Day in the life - Monday, May 2nd

When Laura posted that she was doing her "day in the life" project again, I figured it was a good enough excuse as any to join in. I really liked doing my last "day in the life", back in August and know that SO much has changed since then. I think I'll try to do these twice a year because it really is a good snapshot of what life is like right now. I also plan on recording the events of this coming Saturday to remember what a weekend day is like as well. This is pretty mundane, again, but is more exciting because yesterday included Annie's 15 month doctor's appointment.

6:24am - Blearily looked at the clock - if I squint REALLY hard, I can barely make out what it sort of says, or at least a few of the numbers. My contacts prescription is -10, so I can’t even see a foot in front of my face without them. I see it doesn’t say 6:30 yet. Briefly wonder if I turned off the alarm in my sleep? Just give myself “5 more minutes” and roll over to cuddle with Ben for just a minute.

6:44am - Oops. I guess the alarm didn’t go off. Not sure why, but will investigate later. Rush downstairs to shower, quickly do my makeup and hair, and in the process of cleaning my ears manage to clog one so I can’t hear. Lovely!

7:13am - Exit bathroom, see that Annie is awake, which is rare these days, but I’m pretty late so that explains it. I go in and say a quick hello and give her a hug and kiss while she walks around her crib and pretends to go back to sleep (Ben has tried to just leave then and shut the lights out again but then she starts crying :) and then run upstairs to get dressed.

Annie immediately grabs her basket and resumes her laps from the night before

Come back down and try to quickly make my breakfast of granola, yogurt and frozen blueberries, and get my sandwich stuff together for my lunch. Annie is reaching for the food so I give her a spoonful of yogurt (vanilla - practically like ice cream for her since she’s used to plain greek yogurt with fruit mixed in) and a frozen blueberry. I kiss her and Ben goodbye and finally am on my way, EXTREMELY late.

7:40am - The clock reads 7:40 when I finally pull out of the garage. Yikes. Bad start to the week. Also the fact that it’s feeling like 26 degrees today is depressing. I still need my seat warmers on high. Also, are those flurries I see? What? It IS May 2nd, right?

Even having to CROSS University right now during light rail construction is annoying. Yay for 3 more years of this.

7:59am - Pull in to the parking garage, say hi to the guy, park and leave and walk through the wind tunnel up 6th Street to my office. Brrr. Definitely see flurries. Am depressed.

8:03am - So, usually my goal is to get to work at 7:30. Realistically it’s more like 7:40, but I’m pretty damn late today. Janelle and Nona offer their hellos.

8:10am - Have my coffee and yogurt and peruse some social media while I also check emails at work. I was at a conference on Friday so I have plenty backed up for me to respond to. The main messages of the day are of course regarding Osama bin Laden’s death and the fact that it’s frigid outside. Us Minnesotans just can’t ever shut up about the weather, despite whatever else is going on in the world. The rest of the day passes with emails, reviewing resumes, and a few phone appointments with students.

11:52am - Am starving so I make my sandwich - turkey, colby jack cheese, and some baby spinach on wheat bread. The kitchen at work is hopping - all 3 microwaves in use and many people busy making their lunch. The 6th floor is where it’s at, apparently. (Also, I swear I don't always have sandwiches every day - it just so happened that the last day in the life post also was a sandwich day, randomly)

12:20pm - While eating, I see a question on facebook from Christie asking when babies move to 2 naps a day that caused me to investigate my blog archives. I found that Annie went to 2 naps around 5.5 months old, in case anyone is curious :) It’s funny how much I totally just wouldn’t remember at all if I didn’t have the blog. Naps were an obsession for so long, and now I don’t even think about it at all, other than making sure Annie gets one every day. I remember thinking it’d be forever before she’d be able to stay awake longer... I guess it kind of did feel like forever at the time, but once she was on 2 naps a day for about a month, all was pretty much good.

1:00pm - Still hungry, so I eat some goldfish. Yes, the only notables for the purposes of this post from my workday are when I ate :)

2:30pm - Get an email from Jen that some coworkers down the hall have Chicago Mix popcorn - yesss! They get this from AJ's Popcorn in the skyway on 8th street on the day of the quarter they do... something. I'm not really sure what, but I do enjoy the mix of caramel, cheese and plain popcorn!

3:50pm - Annie's 15 month well child visit is at 4:15, so I need to get out of work a bit early... despite arriving late. Luckily I am very efficient. Have a little conversation with my boss Amy about the conference I went to last Friday, and am on my way!

4:08pm - Arrive at the doctor's office and am a bit confused to not see Annie and Ben in the waiting room, since I saw his car in the parking lot. Check my phone and see a text saying they are already in back. Someone escorts me back there and I find my little Annie, clad only in a diaper. I find that her stats are:

Weight: 20lbs, 14oz (20%)

Height: 28.75 inches (9%)

Head: 18.5 inches (80%)

So basically she barely grew since her 12 month appointment. Except for her head. Lovely. We have a long wait ahead of us, but Annie does great, and busies herself with some books, and climbing on and off a stool. She seems to be having a grand old time. I look over the development sheet for things your kid will be doing between 15 and 18 months "Says no and mine" and "resists boundaries and throws tantrums" - maybe we can skip that part??

Note that she's grabbing her belly button

Hey, blue eyes! (Cheeese)

4:34pm - Our doctor finally comes in and has a chat with us, asking about Annie's development. Here is a summary of our conversation and my questions.

Walking - All that matters is that she can do it, not that she does or not. He sees her climbing and pushing the stool and taking some steps and says she looks great.

Communication - He says he "likes to see kids saying 5 words by 15 months", so I say, well, she's not saying 5 words. And he says, well she says a few, and does she make noises? Yes. She's fine, give it a few months. He hears her making noises and says she sounds "perfectly expressive" whatever that means. I should just trust him I guess but it seems like he's brushing me off a bit. Upon further reflection of this later, I figure if I'm being EXTREMELY generous, Annie does say 5 words: Daddy, Hi, Bye bye, Cheese (deeees! when we are taking a pic of her), and down. So I guess she's fine. He also does remind me that these are "toddler words" not adult words, so it's just a sound that means the same thing every time.

Vitamins - Says she doesn't need any as long as she's eating a varied diet. Affirms our decision to just give her what we are eating and not give her anything else if she doesn't eat.

Other random things he brings up: He brings up bottles which was surprising to me just because Annie hasn't had any for so long and was pleased to hear she's drinking only from sippy cups. Also makes sure we are brushing her teeth. I forget to ask about going to the dentist, but I know what he'd say - now they "recommend" taking 1 year olds to the dentist, which I'm not going to do because that's a waste of time. Asks what she likes to do, and I tell him, and he gives the hard sell for playing with blocks. We have some and they are always out, but it's not something Annie seems to gravitate toward. He talks about how great they are. OK, fine, we'll ..... show her the blocks more I guess?

We talk about how Annie's lead levels were a little high at our last appointment. He tells us in addition to washing her hands, we should wet mop the floor. Ughhhhhhhhhhhhh. Fine. We'll see how her levels were at this appointment, and THEN make the decision to mop or not :)

He checks her over and Annie gets a little peeved at the interruption to her playtime, but does okay. Doc says she looks like a "perfectly normal 15 month old" - yay!

5:05pm - Doc leaves the room, and I try to figure out how to access their online chart system. Get some help from a cute receptionist named Ben. He tells me there may be a glitch in the matrix. Clever, AND cute! AND named Ben! I don't tell my Ben any of this when I go back into the room. Until he reads it now. Hi Ben! Online chart still isn't working, so I go out to ask him more but find he has left. I guess we didn't have much of a connection. Oh well.

5:15pm - Lab tech arrives to take Annie's blood, from an actual vein in her arm this time, not a finger prick. Sad. I am instructed to basically lay on top of Annie to keep her from moving. She actually doesn't cry too hard, but it was kind of sad to see. She enjoyed the band they used to make her vein pop out.

5:30pm - Nurse arrives and quickly sticks Annie 3 times with the vaccines, and gives her a book as a present for being a good girl. Some big screams but then it's over and we are on our way!

5:35pm - I decided after our last doctor's appointment, when we went out to eat after at Leaning Tower of Pizza, that we should make that a doctor's appointment tradition. Ben doesn't like doing the appointments late in the day, but I think it works better - we barely have to miss any work, AND we get pizza! Win win!

It's not very crowded when we get there, and we choose a nice spot by the window. I immediately get out Annie's appetizer of sweet potatoes, black beans and onions (we keep that in the freezer for nights like tonight - frozen in muffin tins and then put in a freezer bag) and she eats it after spilling a lot on the ground. Ben orders a beer, and I order a cranberry juice/sprite mix (not pregnant - that drink order should come with a disclaimer). We order a large Leaning Tower - sausage, pepperoni, onions, peppers and celery. Ben's favorite. He worked here in college, so it holds a special place in his heart. Here are some random vids I took while we were at Leaning Tower.

While we wait, Annie plays with her jar of carrots, and looks at her book. As soon as the pizza comes, Annie immediately starts her "give me that NOW!!!!" whine, so I busy myself with cutting up a small piece for her. In her zeal to get the pizza in her mouth immediately, there is a little choking scare, but as soon as she works it out, another few pieces get shoved in. I guess she likes it. We eat and chat and Annie plays some more.

Yum.

Despite the face, she liked it too.

6:45pm - Go our separate ways - I take Annie in my car. It is an uneventful 10 minute drive home.

Oh, the chunky thighs. I just love them.

6:55pm - Get Annie inside and immediately start the bedtime routine - put her in PJs, Ben reads Goodnight Moon while she drinks a little more milk, then I wash her hands and brush her teeth. Bring her in her room and she allows me to rock her to one very short song before she is pointing and reaching for the crib. I put her down on her back and she laughs at me before rolling over, then peeks again to make sure I'm still there, and then I leave.

Give her an inch, and she moves all over the place.

This is the face we typically see during diaper changes.

Annie does NOT like to have her leg flat to get zipped up

7:10pm - I say Goodnight to Annie and leave her room, RACING upstairs to change into pajamas, another one of the best parts of my day. Since I know I won't be seeing anyone tonight, I don't even bother with "halfway" PJs (yoga pants and long sleeved shirt) and just go with my actual pjs. Whatever. Take out my contacts, and settle into my chair. I should have had Ben take a pic of this but I didn't. Oh well.

Annie's first attempt to get comfy and go to sleep.

Next try.

7:25pm - Just as I'm getting comfy, I hear my phone. I usually forget to even turn the ringer on, so my mom is lucky. She tells me a few stories about my Grandma, including letting me know that we have the go-ahead to sell a table that we inherited but don't have space for. We discuss Annie's appointment, while I watch Annie on the video monitor as she isn't sleeping yet. At one point she's actually sitting up, playing with her bunny and blanket.

7:40pm - Finish my conversation with my mom, and see that Annie hasn't moved in awhile, so I will declare her officially asleep.

8:40pm - Sneak in Annie's room to put some Lansinoh cream on her thumb - she doesn't even move. (Note - it looks MUCH better in the morning - I tried going in just now but she's sleeping on her hands, so no dice)

9:18pm - We FINALLY begin our nightly Friday Night Lights episode. Ben was messing around with our new blog all night and it is finally done to his satisfaction, for now at least. We are in the middle of Season 4. It's been kind of a downer, but I still love it.

9:30pm - Annie cries out, just once. I watch her, she doesn't even move and doesn't make any more noise. Strange. She has now completely moved out of view from the monitor, except for one foot.

10:09pm - After checking the interwebs for a bit after the conclusion of Friday Night Lights, I decide to go upstairs and read for a bit - I'm STILL reading American Wife - I do really like it, but I wouldn't call it gripping. It helps me get tired enough to go to sleep, which is good. When turning on the alarm, I remember it not going off that morning. Ben tells me "oh yeah, I think it started going off when you were showering one morning so I just turned it way down." Thanks honey!!

10:35pm - Lights out. Actually slept well last night too, and no more noises from Annie that I heard.