Day in the Life- 15 Months

We're in a good spot with sweet toddler Emmett right now. He's now fully walking on his own and even doing some running! Sleep is going really well for us (right now at least), so no complaints! Of course, I realize that's always subject to change...We had a wonderful Easter in San Antonio with some of Luke's family. A few snapshots:

Here's a day in our lives right now:

6:42 a.m. - Emmett is up! I hear him babbling/fussing in his crib so I roll out of bed to go grab him. I intend to bring him back to bed and nurse him like I do every morning, but he dives out of my arm and starts flipping through books. He's ready to read and play! Tricky since I don't have my glasses on, but I manage to read him a book and then sneak off to grab my glasses. Luke and I both quickly get ready for the day and I grab Emmett's outfit.

7:10 a.m. - We head downstairs. Emmett has a dirty diaper so Luke changes it while I juggle making coffee, starting breakfast and putting away clean dishes from the drying rack. Emmett alternates between playing with toys and checking on our progress in the kitchen.

7:27 a.m. - Time to eat! Luke and I enjoy some 9 grain Easy Tiger toast with fried eggs (farm fresh from one of his coworkers who has chickens!) and fruit. And of course coffee :) Emmett has toast, an Applegate Farms breakfast sausage, strawberries and grapes.

 

 

 

He finishes the sausage and grapes and eats half of the strawberries (not as good as the last batch that he pounded 8 of in one sitting) and the toast. He also sucks down about half a homemade pouch of Greek yogurt mixed with pureed sweet potatoes.


7:47 a.m. - Done! We offer him a sippy cup (!!!! instead of a bottle!) of milk and he enjoys walking around drinking it. Maybe 2 ounces, nice! We clear the table and clean up while he plays.

 

8:15 a.m. - Luke heads off to work and we head out front to walk. Emmett enjoys doing the rounds in the mornings which means going up and down our neighbors' driveways - the steep ones! - and looking for the guineas. And carrying a stick while he walks - like All. The. Time. He does about 3/4 of a blocks worth and I end up carrying him home about 1/2 blocks worth after he gets a little too excited throwing a neighbor's landscaping gravel around...

 

9:07 a.m. - I load up the car and we head out to a hike! I posted a last minute hike for Hike It Baby yesterday morning when I realized we'd have some nice weather. We meet up with 5 hiking friends at Balcones District Park. E enjoys playing on the playground while people show up. He eventually walks over to his hiking carrier and starts pointing at it and signing "more" - he's ready to hike!

I do the "Welcome Circle" including a plug for the upcoming Hike It Baby 30 Challenge for April (people are challenged to hike 30 miles in 30 days OR get outside 3 times a week for 30 minutes). This is our fourth challenge and we LOVE LOVE LOVE them. In January we did 113 miles which I don't think we'll hit this time, but I look forward to seeing how much ground E covers on his 2 feet, and seeing how many hikes I can lead to encourage even more families to get out and hike. I love that HIB is a free organization and you don't have to be a member - just show up and hike! These challenges are a way to fundraise and help keep it free, so I'm all over it.

9:40 a.m. - We're off! We cover 2 miles on the lovely trail, and E falls asleep for the last 10 minutes. As we get back to the playground there's a pretty patch of bluebonnets so we plop the kiddos down to take some pictures.

 

10:40 a.m. - Play time on the playground! Emmett and I share a Gold Nugget tangerine. I ate a zillion of these when I was pregnant with him - we both love them.

11:33 a.m. - We say goodbye to our friends and head home. We make a stop at Walgreens to grab some dishwashing gel and a prescription and call Luke to tell him to come home soon for lunch.

12:00 p.m. - Back home! I power chop some sweet potatoes and asparagus and throw them in the bamboo steamer and throw some Hot Dang burgers in a cast iron to warm up. Emmett wants to go outside, so once things are cooking we go play some more and wait for Luke.

12:30 p.m. - Dada's home! The three of us sit down to lunch which is good because E is getting tired and cranky. Luke and I enjoy a spinach arugula salad drizzled with honey, red wine vinegar and olive oil and topped with sweet potatoes, asparagus and feta cheese and a Hot Dang burger. Emmett has some leftover salmon (the first time we've ever had any. He usually scarfs ALL of it), brown rice, broccoli, edamame and grapes.

 

12:55 p.m. - After playing in the backyard with dada for a few minutes, we kiss him goodbye and we head upstairs. Emmett has 3 ounces of milk and then we read a few books, then I tell him "it's time for your nap! I'll see you when you wake up" and lay him down. He fusses for a minute but I'm able to leave while he's still awake. A new trend we've been working on the last week!

1:05 p.m. - Emmett's officially asleep. I jump in the shower, fold laundry and put fresh sheets on the guest room bed. My college friend Brittney is coming Friday night with her 6 month old Luke - fun! I head downstairs and finish tidying up the kitchen (Luke did a lot of quick cleaning before he left - he's the best) and then I sit down on the couch with the rest of the morning's coffee and a half a piece of biscotti. I work on a blog post about picnics for the Whole Foods blog, and then I work on this post.

3:02 p.m. - I hear him start to moan and assume he's up, but he pulled a fast one on me! I take it as a sign to hurry up and get dinner prepped, so I manage to prep and almost make the whole thing. Score!

3:42 p.m. - Ok he's up for real. I go up to grab him and he's in a great mood. He points at his puppy dog stuffed animal and I tell him it's a dog, and he replies "ruff!" We read Llama Llama Red Pajama (his latest obsession), put his shoes back on and head downstairs to say hi to Benji.

4:00 p.m. - We're off to the Toybrary to meet up with Rachel and Amity. Emmett loves it there even more now that he can walk and play with more toys. They happily play side by side. While there he gets a few peanut butter/oat/date balls for a snack and lots of water. After being there only 45 minutes, he loses his cool and I can't get him to calm down, so we say goodbye to our friends and head home.

5:20 p.m. - Back home and ready to play with toys! I get the water going to cook the udon noodles and warm up the stir fry while keeping an eye on Emmett and playing with him. He's having a blast playing with this toy he got for Easter from his Greats (great aunt and great grandma) that is a chicken that lays eggs while singing a silly song. But, he loves to throw the eggs around so then we have to go collect them and put them back before we can play again.

5:45 p.m. - Dada's home! Dinner is ready early so we sit down to eat. Luke and I love the chicken vegetable stir fry with udon noodles. Emmett is being picky (maybe his snack was too filling/late) so he enjoys slurping the udon noodles and eating some edamame, but that's about it.

6:02 p.m. - Dinner is finished. I send the boys out back to play and I quickly clear the dishes and clean the kitchen. I come out to see them playing in the garden. Emmett has a blast taking the little watering can over to the faucet and having Luke turn it on so he can fill it and go water things - all on his own!

 

6:20 p.m. - We put Emmett in the stroller and head out on a neighborhood walk. We run into our across the street neighbor Abby who snaps a family picture of us - fun! Note Luke's walking beer ;)

7:05 p.m. - We make it home and head straight upstairs to start E's bedtime routine. First up is a bath. He has a great time and it's kind of a long one, but that's ok. After jammies are put on, it's time for his bottle. I attempt to give him a much needed hair trim while Luke gives him the bottle, and it actually goes pretty well. He doesn't drink as much as he normally does, so I hope it wasn't because I was annoying him too much with the hair trim... Time for books, and then tooth brush. We read him his bedtime book and it's lights out. No tears!

 

 
7:55 p.m. - Kid is asleep! I come down to catch up on this post while Luke does a few things on his computer. Then we snuggle up and watch the first episode of season five of Mercy Street.

9:36 p.m. - Time to head upstairs to get ready for bed and do a little reading.

10:15 p.m. - Lights out!

Day in the life - 14 months

I really enjoyed posting about a day in our lives last month, so I decided to do it again this month! A few weeks ago, Emmett took his first steps, officially a toddler in my books! He hasn't made a ton of progress yet, but that's ok. Now here's another snapshot into our lives:

2:21 a.m. - Ugh, I can hear E crying. He's been sleeping "through the night" (i.e. 8 - 5 or 6) several nights a week, but the rest of the time he still wakes up once a night. I grab him, bring him back to bed, and nurse him about 20 minutes. Luckily he's tired and I'm able to put him back to sleep in his crib at 2:45. Unluckily, I have a hard time going back to sleep and toss and turn about 30 minutes.

6:55 a.m. - Now we're up for real! We hear Emmett rustling around and Luke goes to grab him. He's so excited to see me and dives into my arms in bed. I nurse him for 20 minutes, then he's ready to adventure crawl around the bed and bedroom. He's happy and easily entertained this morning - score!

7:30 a.m. - Luke takes E downstairs and I check the weather before getting up and quickly dressed and pick out Emmett's clothes for the day. I head to the kitchen to find Luke has already changed E's dirty diaper (yay!) and started the coffee (double-yay!). E plays around with bowls and wooden spoons while we whip up breakfast. I make oats in a jar (not in a jar or overnight, but still delicious!). I microwave a couple Applegate Farms chicken & maple breakfast sausages, crumble up a homemade almond flour muffin and grab a pouch and leftover homemade smoothie for Emmett.

7:50 a.m. - We all sit down to breakfast. E throws his first few bites of muffin, the blackberries I've offered and spits out the smoothie. Yikes. We give him some Cheerios and sausage which cheers him up. We revisit the muffin and he devours that along with all of the sausage. Phew! A big breakfast for him.

8:07 a.m. - All done with breakfast! E surprisingly enjoys playing with his toys for a few minutes, so Luke and I do a quick power clean from breakfast and unload the clean dishes from the dishwasher. Luke finishes getting ready for work while E and I play ball on the back deck for a few minutes. Luke heads off to work and I get Emmett dressed for the day.

8:44 a.m. - It's time for a wagon walk! E enjoys being outside and pushing his wagon, and I'm really proud how much he's built up his stamina. The other day we were out for an hour and he did almost a full mile on his own two legs! It takes him a little convincing to go the way I've decided (sometimes I let him choose, but only when we don't have any time commitments). We see the guineas down the road, so then he's more than happy to go my way! He sits and watches them for a while, and gets sad when they go behind a house and wants to follow. I end up having to carry him the rest of the street, but then he's ready to walk again when we turn the corner. We have to book it home to keep on schedule!

9:25 a.m. - We get home and pack up the car. It's time to head to Mueller to lead our weekly Hike It Baby hike! Emmett usually takes his little morning catnap on the drive, but no dice today. He's a little fussy, but luckily traffic isn't too bad.

9:55 a.m. - We arrive, pull out the stroller, and head to meet our hiking friends. It's a small group today (only 4 - we've had as many as 18!), which is kind of nice so we can easily stay together as a group. After waiting to make sure we don't leave any late-comers behind, we head off on a 2.7 mile stroll. E passes out halfway through and sleeps about 20 minutes. A little later than usual, but I'll take it!

11:10 a.m. - Back at the Mueller park, and it's time to play! We let the kiddos out to stretch their legs and play. I'm glad my friend Rachel meets us there too with her daughter Amity. We haven't seen them in a while due to travel and sick kiddos, so it was fun to catch up! While at the park, E snacks on a mandarin and some graham crackers.

 

12:20 p.m. - Time to pack up and head home for lunch! I give Luke a call, and he's able to meet us home. Yay! Traffic is randomly lame and Emmett is not excited about it, so I sing the Wheels on the Bus and Old MacDonald to cheer him up - it does the trick :)

12:40 p.m. - Lunch will be a bit hodge podge, so I throw some tater tots in the oven for Emmett and start warming other things up. Once things are all set up, we play in the back yard waiting for Luke to get home.

12:55 p.m. - Dada is home! He washes E's hands, then we sit down to eat. Luke and I are having leftover risotto that I made last night with some delicious kale and leeks I scored at Springdale Farm this weekend along with bacon and roasted tomatoes, and plenty of Parmigiano Reggiano. I also slice up an apple for us to share. We offer E tater tots, edamame, peanut butter oat date balls and a Greek yogurt butternut squash pouch. E discovered tater tots this weekend is obsessed, but today he just chunks them on the ground. Luckily he's into the edamame, oat balls and apples.

1:15 p.m. - E and Luke horse around for a few minutes before Luke heads back to work. It's a busy day so he can't stay too long, but we were glad he could come for a bit! Emmett and I hop into the playpen for a bit to play with toys and read lots of books. I happen to smell a surprising midday dirty diaper so get him all changed up. I ask him if he's ready for milk and a nap and he nods and says "yeah" so we head upstairs!

1:45 p.m. - A quiet nurse and then he goes down for his nap. Phew!

2:00 p.m. - Naptime freedom! I clean up from lunch, then sit down to start this post. I have a blog post due for the Whole Foods blog this week, so I finish that draft and send it off. Voting day is tomorrow so I also spend some time researching issues and candidates so I can rock the vote tomorrow. I throw a mix of brown rice and quinoa in the rice cooker and set the timer so it'll be ready for dinner. I prep some salmon and broccoli to cook off at dinner time. Next I chop veggies to throw in the slow cooker for a white bean veggie soup tomorrow. Emmett is STILL asleep so I change course for dinner and go ahead and cook it. Finally I head upstairs to put some laundry away. That does the trick, I hear E stirring...

5:03 p.m. - Wow! A long nap, that's three days in a row. I'll take it. I go grab him from his crib. He points to some books in his room so we read The Very Hungry Caterpillar (he loves that book because one of his words that he says is apple, pronounced "happle" in a very shy, sweet voice) and The Little Blue Truck.

5:15 p.m. - We head downstairs, harness Benji and I put Emmett in the hiking carrier, and we head on a neighborhood walk. It's beautiful outside and we're all in good moods. I text my friend Aubrie as we pass her house and she pops out for a quick hello. We head on our way and give Luke a call to make sure he'll be home in time for dinner. He says yes but he's running a little later than usual (he's usually home by 6 or sooner), but no worries, we're enjoying ourselves and dinner is already cooked! We run into a few more neighbor friends and stop to visit.

6:08 p.m. - Luke gets home as we're out front talking to our neighbor and his dog. Dada's home! We head inside and I warm up dinner while the guys play out back. Everyone is excited for salmon night! Note I accidentally gave Emmett more salmon than we had - don't worry, he ate all but one bite. Actually, he ate this WHOLE plate of food. Kid LOVES salmon so we eat it at least once a week. I buy the vacuum packed frozen salmon from Whole Foods - it's fresh, affordable, sustainable and convenient. I usually cook two fillets and then divide it amongst the three of us.

6:40 p.m. - Dinner is done. Luke and Emmett horse around while I clear the dishes. I like getting the chance to zone out while someone else entertains the tot ;) I get changed for my workout.

7:00 p.m. - Time to fill up my water, kiss the boys goodbye, and head to the gym!

7:15 p.m. - I arrive at Gold's for my weekly Body Jam class. I've been jamming for 8 years, and I'm obsessed with it. Our instructor, Nicole, is SO awesome, fun and inspirational. Despite tiring days, I always get re-energized for Body Jam.

8:15 p.m. - Class is over. I stay after to chat with some of the gang for about 15 minutes before heading home.

8:45 p.m. - Hi Luke! We say a quick hello and he tells me about bedtime and I tell him about jam. Then I head upstairs to shower since I'm hella sweaty. He even took a few photos of bedtime which is too cute. E had a blast crawling/walking around downstairs banging his wooden spoon around.

 

 

  

9:02 p.m. - I pour myself a small dish of my favorite post-jam cereal (Great Grains Raisins, Dates and Pecans).

We snuggle up on the couch and watch an episode of The Americans on Amazon Prime. It seemed like that show had a long break so I assumed it had been cancelled - we were excited to see it's in its 3rd season.

9:45 p.m. - We head upstairs and get ready for bed.

10:00 p.m. - Lights out! I'm zonked after another active Monday and ready to sleep.