Day in the life - Saturday, October 8th

Well, I wasn't going to do another day in the life until next quarter, but after reading a few, I couldn't resist :) I figured I was already going to be taking a lot of photos on Saturday to show Ben what we did, so why not! I didn't keep as good of records this time as I did the last times, but luckily I took enough pics to put it together. Of course this still took me FOREVER, but oh well! To see all my days in the life, click here.

5:51am - After laying in bed awake for awhile, get up to pee. I've been having some nights I need to pee, some I don't, but I think I sleep better if I get up to pee and then go back to bed. Wish it had been a bit earlier, but oh well.

7:25am - Laying in bed, still pretty out of it, hear Annie making some happy noises on the monitor. Think about getting up soon.

7:37am - Hear Annie start to make some NOT so happy noises, so really do get up. She quiets down as she hears me moving around upstairs and I see her looking toward the door. When I get downstairs I yell to her that I'll be right there and she laughs, I go brush my teeth and go to say good morning. She's standing up and is apparently angry at herself for throwing her bunny out of the crib. She asks for her bee-bo (Belly button) which means she's ready to get her pajamas off.

Look at all that hair!

I give her feet a kiss, and then so does she. As she does most mornings, after she's undressed and reacquainted with her beloved bee-bo, she immediately asks for "bow? BOW? BOW?!?!" so I hand her a new package of bows I just got the other day. She wants all of them in her hair. Okay, whatever.

Since it's supposed to be in the 80s again today (weird MN. It'll probably snow next week) I choose a overall dress for Annie to wear. It was actually a gift I got for Adelaide for her first birthday, and was then passed down to us in hand-me-downs. I find a onesie, also a hand-me-down, and after I get it on (it's loose), I realize it's a 9 month size. WTF? I know my kid is small, but that MUST be mislabeled. She can wear most 18 month stuff fine. Weird.

We go out to the porch with Annie's milk, she pulls her chair out there too. After having a few sips, she goes to get some toys. Tries to stand in the shape sorter box, and then use it as a chair. Interesting.

I call Ben after seeing a twit from him, so I knew he was awake. We say good morning to Dad for a few minutes, since he's up at a cabin with a bunch of old dudes. Let's also remember he was just gone 2 weeks ago. TOTALLY over guy's weekends.

It's getting a little late for me to not have any nourishment, so I go into the kitchen to prepare coffee (not sure I did it right, Ben usually makes it in the french press by grinding beans each time and using a certain amount and timing things and whatever. It was fine, despite there being no cream) and our breakfast. 2 pieces of toast (one with peanut butter, one with jam) for me, and half a banana mushed up with plain greek yogurt and cinnamon for Annie. As predicted, she finished her yogurt and wanted my toast, so I gave her some. During breakfast, she heard Molly and Mia in their porch next door and repeatedly screamed at them. "HI!!!!! MOLLY! MIA!! HI!! HEY!" but alas, they did not notice. Windows must have been closed, because she was being pretty loud.

8:17am - Receive text from Marianne, who was supposed to come over for lunch, asking if we would mind coming to her instead. Sounds good to me, then I don't have to tidy up!

8:45am (guesstimate) - Annie makes her classic poop face, and then walks into her room to be changed. Nice change from her previous meltdowns over every diaper change! I gag several times while changing her diaper and try to breathe through my mouth.

Then Annie plays for awhile, mostly with dishtowels, one of her current favorite "toys" - they are great night night blankets and swaddles for her babies :), and I finish my coffee and read the internets on my phone. At some point, I get the laptop because I chat with my sister and Becca (SIL) for a bit on gmail - sister tells me her in-laws got her a new f-ing iPhone (THE NEW ONE) for her birthday. Dayum! Becca bails on the zoo tomorrow due to be worn out from her week as a single mama - I mean, what, does she have twins or something?!?!?!?!? ;)

You get a nice listen to my singing voice in this one!

I'm probably irrationally impressed that Annie can complete this whole puzzle completely on her own.

With her beloved dishtowel

9:37am - I go in to take a shower. Make sure the door is open so Annie can come in if necessary. She does right away, and mostly stays in the bathroom. A lot of the time is spent staring awkwardly at me while I shower quickly. It seems that she has picked up the word boobie, so that's awesome. I peek at her every minute or so, the shower is probably a total of 7 minutes. The last 90 seconds or so, I didn't look, so of course when I got out, somehow she had climbed onto to the toilet (lid closed), and was standing there brushing her teeth. Well then. I guess she can climb the toilet. Good to know! I help her down and then we go upstairs so I can get dressed.

Of course I took a picture before getting her off.

Play upstairs for awhile. She picks out a pair of underwear for me, then goes to empty a box of kleenex on top of our down comforter that is currently on the floor because it's freaking 80 degrees outside. I look at the overflowing laundry hamper, and decide to do that today as my productive activity. After I finish getting ready, Annie and I go downstairs to sort laundry and start a load. We do laundry every 2-3 weeks, so there is a lot to do.

Me in my "hat" as Annie calls it. These are my Gap maternity full panel jeans, which were a favorite last pregnancy. This time, maybe I'm just not big enough yet, but they creep down every 5 seconds and are SO ANNOYING because they don't stay put.

Put on some pants that she found

At some point in here, Annie finds the remote and turns the TV on. I use this as an opportunity to cut her nails, and we watch a few Sesame Street youtube videos. I can't locate her baby nail clipper, but the normal one works just fine.

10:30am - Pack up to go to Marianne's. Annie is in a bit of a mood at this point, and demands her milk for the ride there. We run into Nate and Mia on their way to the grocery store at this point. Annie is pretty much angry the whole ride, so I blast Raffi to her in hopes of calming her down. We both somehow survive.

Taken at a stop light, she's still rear-facing so pics in the car are a bit hard to manage :)

11:00am - Arrive at Marianne's - eat lunch, chat and watch our little babes play! Miles is 9 months old and such a handsome little guy. I hadn't seen him in months so it was crazy to see how much he'd grown! Lunch was homemade chicken wild rice soup and biscuits - delicious. I provided the fruit :)

Miles trying to hitch a ride on Annie out of his mom's "baby gate" :)

Video of playtime

Marianne looks a bit more angry than she was :)

As happens most of the time, Annie was a perfect angel at Marianne's house. She didn't get angry when Miles tried to eat her face or use her to pull up to stand, and played nicely with him. She ate pretty well and was all around very pleasant! It's really nice to know that MOST of the time, she's going to be pretty good when we're at other people's houses!

1:05pm - Leave Marianne's, definitely late for Annie's nap. I have the diaper bag on with the strap diagonal across my chest, thus enhancing my "boobies", which Annie helpfully points out. Hope she loses interest in that one soon! I give her a water bottle and a book in the car in hopes that she won't fall asleep. HA. I could have been so lucky!

1:25pm - Annie is cranky pretty much the second we get home and starts whining. This just constant whine. Sue (daycare) had mentioned all week that Annie had been whining a ton during "quiet time", which one of the other kids apparently does. I didn't believe it, because Annie has always been at least pretty quiet, even if she doesn't immediately go to sleep for her nap. Constant whining isn't like her. Well, I got to witness it today, lucky me! She slept totally fine last night and no evidence of extreme crankiness this morning, so VERY odd. While I listened to her whine, I went to change the laundry.

1:38pm - After hearing Annie whine/cry, I go in there and try to reason with her. Like, "Annie, shhh, it's okay. You don't need to make noise" - yeah, obviously that didn't work. I picked her up and she cried more. So I put her back down but she still didn't quiet down. I went back in there and just held her for a long time, until she was quiet and seemed asleep. Laid her back down, because every time I moved more than just breathing, she'd wake up. Predictably, she started crying/whining again. Really and truly this is the oddest thing I've ever seen with my kid - she is NOT like this. She's not an awesome napper, but she's usually not pissed about it. Who knows what was up!

This is a tamer view of what I was dealing with. Notice how she doesn't move. Now imagine this the entire time.

2:04pm - Came out and listened to her whine until 2:11pm (I know the exact times because of my twits - how helpful!) and then it was silent. Finally. I went upstairs to take a rest of my own. I never really SLEEP during naps, but I felt SO exhausted from listening to the whine/cry, and socializing for a couple hours. It really takes a lot out of me now.

3:15pm - Checked the monitor and Annie was awake. She was still silent, so I left her in there while I changed the laundry and folded the load that was done. After I was done with that, I went in there and she was pleased as punch. WHAT A FRICKING CRAZY PERSON. As I change her diaper, I realize the Diaper Champ is full, another of my most gag inducing chores since obviously the bag in there does not smell wonderful. I manage to mouth breathe through that and we both go outside so I can throw the diapers away and we can play. I bring my leftover Izze soda from Chipotle last night to enjoy outdoors in the heat of this fall day.

Annie after her nap

We find Nate on the roof, and Molly and Mia outside, who come over immediately to chat and play for awhile. The girls play with chalk, and busy themselves with going between yards over the short retaining wall while Molly and I watch them and talk.

4:00pm or so - We go back inside. I'm not feeling so hot so I sit and read the internet for a bit. Annie is saying "Ock? Ock? Ock?" (her word for off) in her room so I go to investigate and she's attempting to climb in her crib. Like she's standing on the lower rung. Some attempt to climb out, oh no, she just wants to get back in. I'm not sure what she wants so I get her bunny and blanket out. She's still cranky but I'm really not feeling great so I just sit in the glider and watch her. She then tries to take out the storage bin under her crib and gets pissed that it isn't working the way she envisioned. Finally, like the brilliant mother I am, I figure maybe I should actually engage with her for awhile and I suggest we read a book. She immediately perks up and brings me one of her current favorites, I am a Bunny, and we read it. Every page, she asks me what everything is, and points out the things she knows (dadoos (flowers), bunny, etc). She spends a lot of time on the page with the birds so we discuss that they are all birds even though they look different, what colors they are, and how many they are. Good times.

Pushing her babies in the laundry basket

Trying to climb in her crib

4:40pm - I am feeling quite woozy, so sit at the dining room table to have a few chips in hopes that makes me feel better. I guess it had been awhile since I ate, which isn't a great idea for me. Annie wants some, so instead I present her with the wonderful alternative of Just Veggies, aka the best toddler snack every invented. They are crunchy and are literally JUST VEGGIES, freeze dried. SERIOUSLY AWESOME. She is thrilled and chows down. Sometimes she has the annoying habit (with this and many other things lately) of holding them in her mouth and then spitting them out 10 minutes later, which is infuriating and I have no idea how to stop it. Saying ANYTHING regarding the food just causes her to spit it out (including, chew your food, swallow, we don't spit food, etc), and saying no sternly causes a meltdown which is what I'm most apt to do. Hopefully she learns soon...

I am still not feeling great. I suggest that perhaps she be done with the veggies and she nearly has a conniption, so I let her have more while I prepare my and her dinner of leftover mac and cheese with squash and spinach from the other night.

5:05pm - I take one bite of the mac and cheese while Annie is freaking out with excitement because she wants to eat really bad. I realize that, as I suspected, that bite was a mistake as I run for the bathroom. I don't shut the door all the way, so Annie of course follows me and sees me throwing up and starts screaming a really horrified scream. I try telling her it'll be ok, mommy's just sick, but with every heave there are fresh screams from her in horror. Yeah, so that was really fun. After I was done, I gave her a hug and she was okay. She even went and got me my water, which was very nice of her. She did spill a little, but A+ for effort on her part. Anyway, DAMN IT for still puking at nearly 20 weeks!!!!!!!! WTF, body?! It had been 2 weeks since my last puke too, so I thought I was good. Guess not.

5:10pm - Get Annie's dinner to the porch and sit with her while she eats. She is super excited and not traumatized in the least by the events of the last 10 minutes, thankfully. She eats some and then proclaims herself all done while I am in getting more water, so I get back out to the porch to find her with her bib off, holding her bowl and sippy cup to me insistently. When she's done, SHE IS DONE. I feed her a few more bites, some of which she eats, but then she predictably holds the last bite in her mouth and then just spits it out and hands it to me. Just what I want to see after puking.

5:40pm - Go into the kitchen to clean up. Do the dishes from the day while Annie organizes the tupperware on the floor. When that's done, go to change the laundry again. Annie discovers one of her toys down there, that I hid when she was starting walking because she'd push it everywhere and fall on top of it. She had me carry it upstairs and was enamored with it for about 25 minutes, which was great because I could just sit there after finishing folding.

This is what I looked like during this time

6:00pm - Decide I should probably take Annie outside again to burn off some energy. Figure the path of least resistance for me is to just let her walk where she wants so I can just stand there and watch. We make it about one block before she's just sitting there, examining acorns. I ask if she wants to go back home, and she turns around. Still, this whole process takes us 40 minutes! We sit out in front of our house for awhile too.

Imitating how I was leaning against the other post :)

6:45pm - Go back inside. Read Tails. I ask Annie if she wants her dress off, and she does. She then says "Ock?" about her onesie too, and then her diaper. As soon as she realizes her belly button is free, she starts sucking her thumb. That is such a strange trigger for her! Guess she's tired! I tell her to go into her room if she wants to get her diaper changed, which she does. I follow her and find her on her blanket on the floor, sucking her thumb. I figure it's a bit too early to really put her to bed, so I go put her toys away and start boiling water for my dinner of Kraft Mac and Cheese (the only thing I feel safe with), and then when I come back in it's closer to 7 so I change her diaper, put her warm weather pjs on because it's still so hot in the house, and she brings me Goodnight Moon.

7:00pm - I get her milk and we read Goodnight Moon. She's just discovered the mouse on every page, and now loves pointing it out to me "there he is!" (which sounds like "der-e-is") She sucks down her milk, and then we go to wash her hands and brush her teeth. She's very happy through this whole process and then goes to bed silently. Again - recall nap time. What a strange and mysterious little beast!

7:15pm - Make my gourmet dinner and eat it by the light of my laptop.

7:45pm - Begin writing this post. Annie is not sleeping yet, but has been silent. She's currently doing some kind of acrobatics in her crib - moving around while still sucking her thumb.

8:50pm - This post takes a long time and I haven't even dealt with pics yet. Stopping for now, Annie is asleep. I will be watching Make it or Break it. I need to slow down, last night I watched 3 episodes. Soon I will have none left. I am cursing myself for leaving my Sour Patch Kids at work, but think I have some ice cream or some sweet thing I can scrounge up. Get the last load of laundry.

9:55pm - Pause my show to talk to Ben for a few minutes when he calls, recounting the remainder of my day since the last time we talked. He feels bad about the puke. Me too.

10:35pm - Show is finished. Not quite as emotional this time, I only tear up a few times, versus nearly the entire last episode I watched the night before. Make sure the house is all locked up, turn on the alarm, and get ready for bed, later than I should have but oh well. Check on Annie, and just see her tiny little feet on the monitor - I love her footless pjs!

10:48pm - Lights out!