A Day In the Life

For your blog-reading pleasure today, here is a snapshot into a "normal" day for our little family. No apologies for length.

The day is Tuesday, July 23, 2013. I am a stay-at-home mother to a girl who is a few days shy of 18 months old.

6am(ish) - B kisses me goodbye. I'm still asleep for the most part.
6:38 - My alarm goes off. Ugh, I haven't changed the time setting since my 5K last Saturday. I hit snooze.
6:47 - Alarm goes off again. I don't hear Cora moving through the monitor. I have to make a choice between showering, eating breakfast, and staying in bed. I decide to play on my Kindle in bed.
7:25  - Still not a peep from Cora. Odd. I go check on her; she's still asleep. Breakfast time for me! Sugary cereal and milk.

7:43 - I hear Cora start a soft babble. Immediately I go in there because I've been trying to get her to use the potty in the mornings. I take her into the bathroom right away. Diaper is soaked but I throw her on the potty for a few minutes anyway. Then a new diaper and some clothes for her. I'm still in my pj's.

7:51 - Breakfast for Cora. I have to choose between oatmeal and 'squapplesauce.' I decide on the latter - canned pumpkin mixed with jarred (natural) applesauce. I spread it on some toast so I don't have to help her with the spoon the whole time. She also gets raisins and whole milk. While she eats, I clean up some dishes left in the sink.

8:15 - We finish up breakfast and cleanup. Cora goes off to play with her toys. It's not a gym day, so we're going to stay put in the apartment for a while.  I throw in a load of laundry.

8:30 - I decide to let PBS kids' shows babysit while I take a shower and get ready.

9:00 - I switch off Super Why! so I can watch Live! with Kelly and Michael. My girl (and birthday twin) Heidi Klum is on this episode. Cora plays on the floor and brings me the occasional book to read. Sometimes she walks off before we even get to the second page.

9:45 - I'm hungry again. I make a mental note to eat a better breakfast. I make a bagel and Cora begs for some, so I give her some Cheerios.

10:45 - Diaper change and we head out the door for Mommy & Me gymnastics class at the Y.

Still rear-facing over here!

10:55 - Show up and find out that gymnastics class ended last week. It's a 6-week class, but I thought it was 7 (they apparently shorten the length in the summer). I somehow missed the announcement at the beginning of last week's class that it was the last one.
11:00 - I let Cora walk on the outdoor track near the Y while I swear under my breath and kick myself silently. I try to decide what we'll do next. I decide to just go home. We get home, and Cora is showing signs of being tired. I decide she should get lunch before her nap.

11:30 - Lunch for Cora. What to feed her?? Another decision. She gets leftover baked beans from last night. I find some leftover mixed veggies from a few nights back and decide to sneak them in the beans. She also has a banana. We practice using a spoon and drinking milk from a cup. She's getting great at both.

12:10ish - We do Cora's bedtime routine (book, prayer, song) and I put her down for a nap. She's asleep by 12:30. I eat some lunch and decide to watch an episode of Project Runway I got from the library.

1:15 - I hear babbling. A 45 minute nap, seriously kid?? I check on Cora, and she's still lying down with her eyes kind of open. I decide to leave her alone and see if she'll go back to sleep.

1:40 - I hear a little cough. She's up. Raring to go. Ugh. I just let her play in the living room for a bit.
2:45 - I decide to not waste the nice day. Should we go to the zoo? The splash pad? A park? Or the pool at our complex? I decide on the pool, since it will be the easiest. Our preferred swimsuits are in the wash, so I squeeze Cora into the one-piece that's too small for her. Despite that, she loves the pool and it's a beautiful day.

This is the preferred swim suit, and this is not our apartment (too spacious and clean)

4:00 - We're back from the pool; I turn on Arthur and Cora plays.
4:45 - B gets home (a bit late, but he went on an errand after work).
5:00 - I take Cora to walk to the mailbox. She has on her big pink tutu and a handful of people compliment her on it.

Mailbox visit from a different day. Pink tutu today was way cuter.

5:30 - I start fixing dinner and keep shoo-ing Cora out of the kitchen and yelling at B to come get her because I have to open the oven and there's also oil splattering on my arm. We're having breakfast for dinner-- biscuits and gravy, bacon and eggs. I forget any type of fruit or vegetable. Oops.
6:30 - We eat dinner. Cora surprises us by eating the eggs. She also loves the gravy. B cleans up the mess because of our pact that says whoever doesn't cook has to clean up. I take care of cleaning up Cora.

7:00 - I put Cora on the potty again. Still nothing, so I let her brush her teeth while sitting on it. I get her ready for bed and bring her back out to play in the living room. We watch Wheel of Fortune and Cora "helps" Daddy pick up all her toys. Our other pact is that one person gets Cora ready for bed and the other cleans up the mess. Unlike cooking (which I do 90% of the time), we seem to alternate on this one a lot.

7:40ish - Bedtime routine. We read a book from the library (Do You Have a Hat? this is an awesome book btw), do her night-time prayer, the sign of the cross, big big night night kisses for Daddy and Mommy (she gives Daddy like 3 extra ones), then I take her to her room and sing "Amazing Grace" in her glider. She goes in the crib, and I start up her musical giraffe. I check a bit after 8pm, and she is asleep.

8pm and onward - I piddle on the computer, watch TV, fold some laundry (B helps), write this blog post (I've actually been recording into it all day), and B watches Burn Notice (or something) on his laptop. He hates the TV show I have on, so he goes in our bedroom with a slice of pie to watch his show. He'll go to bed around 9:45, and I'll come in between 10 and 10:30 unless I get distracted by something interesting on the internet.

And that's a pretty typical day around here!