A Day in the Life of a 6 Month Old

I know - a day in the life of a 6 month old - riveting! But you know how when you have a baby to take care of and from the moment they wake up, it's go go go and you barely get a moment to pee in peace, yet when your husband comes home from work and he asks, "what did you guys do today?", it's hard to answer him because what DID we do all day?

I'm un-showered, the dishes are still in the sink, groceries un-bought, dinner not made, but I kept your baby alive! And fed! And in clean diapers, and relatively happy. And sometimes those four things take up your whole day. So in response, I want to scream EVERYTHING AND NOTHING! Because that's how it feels to raise a baby.

And so, I have for you, the day in the life of one little 6 month old. In case there was any curiosity to what it is we do all day.

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7:00 - I hear Sully awake on the baby monitor. He's cooing and babbling loudly to himself. Jim rolls out of bed to start getting ready for work, but first he goes to Sully, changes his diaper and brings him to me. We nurse and then lounge in bed together.

8:00 - 9:15 - Nap time. I am not a morning person (but, I'm working on it!) so most mornings, I have a nap with Sully. He snuggles into me and we doze off for an hour or so.

9:20 - Sully has a quick "snack" and then another diaper change. Then into the jumperoo he goes so that I can jump in the shower. If I don't shower and get ready now, it probably won't happen until tomorrow. Thank god for the jumperoo! We have one upstairs in the front of a mirror and Sully loves looking at himself while he jumps.

10:00 - 10:30 - Sully has reached his limit in the jumperoo and I am now ready for the day ahead of us. We head into his room to get dressed and another diaper change. I realize he's pooped through his sleeper which means I have to go check the jumperoo for poop. Yup! Quick wipe down of the jumperoo seat. Sully nurses again.

We have a play date scheduled at Cafe O'Play for 11:00 with my best friend Karen and her 3 kiddos. Everyday is a little different: some days we don't go anywhere, save for a walk outside. Once a week we have dance class, and weekly music class is starting soon too. Some days we have plans in the afternoon to meet up with a friend. We're still working on figuring out dedicated nap times, so for now, we work around our plans.

10:40 - Head downstairs and I hear Sully fill his pants. I lay him down on the rug in the family room while I quickly scarf down a bowl of cereal.  Sully loses it during the diaper change and I consider not meeting up with Karen so that Sully can have a nap. My needs selfishly outweigh Sully's needs today as I don't get to see Karen very often and making plans with someone who has 3 kiddos in tow can be tough! I risk taking a cranky baby out of the house (wish me luck!).

11:00 - Finally leave the house. Sully is clearly tired and I'm hoping he'll fall sleep in the car. Of course, he doesn't.

11:15 - Arrive at the Cafe just as Karen is pulling up. Good timing! Sully is surprisingly calm for the next 45 minutes as there's so much to distract him at the over packed Cafe. He loves people watching and the little girls swoon over him.

 

12:00 - Nurse Sully. He still doesn't want to fall asleep. I've ordered myself a large coffee and a breakfast sandwich because all I've eaten so far is a bowl of cereal with almond milk. Sully is grabbing at my food so I give him a piece of pita with some hummus on it that Karen's daughter, Mikayla has so graciously shared with him, and he happily chews on it.

13:00 - We pack up to leave so we can get home from a nap, but Sully falls asleep in his car seat before we even get up from the table so I decide to stay a bit longer to continue my visit with Karen as her kids are still playing. I know well enough that Sully would only sleep the length of the car ride home anyway.

 

14:15 - Sully is awake, but calm. We finally head home. He's babbling happily in the backseat so I tempt fate further and stop at Safeway pharmacy to pick up his last dose of the rotovirus vaccine.

14:45 - We're finally home! We head upstairs to nurse, but first a quick diaper change. Sully has a little melt down because how dare I change his dirty bum before nursing him!

15:00 - I lay Sully down in his crib for a nap. Something he fights until the bitter end. He's exhausted and he'll never make it to bed time if he doesn't have an afternoon nap. I sit in the rocking chair listening to him protest the nap. I vow he will not win this battle!

15:15 - I've let Sully try to "figure it out" on his own for 15 minutes. I intervene once he starts full out crying and is borderline hysterical. I do pick-up/put-down 3 times before he finally falls asleep.

 

15:30 - Finally sleep, I head back downstairs, surveying the bomb that has apparently gone off in all corners of my house, choosing to ignore it's damage in lieu of making myself something to eat. I'm starving! I also warm up my coffee that I never finished from our play date. Instead of tidying up the house today, I read a few blogs on my lap top, start a list of things to pack for our trip in a few days and make a new list of errands to run tomorrow seeing as we didn't get to any of them today.

16:15: Sully's been asleep for 45 minutes. This is that pivotal moment, where one sleep cycle is about to end, and if I don't get in there before it does and help ease him into a second sleep cycle, nap time is over. I race upstairs and my damn cardigan brushes against the console table outside his room and one of the buttons makes a stupidly loud "PING" noise. Of course, Sully is wide awake, in perfect Yoga cobra pose when I open his door. I attempt to shush and pat him back to sleep, but he's not having any of it. We read a book in his room before heading back downstairs.

16:30 - 17:00 - We practice sitting in the family room. He's practically a pro now! It's still an hour until Jim is due home from work (longest hour ever, amiright?!), so I decide to take Sully for a short walk in the stroller to get the mail.

17:20: We start to take the long way around the pond to get the mail, but decide to make it short when we see the dark, looming clouds above us. The last thing I want is to be caught in a huge thunderstorm with Sully in his stroller. As we round the bend, I can see that the mailman is just now dropping off today's mail, so we sit on the park bench for a few minutes until he is done.

17:35 - We're back home and Sully wants to nurse again. We watch the clock until Daddy gets home.

17:50 - Daddy's still not home and bedtime is looming nearer and nearer. Since we leave for vacation in  three days, groceries are scarce so cucumber, pear and hummus on toast is what's for dinner for Sully. He couldn't get the toast with hummus in his little mouth fast enough!

18:00 - DADDY'S HOME!! Sully is losing steam. I am losing steam. We all head upstairs for a quick bath. Hummus on toast is messy.

 

18:15 - 19:00 - Fastest bath ever. Sully's quickly fading and crying. We get him dressed for bed and then I remember the rotovirus in the fridge and run down to get it. No time for a story tonight, Sully is MAD! We nurse for a few minutes, but he's rubbing his eyes and just not interested. Into his crib he goes. Minimal protestation until I flip him onto his stomach and pat his back. He's out right away.

19:40 - Sully's awake and I go up to pat his back. He's back asleep a few minutes later.

19:50 - I run out to make a quick return at a store, leaving Jim to man the baby monitor.

20:20 - Jim sends me a text of him and Sully watching Peter Mansbridge on his laptop. Sigh.

*No beer was consumed by the baby (that I'm aware of).

21:00 - I arrive home and Sully is miraculously asleep in his crib! All it took was a bottle and come cuddles with daddy.

21:00 - 23:30 - Jim and I spend the evening watching How I Met Your Mother on Netflix and talking about our days. We are habitual night owls and rarely go up to bed before midnight.

06:50 - The sound of Sully babbling to himself comes through the monitor, waking me up. He's slept through the night. Jim gets up to shower and afterwards will bring Sully to me in our bed. And here another day will start. Except maybe today we will stay home and work on our naps. Or do some laundry. No promises though.