Week 7 Routine...What routine?

When Jack was 7 weeks we posted a blog about our daily routine, so we thought we'd post about our routine with Grace.  Here goes...

6am-ish: Grace wakes up and nurses - something you should know about Grace is that she likes to eat. A lot. Constantly.  There's a term for this in the baby world called "cluster feeding."  It's totally normal, especially during growth spurts (and, really, infancy is just one big growth spurt) and I'm told she will start to outgrow this. Anyway, I have gotten really good at nursing and doing almost anything else except driving, cooking or showering.  I'm nursing while I write this blog.

8-9am-ish: Jack and Chris get up and ready while I make a plan for the day, which will ideally include a shower.  It's summer so we usually meet friends somewhere for a playdate around 10:30 or 11am.  Sometimes Grace sleeps through this either in the baby bjorn or her car seat/stroller.  Grace is not yet a fan of her car seat - mainly because she doesn't like to be put down/stop eating for that long.  This is definitely something we will try to improve because we like to walk a lot in this household.

noon-3ish:  We eat lunch wherever we happen to be. Grace usually gets a bottle around this time and takes a nap.  We are typically headed home from our outings around 2 or 3, sometimes stopping at the grocery store on the way back (if we are feeling bold). 

3p-6ish: Play outside, sometimes with neighbors.  Jack will often do some workbook pages or practice writing or drawing - he's a little tentative with this so we keep it short and fun.  Grace may be sleeping, nursing or hanging out in the baby bjorn depending on the day.  She does short spurts in a bouncer or blanket and likes being on her belly a lot more than Jack did.  She has given us a couple of little smiles lately, which is exciting.  Jack ADORES his sister and has been so great with her - hope this continues indefinitely!

6pm-8pm: Jack eats dinner, I have a snack and we continue to play outside or in, sometimes we watch Spiderman.  Earlier in the summer for about a month we met Chris at the Festival in the evening and also had visitors most of the time.  Lately it's been quieter in the evenings except for Happy Hour. Chris arrives home at some point between 6 and 8p.

8pm-10pm: Jack and Chris play superheroes and get ready for bed, I nurse Grace. Jack goes to bed around 9 in the summer, Grace around 9:30 or 10p.  Grace gets a bottle from either me or Chris and typically sleeps 8-9 hours! I usually get about 6, but sometimes 8!

10p-midnight:  Oh, yeah - what about dinner?  This is the time when Chris cooks dinner (sometimes I get to help) and we catch up on our days & watch a show.  I'm hoping to start cooking a bit more as Grace gets more comfortable in her bouncer/play gym.

My big goal for the Fall is to start walking regularly so we will slowly ramp up Grace's stroller time.  Whatever time I get during the day I work on bills/paperwork, trip-planning, work for Jack's preschool and moms groups, thank you notes, emails, photos, cleaning (lol).  So much for sleeping when she sleeps - does anyone really do that?

Our friends and family have been amazing - visiting, bringing food, taking Jack on outings or playdates and just being plain old supportive as we continue our adventure into parenthood.  It's a wild ride - good thing we like roller-coasters!

WARNING: this routine will change without notice.  Especially since we are about to leave on a 2 week trip, followed by Chris traveling, followed by camping, followed by preschool starting. Immediately followed by a 2 week trip to England.  After this Grace will be about 4 months old, so we'll check back in on her "routine" at that time :)