We have a routine, and we stick to that routine! I think it's extremely important that Eden have a routine so that she has stability and knows what she can expect from each day.
Now that Eden sleeps in her crib ALL NIGHT LONG (Hallelujah!) and has for a while now, I make myself get out of bed every morning when Dustin does so that I can get a jump start on things - unloading the dishwasher from the night before, starting a load of laundry, sweeping the floors, etc. Sometimes though, I'm lazy, and I stay in bed until Eden calls for me. I'm pretty much playing catch-up the rest of the day, but every once in a while it's so nice to put her in bed with me, curl up with her and watch fifteen minutes or so of 101 Dalmatians. (It's what's in my DVD player right now. It used to be Tangled. After we get through 101 Dalmatians a few times, we'll switch to something else. She loves the dogs.)
"Why are you taking my picture so early in the morning?"
She usually wakes up between seven and seven thirty. After she wakes up or after we've watched a little bit of our movie, she eats breakfast - usually a scrambled egg, some cheerios and blueberries and raspberries.
As soon as I set her on the ground from her high chair after she's done eating, she runs to the bathroom because she knows it's teeth-brushing time.
As soon as I set her on the ground from her high chair after she's done eating, she runs to the bathroom because she knows it's teeth-brushing time.
She loves to brush her teeth. I mean, sometimes when I decide ten minutes is long enough for her to brush her teeth, there are tears. Once she remembers that it's time to feed the dogs though, she gets over it. Feeding the dogs is a very exciting event.
Feeding the dogs and making sure all of her clothes are in her dirty clothes hamper are her two chores.
When the dogs are finished eating, she grabs her boots and sits down for me to put them on, and we head outside. She plays with some of her outside toys for a little while, but she's happiest just roaming around.
We stay outside until around nine forty-five. That's when it's time to check the mail. And also, it's starting to get really freaking hot. I pull her in her wagon down to the mailbox, and all hell breaks loose if I do not immediately hand over the mail to her so that she can go through it.
When we get back inside, it's time for yogurt (her favorite snack). She is still mastering the spoon so this is a very messy event. Which is why I usually wait until after she's done with her yogurt before changing her out of her pajamas and into her day clothes.
After she's dressed, we head into the living room to play with her toys. Eden absolutely will not play with her toys without me during the day. I must be sitting right next to her at all times while she plays. I cannot help but go into teacher mode after a while though, and we review flashcards and practice identifying colors. Fortunately, right now, she thinks those are exciting games.
After she's dressed, we head into the living room to play with her toys. Eden absolutely will not play with her toys without me during the day. I must be sitting right next to her at all times while she plays. I cannot help but go into teacher mode after a while though, and we review flashcards and practice identifying colors. Fortunately, right now, she thinks those are exciting games.
I love that she loves books so much.
I keep the TV off while we play, and we listen to either the Disney channel or the Sunday School channel on Pandora, but at eleven, I let her watch Mickey Mouse. I really try to limit the amount of time that Eden watches TV, and I didn't allow any TV at all for the first fifteen months of her life, but I've started allowing it more and more. When I say, "Eden, it's time for Mickey", she runs straight to the couch, and she watches while holding her Minnie doll.
While Eden watches Mickey Mouse, I start cooking lunch. If all goes well, I'm finishing up at the same time Mickey is so that Eden eats at eleven thirty. Eden is not picky AT ALL (yayyyy), and she LOVES healthy food (yayyyy). Unlike breakfast which tends to be the same thing every day, I usually mix it up for lunch, but something that I do make for her quite often is spinach quesadillas. She gobbles up spinach like she's Popeye.
She goes down for her nap after she's done eating, around noon or so. She's a very unpredictable nap-taker. Sometimes she sleeps for twenty minutes. Sometimes she sleeps for two hours.
and she always naps better when the cat is with her
I love spending time with my child, but I love when she takes long naps. So on a good day she wakes up around two. She gets chocolate milk (she won't touch regular milk) when she wakes up. Occasionally, I'll pour her chocolate milk into the popsicle maker and give her her chocolate milk in popsicle form (to be eaten outside).
She is so cute when she wakes up!
Eden wants to go back outside when she wakes up, but the only way that is tolerable when it's August in Texas is if we are in water. So we spend a lot of afternoons in the water trough.
Or we go and visit my grandma and grandpa. Eden absolutely LOVES going over to their house, and she lights up and runs to the door when I ask her if she wants to go see Granny and Pops.
I usually try and get the clean laundry put away while Eden is napping, but if it's a day that I washed towels, I wait until she's awake to help because she loves to carry the towels for me. She carries the towels from the dryer to the living room floor where I sit and fold them, and then she carries the folded towels to the kitchen and bathroom for me. Usually she drops them, and I have to re-fold them, but it's okay because she's so happy about it.
super duper blurry iPhone photos, but you get the idea
On the days that she is awake by twelve twenty, it's a lot harder coming up with things to keep her occupied and happy until Dustin gets home from work. We play in the water trough, we go see Granny and Pops, we read books, we play with toys, we bring the dogs inside to entertain us, we go back outside and swing... and still there's so much afternoon left. These are the days that I usually end up putting another movie in (another Disney one - if you haven't noticed, I'm obsessed with all things Disney). I always try to hold out as long as I can, but by late afternoon, she's fussy and tired from not sleeping long enough, and nothing else makes her happy. Then I always feel guilty and lazy for letting her watch a movie. UGH! I won't care so much once she's older, but I read an article once that said you shouldn't let kids watch TV until they're 2. How truthful that particular article was, I don't know, but I still always manage to feel like bad mom for not making it until she was 2 before introducing the TV. I gave in a few months ago when she wasn't napping. Ever. And I thought I was going to lose my mind, and I needed to be able to just sit and relax for a minute. And well... now that she knows the TV exists, there ain't no goin' back.
At four, Eden gets another snack. Always fruit. Either in actual fruit form or pureed and made into a popsicle (again, to be eaten outside). (I love my popsicle maker.)
I hose her down with the water hose when she's done with her popsicle. She loves that.
Dustin gets home from work between four and five, and Eden either greets him at the door if we're inside or at his truck if we're outside. Then once we're back inside, she happily goes into the living room and plays with all her toys by herself so that Dustin thinks I'm lying when I tell him that Eden never plays with her toys by herself.
We start on dinner around five, and on the days that Dustin grills, Eden is happy happy to get to run around outside some more and put on a show for Dustin. If we're inside, like I said, she's perfectly content playing by herself in the living room while we cook. On the occasion that she does get bored of her toys, she comes into the kitchen, I hand her the stack of measuring cups, and she's good to go. Cooking dinner is something Dustin and I pretty much always do together. Dinner is usually at six followed by bath time.
Eden takes a bath every single day because Eden manages to get FILTHY every single day.
Our bedtime routine consists of lotion, jammies, lavender oil massaged into her feet, two or three books and a song. For the most part, she will go into her crib and put herself to sleep no problem, but occasionally when she's fussy over a new tooth coming in or something, I will still rock her to sleep. She is in bed by seven. I love her seven o'clock bedtime. It gives me plenty of time to pick up toys, get the kitchen cleaned and still have a couple of hours to spend with Dustin.
Sometimes we have a play date or an unexpected errand, but for the most part that's how we spend a typical weekday. EXCEPT for Tuesday mornings because I have Eden in a summer music class then and Wednesdays which is my errand day.
On Wednesdays, we set out in the morning and hit up the post office, bank, or whatever I have for that particular week. Then we go to the park. I have no pictures of Eden at the park lately because I'm too busy making sure Eden doesn't kill herself. She likes to do crazy things like RUN down slides. After the park, we meet Dustin for lunch, and after lunch we go to the grocery store. Eden is a big fan of the grocery store now that ours has introduced the race car shopping carts. Eden steers that little wheel the whole time. She really thinks she's doing something.
Weekends are another thing entirely. We had such a busy spring and early summer. It seems like we had a wedding or a Baptism or a birthday party or a graduation party or a baby shower every single weekend. Those are all good, fun things, but lately our weekends have been free, and I love it. My desire to limit TV time goes right out the window on Saturday mornings. Eden wakes up, I get her out of her crib, put her in bed between me and Dustin, and she gets to lay there and watch an entire movie for all I care while we sleep in. We have lazy mornings in bed, big breakfasts consisting of pancakes and eggs and sausage and bacon once we make it downstairs, lazy afternoons while Eden naps, and then we usually find water to be in the rest of the day.
Some pictures from the last couple of weekends:
Oh, how I love my days with my precious little girl.
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