Our life right now revolves around feeding times. Usually, Nathan eats every 2.5 to 3 hours and takes between 30 and 40 minutes per feeding. That means between each feeding, we have anywhere between 1.5 to 2 hours to get things done.
Right now he usually wakes up anywhere between 7:30 and 8:30am and as long as there isn't anywhere we need to be in the mornings, he is my alarm clock. Once he is sleeping through the night, I'll probably try and get up before he does and get ready for the day, but for now, I'm giving myself an out to sleep as long as he does. As soon as he wakes up, I change his diaper and feed him. After his early morning feeding I get him ready for the day. Lately that means a bath. Usually in the morning he has a big dirty diaper or a major spit up incident, so its just easier to throw him in the bathtub. He's so happy in the mornings, that he actually seems to enjoy his baths. After he is dressed and ready for the day, I take some time to play with him. This week we have played with toys on the floor, made faces at each other, and read a few books. Sometimes I take a shower while he is awake and happy and he sits in his bouncer in the bathroom. He takes about a 45 minute nap in the morning and that is when I finish getting ready for the day (sometimes that means a shower, sometimes not). I also try and get the house straightened, throw in a load of laundry, etc.
He wakes up and is ready for his second feeding of the day which usually occurs between 10:00 and 11:00. Sometimes if he eats earlier (around 10) we'll try and run a few errands. This week we went to Walmart, and I had a meeting at work one day. We try and be home when Daddy comes home for lunch at 11:30. He plays with Daddy for a few minutes while he's home for lunch and then it's time for a nap. Sometimes I take a nap with Nathan, sometimes I finish up things around the house, eat lunch, pay bills, etc.
Our early afternoon feeding is usually between 1:00 and 2:30. After this feeding, we usually either take a nap together (after Nathan has been awake for a little bit), or this is the prime time that we run errands. I like to try and get out of the house at least once on most days. This week we've run to the bank, the pharmacy, sonic, Babies R Us and visited a friend. There was one day where we didn't leave the house until Daddy got home. Nathan usually sleeps through most of our errand running and is almost always well behaved when we are out.
I try and work it out, so our late afternoon feeding occurs just before Matt gets home from work (between 4:30 and 5:30). Then he watches Nathan while I cook dinner, and if we are lucky, Nathan will nap while we eat.
I feed Nathan again around 7 or 8 and after this feeding, all four of us (Rhapsody included) go for an evening walk. Nathan usually falls asleep around the end of the walk and when we get home, Matt and I have some time together. Lately we've been playing the wii during Nathan's evening nap.
In the late evening, I usually do some cluster feeding, to make sure we get 8 feedings in and to help Nathan sleep longer at night. So, on most nights I feed him twice between 9:00 and 11:00. After his late evening feeding, we both go to bed. Matt is always asleep by the time we make it to bed.
Nathan has been doing super at night and usually has a 5-6 hour stretch between feedings. He wakes up between 4 and 5 to eat and then goes back to sleep until 7:30 or 8:30.
I thrive on a schedule and like to have a plan for our day, but I also want to be flexible. My mantra since we found out we were pregnant has always been, "A baby joins your life, you don't join a baby's life." So even though I try to always be consistent with the feed, wake, sleep cycle, and making sure he doesn't go more than 3 hours between feedings during the day, I'm also flexible and adapt our routine to whatever we have going on. Some days that means feeding Nathan at 8:30am and again at 10am because I have a meeting at 11. Or it may mean heading to a friend's house or a play date immediately after a feeding, even though I know the car ride will put him to sleep before it's time for a nap. Life may not seem too glamorous these days, but I am loving spending all day everyday with this precious baby.
Play time
Nap time
Bath time
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