A day in the life is somewhat of a misnomer. With children, it's a day and and a night in the life...make that all of your days and most of your nights. Zoe is about 5.5 months now, and our days (and nights) still include overnight hangouts. That being said, Thursday, September 1 began similar to most other days. Mom, Dad and Zoe lay sound asleep, Mom and Dad in their bed, Zoe in her Co-Sleeper. A Co-Sleeper is "a mini convertible infant bed that allows you and your baby to sleep comfortably next to each other. The position enables you to reach over and draw your baby close for comforting and bonding." Yes, there is nothing more comforting than having quick and easy access to a demanding baby in the middle of the night. At about 330am on this morning, Zoe began to stir. Sometimes she turns her head side-to-side, passes some gas and goes back to sleep. Sometimes she whimpers a bit and you can console her back to sleep with a pacifier before a full-blown cry. Dad almost always hears Zoe before Mom, and I can sometimes reach over Mom to pacify Zoe before Mom wakes. But on this night, there was no consolation for Zoe without some attention and some food. Fortunately the co-sleeper's "unique design makes breastfeeding easy." As usual, Mom leans over to "snuggle" Zoe and offer her some food. Zoe is a great eater (as evidenced by her lovely rolls from head to toe), and gratefully accepts Mom's offer of food and snuggle time. Dad rolls over and selflessly allows Mom and baby to have their personal time (I'm very generous).
Fast forward to about 7am. Mom has already been awake pumping before work so Zoe can have fresh breastmilk for the day, but Zoe stirs awake to hang out a little longer with Mom for good measure. Zoe is at her finest on this (and most) mornings; she rarely wakes up crying, she usually greets us with a smile, and these days she entertains herself by playing with her toes, rolling around on the bed and doing mini pushups. As cute as she is, however, Daddy's still trying to make up for lost sleep time. (I realize I sound like a whiner -- I probably complain more than I should, since "it is what it is." This blog might end up sounding like one big whine, but hopefully it ends up sounding like one big declaration of love!) "Okay Daddy, here's a bottle in case Zoe cries, I'm going rock-climbing with my co-workers tonight and I should be home around 9pm. Have a nice day, love you." Mommy departs for the day, and with that, (the daylight part of) our day begins.
Zoe and I chillaxed in bed for about two hours, she with her toys, I with my Boomer & Carton morning show. Her temperament is delightful and playful, and it's awesome. Every few moments she'll look at me and boast a big, gummy smile that could melt the heart of the Grinch.
After a bottle (for Zoe), it was off to the races. Dad had a few items on the agenda for this sunny, warm day: prep to paint the side and back doors; drop off donations at our church; pick up the light stroller from Dad Pangis for our trip to Tampa the next day.
First stop: St Nicholas Church in Wyckoff. Wyckoff is about 30 minutes from Rutherford but it's a great ride with Ziggy. She's never met a car ride she didn't like, except for when there's traffic (and sometimes red lights). She was asleep within five minutes and stayed sleeping while I unloaded the car for the upcoming Greek festival. She made it all the way to Papou's before waking up to say hello and play!
At Papou's, we had play time and poop time. Poop time used to be much cuter when it was straight up breastmilk poop. Now that we are incorporating the occasional bottle of formula, formula poops are....not so cute. Baby poop is a funny thing though; diaper changes are gross in theory, but in practice they're not so bad (at least so far). Just be prepared with your four essentials: Wipes, Aquaphor (or A+D), Diaper, and CHanging pad (or WADCH if you're a nerd like me). Warning: removing the diaper without one or all of these items within arm's reach could result in an unwanted "adventure." More on that later.
On our way home from Papou's (about a 15-mile trip), Zoe did me a favor and passed out again. It's not easy to calm a cranky baby from the driver's seat, so I'm always grateful when she can entertain herself until she decides to close her eyes. I figured it was a good opportunity to stop at Lowe's for my paint. By the time we got home in the early evening, I fed/changed Zoe and prepped my paint project. I was betting on Zoe entertaining herself by the tv and in her bouncer, one room away from the side door. Although she did a great job of minding her own business for a little while, I learned two lessons that evening: painting takes way longer than you think it does, and you should never gameplan to do anything that takes more than 30 minutes when you're functioning as a single parent. Need to do the dishes? easy. Need to heat up a meal? better eat fast. Need to wash baby clothes? bring the baby to watch. But painting two doors?!?! I was dreaming. At the time I couldn't understand why I couldn't get the job done; why won't Zoe just not cry for as long as I want?? When the crying started, Zoe won the battle of wills (of course), but Daddy had a special trick up his sleeve. Zoe can never resist a moving car, so I took her for a joyride up and down route 17. When we got home 20 minutes later, I finished up the side door while Zoe napped.
By about 8pm we were both ready to have Mom home from rock climbing. Zoe was done napping and needed a new diaper and a sleepytime outfit. These days she is loves rolling over when you put her down, so it's a lot harder to change her in place. It takes longer to put on a new diaper while she squirms. Combine that with Zoe's favorite pastime of peeing on me (and herself) when I change her, and we have a recipe for disaster -- Zoe peed all over me, the changing pad, and her t-shirt! This wasn't the first time she did this (with a giggle), and it won't be the last I'm sure. But I didn't mind. I stripped her naked, tossed her in the tub for a quick rinse, threw the clothes and sheet in the laundry and prepped Zoe for a new diaper and shirt. This time the diaper was easy, but all of the jostling must have upset Zoe's tummy. The moment I put on Zoe's 2nd t-shirt she spit up all over it! Luckily the third t-shirt was the charm.
By 9pm our day alone together mercifully came to an end. Mommy came to the rescue with Zoe's final meal of the day and we all got ready for bed. Every day is a little different, especially with Zoe learning new tricks (!), but each is more exciting than the last. Even though "a day in the life" is never exactly the same, it's always a great one when it's with Zozo.
Sweet dreams, pretty girl....see you at 330am.
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