse around and play for a bit. Text with my friend Winnie about breastfeeding.
11:24 am - Marshall is still asleep! I do some dishes (quietly!) and sterilize the breast pump parts I used yesterday. Then I grab a pear to hold me over until lunch. I chat with my parents for a few minutes.
12:17 pm - Marshall wakes up! Finally. I get some big smiles when I get him out of his crib, and he eats like a champ. After a diaper change, we hang out in his room, singing (me), rolling (him), reading (both of us), and spitting up (mostly him). I tidy up his room a bit and start going through his closet and drawers, pulling out clothes he's outgrown. Naturally, as soon as I pull out all the clothes and start going through them, he gets fussy. Time for a change of scenery!
1:12 pm - I bring Marshall out to the living room to his bouncer. We chat, he plays with his toes and his O-Ball, he smiles a lot. Scout wanders around the apartment making sure everything is to his satisfaction. As usual, it isn't. He eats something off the floor. Soon I'll have a baby doing the same. I realize I'm hungry and start heating up lunch while explaining to Marshall the importance of eating vegetables.
1:26 pm - Marshall spits up on himself. I wipe it off and decide he's still good.
1:27 pm - Marshall poops. I can't ignore that one. Diaper change, clothing change, back out to the living room. Within ten minutes, he's fussy again and rubbing his eyes, so I try swaddling him for another nap. He's not happy about it. Honestly I don't expect him to be tired so soon after his awesome morning nap, but then again he does almost always get tired 90 minutes after waking up from any nap. He hangs out in his crib awhile but then escapes his swaddle and gets upset. I second-guess whether he's really tired and take him to our room to read a book. Then I swaddle him again and rock him until he's calm. I put him in the crib again, and he doesn't want his pacifier, so I turn his mobile on again and leave him to it.
1:58 pm - Still waiting to see whether Marshall will fall asleep or not, I start in on my almost-forgotten lunch. Just as I finish, Marshall starts crying, so I spend the next 20 minutes rocking him, soothing him, calming him down. Sometimes it's easy, sometimes not so much. This time I get him to sleep in my arms, transfer him to the crib, and hear him crying a few minutes later. More soothing, but I keep him in his crib and he manages to fall asleep again.
2:31 pm - Baby is officially asleep. Get packed and ready and put some makeup on so we can go out when he wakes up. I write my final thank you notes, which is a huge weight off since I've felt guilty about taking so long.
2:56 pm - Marshall wakes up crying and is still tired but also hungry. I let him eat and he falls asleep, not a total shocker. I'm trying to get better about letting him sleep on me, but I figure one out of the last four naps isn't bad.
3:26 pm - I move Marshall to his bouncer in case he wants to sleep more, and he wakes up. Oh, well. I refill my water and finish getting ready to go but then realize that we now won't make it back with much time before needing to meet Terry for a workout. So I prep dinner instead and then we get going.
3:51 pm - Marshall spits up on himself, me, and the Ergo as we're walking out the door. Change him, clean up all the spit up, leave again.
4:15 pm - Arrive at Target. I hear Marshall poop in the backseat, so I change his diaper before we go in. I grab diapers and Honest Company dish soap and nothing else! Success! I head to the park for a walk, even though Terry just e-mailed to say he has to stay late at work.
5:04 pm - Start our walk. I walk one lap, run one lap(!), and walk a half lap. About 2.5 miles total, about 35-40 minutes. I check my phone and Terry says he's on his way. I feed Marshall in the car while we wait. He spits up on my leg. Oh, well.
6:04 pm - Terry meets us at the park! It's a little later than I had hoped, but at least we get a short walk in together in the fresh air.
Pensive.
6:55 pm - Arrive home. Terry plays with Marshall while I feed Scout and start cooking dinner. I chop and saute vegetables and get the sauce going for our pasta so it can simmer during the bedtime routine.
7:06 pm - Pour a glass of wine. Frank Family Zin--my very favorite! (Well, next to champagne.)
7:27 pm - I join the boys while dinner simmers. Marshall starts cracking up when I lay on the bed with them and can't stop, so obviously we laugh right along with him. It's becoming a nightly routine that he just goes giggle-crazy near bedtime. I absolutely love it.
7:35 pm - I feed Marshall one more time while chatting with Terry about his day.
7:48 pm - I start wrapping up dinner while Terry puts Marshall to bed. I sip some wine and watch TV to unwind a bit (it was a great day; I just like to take a few minutes during this time to try to relax and be by myself). Marshall's crying about being put down, so I check in with Terry to see if he wants help. We trade back and forth a few times because Marshall is really upset.
8:23 pm - Give up and nurse Marshall to sleep. 35 minutes is enough torture for everyone, and we know nursing works. We'll try again tomorrow. He calms down within a few minutes and falls asleep on me. I remind myself that we had some nap victories today, so there's no need to be upset about a rough bedtime.
8:40 pm - Terry and I eat dinner and watch our shows, The Mindy Project and Modern Family.
9:37 pm - Terry boots up his laptop to get some work done, and I continue this post. I imagine we'll get to sleep around 11, and hopefully Marshall will sleep well tonight. Time will tell!
Happy Friday to you! Hope it's been a good week!
I love these day in the life posts! Thanks for sharing!
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