Day In The Life - Summer 2012

Day In The Life posts are some of my favorite, so this edition is bittersweet for me. It's the first post since I took Live Inside My Bubble private. As interesting as it is for me to document a day in my life, it's even more fun to see other blogger's posts featured on Navigating The Mothership's DITL series. Since I've gone private, I won't be featuring my post there, but I know a few of you will still see my day here. And, this just means I'll have to be extra engaging and comment on everyone else's posts! (This is me, forcing myself to stop hiding in my corner of the Internet and say hi).

This is a big reason I struggled when deciding to take this site private because I truly enjoy the interaction between bloggers, even it's just through the comments section. I've made some real-world friendships because of this blog which is just crazy wonderful. Who knew spilling your guts online would connect me to some of my favorite people?!

Thanks to all of you who emailed and asked permission to continue following Live Inside My Bubble. I receive some of the sweetest messages from many of you and it was truly one of the best parts of my week. It was a bright spot on this whole creeper-stalking-my-blog thing and I really, truly appreciate your support.

Thanks for reading!
Heather

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Day In The Life - Summer 2012
Friday, August 10 

2:52am 
I hear Tory cry out from her crib and stumble to the kitchen and make a bottle. I walk back to her room, pick her up from her crib to rock her back to sleep. She drinks it quickly, then sits up, reaches for her nightstand where a few board books sit in a pile and speaks gibberish as if saying "Mom, let's play. I'm not tired anymore." Oh no, no, no, kiddo. It's time to sleep so I push her head down on my chest and she closes her eyes.

4:32am
Crap. My neck is broken. I fell asleep in the rocking chair again. I lay Tory down to sleep in her crib and crawl back into my own bed. Lately, Tory's been teething and learning to walk which is seriously screwing with her no-so-great-anyway sleeping skills. Lately some nights she's been up every hour. Tonight I squeak away with only one wake-up.

7:01am
Tory cries from her crib. I walk into her nursery, pick her up and bring her back into my bed to snuggle for a bit. She isn't one for cuddling, but I'm hoping it at least buys me a few minutes of laying down before the day begins. I turn on PBS and she crawls around the bed for a few minutes before we finally get up and going.

Tory's hair is going through a big growth spurt and this morning she woke up with the cutest bed head!

I take Tory back to her nursery and change her diaper. She reads "The Going To Bed" book while I put on a new diaper. (Read: I recite the book by heart while she peaks over the top of the book and grins from ear to ear). This is the only way I can get her to lay still while changing her diaper and I still have to be speedy-quick.

7:30am
Tory and I have breakfast. This morning, we're both feasting on waffles, blueberry yogurt and peaches. Within the last week, Tory has completely shifted her eating preferences, refusing purees and only eating foods she can feed herself. What's more, she'll only eat foods in big chunks. If you cut something into small pieces, she throws it on the floor. I have an entirely different post ready to publish about this topic because I'm seriously stressing about how much food she's actually consuming. Why is it once you get a handle on one baby stage, it changes?

8:00am
I hose down Tory (literally - I plop her in the sink and spray her down) and then clean up her breakfast mess. Seriously, what is the secret to not having food EVERYWHERE after each meal time? Tory insists on throwing her food on the ground, flinging her food-covered cup against the wall and dropping more food down her body than ingesting in her mouth. I dread meal times because of the 15 minute cleaning process which follows. UGH.

To distract Tory while I clean up messes, I cleared out the cabinet under the sink and stocked it full of Tupperware, kitchen spatulas and empty pasta boxes to entertain her. In the 15 minutes it takes me to clean up the breakfast mess, she scatters bowls, spoons and toys all around the kitchen.

8:30am
Fridays are swimming days, so I pack items for the pool. I change into my swimming suit with clothes over top and Tory into an outfit. I always bring her swimming suit along and change her in the locker room because she'd wet her reusable swim diaper in the time it takes to drive to the pool.

8:42am
We're out the door to swimming class.

9:00am
Swimming class! Today, Tory's teacher is on vacation so we have a substitute. She's a younger girl and does a nice job, but it throws Tory for a loop not seeing Miss Amy. During class, I find it funny how "lazy" of a swimmer Tory's become. She only kicks her legs when she's really interested in swimming over to a toy. Otherwise, she lets me do the work and drifts along in my arms. I also feel like a horrible parent today when the substitute teacher tells me the reason Tory coughed after swimming under the water is because I shoved water up her nose. "Face down," she tells me. (Weep! I'm sorry, Tory! Worst. Mother. Ever.) This swimming session ends at the end of the month and I'm really going to miss the other babies and moms we've grown to know over the last few months. Afterwards, one of the swimming moms and I swap digits and make plans for a play date later this month. Nice!

9:45am
Afterwards, Tory and I change in the locker room. At times like this, I often laugh to myself and reflect on earlier days when the idea of getting her and I dried and changed after swimming was such a process. I have a good system down now of bribing her with a bottle of water while I quickly get her dressed, then sit her on a bench while I dress myself. Parenting gets easier every single day.

The real challenge now is driving home fast enough to avoid her sleeping in the car. It's only a 10 minute drive, but she's exhausted by the end of swimming. If she sleeps in the car, she won't take a morning nap - hence, the race. Today, Tory drifts off just as we're pulling onto our street. I park the car in the garage, close the garage door and leave the garage door inside the house open as I quickly make her a bottle in the kitchen. She stirs awake and I immediately carry Tory to her nursery and rock her to sleep. She falls asleep quickly and I'm thankful. On the days this doesn't work, I walk around unshowered with chlorine hair until her afternoon nap time. No bueno.

10:15am
I shower, get dressed and knock out a few chores around the house. On Fridays, we use a lot of water at our house - it's "water the flowers extra long to survive through the weekend" day, "catch up on a week's worth of laundry" day, shower me, bathe Tory and anything else that needs to be washed or cleaned from a week's worth of wear and tear.

10:30am
Ah, time to relax. I sit down, turn on the television and check email. It's a gorgeous day in the 70's and perfect temperature on our three-season porch. This is my absolute favorite part of our house. When the weather's right to have the windows open and the sun shining in, I love sitting out here.

10:45am
Of course the minute I sit down, Tory wakes up. I walk into her nursery and pick her up. She is g-r-u-m-p-y! Why do babies want to get out of bed if they're not ready? She fusses and lays on my shoulder while insisting on being carried around everywhere I go. I regret sitting down for a few minutes and not drying my hair and putting on make-up because now I have to do it all with a baby at my heels. I carry Tory into my bathroom and begin to blow-dry my hair. She immediately starts to scream (I think she's afraid of the hair dryer) so I decide to air-dry the rest. I place Tory on the pedestal sink in front of me while I put on just enough makeup to get by for the day. Meanwhile, she chews on my (closed) birth control pack and dips her fingers in my foundation. Super.

11:30am
I take Tory downstairs to do a load of laundry. She's quite the laundry helper as she pulls out the wet clothes I place into the dryer and climbs into the basket full of clean clothes. I patiently wait behind her as she crawls up our 13 stairs when we're finished.

Noon
Lunch time! I struggle to come up with ideas for lunch and stare into the refrigerator for a minute or two. What foods can I feed her that will be soft and easy enough for her to swallow without creating a giant mess and require a ton of prep? I warm up a Plum Organic training meal (it's a chunkier version of pureed food) but Tory refuses to open her mouth for the spoon. I give her slices of peach which she happily starts gnawing on, diced steamed carrots and a leftover cheese enchilada from last night's dinner. Of all the choices, Tory scarfs down the cheese enchilada and I'm shocked. I've never seen her show so much interest in solid foods.

12:30pm
Tory, the high chair and the surrounding area are a complete mess when she's finished. I usually give her a bath after lunch on Fridays anyway since I still need to give her a good wash after swimming class. We head to the bathroom and I strip her down. While the water's filling the tub, she tries to swing her leg over the side and climb in. Tory Girl loves bath time.

After she's bathed and dressed in her second outfit of the day, I plop her down with some toys on the three-season porch while I tackle cleaning up her lunchtime mess. There's enchilada sauce smeared all over her high chair pad so I decide to completely deconstruct the high chair and give it a good wipe down. A giant smile creeps across my face as I listen and watch Tory playing with her baby doll a few feet away. She's talking gibberish to her baby and giving her a hug. It's moments like this I realize how much Tory's growing up. No longer is she my little baby but a walking, babbling toddler who entertains herself with toys. Her playtime eventually ends up in the kitchen at my feet pulling out the Tupperware and scattering bibs on the floor.

1:00pm
Nap time for Tory. I make a bottle and rock her to sleep in her nursery.

1:30pm
After Tory's asleep, I run downstairs to change a load of laundry. I clean up the latest Tupperware mess in the kitchen and finish unloading the dishwasher.

2:00pm
Ah! Time to relax. I flip open my computer lid and take a swig of Diet Coke.

2:06pm
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! I listen as a giant truck backs down our street and dumps a dumpster container onto our neighbor's drive-way. (That's right, the neighbor directly outside Tory's bedroom window). DIE DUMP TRUCK! DIE! Tory cries out from her crib so I go back into her room and try to rock her back to sleep. Except, I finally realize there's no way she's going back to bed. The beep! beep! beep! and crash! sounds outside her window are making her eyes bug out of her head. We get up and go play.

2:30pm
Tory and I play toys on the porch. I'm amazed as I watch her walk back and forth from the window to the couch, wall to door. My baby is walking!

3:00pm
We change another load of laundry and then head back to the kitchen for snack time. I give Tory Cheerio's and a teething cracker to munch on, while I attempt to sneak bites of yogurt into her mouth. She seems willing to take a bite if I do it first, so that's what we do. (Great, I'm eating whole milk yogurt ... I can feel my love handles expanding).

3:30pm
Andi calls and says he'll be home soon from work. I carry Tory into the bedroom and pack our suitcase for the cabin. This is one of my least favorite things to do on Fridays - it takes twice as long to pack with Tory in the mix and I almost always forget something critical. Last weekend, we had to stop at Wal-Mart on our way to the cabin because I seriously forgot underwear. I bought underwear from Wal-Mart and what's worse, I actually like them. (Read: I am old).

4:30pm
Andi's home and it's a mad rush to pack last-minute things, load up the car and leave for the cabin. I toss half our fridge into a cooler bag, throw some bottles and formula into a tote and cross my fingers we have everything we'll need for the weekend.

5:00pm
We're on the road! Unfortunately, we're not moving. We're sitting at a dead stop in rush hour traffic. It's going to be a long drive to the cabin. I suggest we turn around and go back home until traffic dies down, but Andi continues onward. (That must mean he doesn't agree with my suggestion). While we drive, I sit in the back seat and entertain Tory with toys, songs and silly faces. She's bored about 15 minutes in and resort to my last-choice secret weapon: the iPad. Backyardigans it is, Tory Bean. She's immediately content and entertained for the next hour.

6:00pm
We're starving and tired of driving. Our usual 1 1/2 hour drive to the cabin has doubled thanks to traffic out of the city. We stop at Tippy Canoe's in Osceola, WI for dinner. It's so fun taking Tory to restaurants now she'll sit in a high chair and can eat real food. Tonight she eats (aka: wears / throws on the ground) her very first restaurant meal - macaroni and cheese, a pickle and cucumber slices. Weep! Where did my little baby go? Andi orders a blue cheese cheeseburger for dinner and I have a Reuben sandwich.

7:00pm
I take Tory to the women's restroom to change her diaper and use the facilities myself. I mentally pat myself on the back for maneuvering all of that with a baby in my arms.

We hop back into the car and continue our drive to the cabin.

7:30pm
We're here! I change Tory again, dress her in pajamas and play toys for a few minutes while she burns off some energy from the car ride.

8:00pm
Bottle and bedtime for Tory. As I'm rocking her to sleep in a dark, quiet room, I start to drift off to slumberland myself and decide to call it an early night.

8:30pm
I wash bottles, grab my Kindle and a glass of water and head to our bedroom when Andi intercepts me in route to say Joe and Lisa (our cabin landlords) are coming over for a drink. For real? Actually, I'm excited to have them over because they're so much fun, but I already had laying down and relaxing on my radar. Change of momentum ...

9:00pm
Andi pours me a beer and we wait for Joe and Lisa to arrive. I start typing up this DITL post and Andi watches an episode of Deadliest Catch on my Kindle.

10:00pm
Joe and Lisa arrive at the cabin and we pour ourselves another drink. We sit in the living room, laugh and talk for another hour or so. When the neighbors leave, it's lights out for us. The hours tick until Tory's wake-up call.