Time is a dimension I no longer understand. It used to be a pretty straight-forward concept...wake up, go to work, come home. The days passed one by one and I painstakingly counted down to the next holiday or vacation. Now I've been sucked into some kind of time warp where I never know what day it is (and I can only remember by trying to recall whether or not she went to school yesterday), or what the date is (something in mid-October?) and one minute I'm muddling through the sleep-deprived days of a constantly-crying newborn and the next I'm sailing through the peaceful rhythms of life with an eight-month-old. I know what those misty-eyed wistful grandmas in Target mean when they smile at my baby and say "it goes by so fast." 6 months ago I would've rolled my eyes at those people...time was the enemy and I could NOT wait for her to get older so we could start having some fun. Those first 3 months were just such a rough adjustment, but once we got her ailments under control time started flying by at warp speed. Now we're entering my absolute favorite time of year- holidays!!- and I'm so excited about sharing it all with her, and I know it will be January in the blink of an eye and we'll be getting ready for her first birthday.
So this post is for me. (Warning! It's a long one.) A snapshot of our life right now, each tiny little detail recorded and stored away for some day when I know I'll need it. Because somewhere in the future I know there's a me who is wistfully pining for one more day with that sweet little baby. 10, 15, 20 years from now I'm flipping through her baby album and wanting so desperately to go back in time and re-live just one day....one more day to go for a refreshing 4 mile run with the baby in the jogging stroller, feeling fantastic and enjoying the beautiful weather...one more day to play with her on the floor in her room and watch her giggle and laugh...one more day to take her shopping and count the number of strangers who stop me to say what a cute baby...one more day to watch her come crawling at full speed for the bathtub, so overjoyed for bathtime....one more day to rock her to sleep. Beauty and joy in each and every single moment. I don't want to forget a single drop of it.
Our day begins at 7:45 am. She usually wakes up between 6:45-7:15, but today she decided to sleep in a bit, so I got up and enjoyed a cup of coffee and reading emails and browsing the interwebz. She wakes up happy as always and easily takes her medicine. While we're waiting 30 minutes for the medicine to kick in we play on the floor in her room.
First things first- she notices the door to her bathroom is open and makes a beeline for it, hoping it's bathtime.
I re-direct her towards her toys and she gets sidetracked when Winnie comes in. Her other favorite! She makes a beeline for him and he avoids her like the plague.
Finally he's had enough so he steals her owl and runs out the room.
It is a wonderful gorgeous fall day perfect for running and I ran 4 miles without hardly breaking a sweat. One of those days where each deep breath of crisp air makes you glad to be alive.
When we get back home it's time for baths for everyone. She happily plays on the bathroom floor and inside my closet while I shower off. She gets a big kick out of the most random objects...an empty milk jug, a box of kleenex. Easily amused.
Next it's time for her bath. I walk into her bathroom and turn the water on and she comes crawling in as fast as her little legs can carry her. She pulls up on the tub to watch it fill up.
Bathtime is one of her absolute favorite activities. She loves the rushing water, crawling around and splashing around, playing with her toys, and trying to figure out what's going on when the drain starts making noises.
Drying her off is a challenge because she adamantly refuses to sit still for 2 seconds. (Hence so many of my photos are a blur.) But with some creative wrangling with my hands and feet I manage to dry her off.
After getting dressed we have a bit of time before naptime so we read some books. She LOVES reading books...it surprises me that an 8-month-old has such a good span of attention to pay attention to books.
Her favorite book right now is Doggies. I'll put a few books on the floor and let her choose which one she wants, and she'll choose Doggies first every.single.time.
Now it's naptime and I attempt to rock her to sleep. On a good day she might fall asleep in my arms, but not too often, as is the case today. I finally just have to put her in her crib and let her wear herself out. She rolls around for about 10-15 minutes and finally passes out.
Usually her morning nap is 1-2 hours, but today she's just in the mood for a quick 40 minute catnap. So once she's up we change her outfit to be 'dressed for the day' in something cute. Because she has so many clothes that we need to wear a minimum of 3 outfits per day just to get good use out of them.
She sits in her highchair and plays with toys while I scarf down some lunch. I'm not much of a foodie, but I have to brag on today's lunch. Homemade chicken lasagna with butternut squash and spinach....yum yum yum! I've never made lasagna from scratch, mostly b/c I'm not a big fan of red sauce, but when I saw a recipe for a white-sauce lasagna I had to try. DEELICIOUS!
After lunch it's time to run some errands. She's happy to tag along in her carseat, which weighs a small ton and I'm shocked that I don't have arms of steel from hauling this thing around everywhere!
She charms all the cashiers everywhere we go. Of course.
We stop by Daddy's volunteer project so Caroline can meet all of his coworkers. Once again...all smiles.
His project just happens to be right around the corner from one of my favorite stores in Houston, Half-Price Books. I could spend allllll daaaay in there. So much fun to browse...and everything's half price what you would pay in Barnes and Noble/Border's/etc! Sadly they didn't have the book I was looking for...but I did pick up a great find for Nana for christmas!
Once we get home it's time for a bottle and change of clothes to get ready for naptime again. The little wiggleworm escapes my foot hold and wanders over to the bookshelf for some book browsing al fresco.
We read a few books and have a few laughs. Once again she chooses Doggies. I must read this book 15 times every day. But the sound of her contagious little laugh makes it worth it.
Time for a nap. But before she dozes off she wants to practice pulling up on her crib. I kept hearing a slight thumping noise coming from upstairs and was panicked that she had hit her head. I turned on the monitor to see she was standing up and banging away with her hand on the edge of her crib.
She eventually falls asleep, and sacks out for about 2 hours. When she wakes up Daddy is home and wrestles around on the floor with her and Winnie for a bit.
Then it's time for their daily afternoon stroll. Sometimes Daddy goes running, but today being the end of a long work week, he's more in the mood for a leisurely stroll. She's happy either way. When they return from their stroll it's off for another bath. She is all grins as she grabs the water, kicks and splashes, and crawls around in the tub.
Our bedtime routine is always bath, bottle, book, and bed. The bath part is a breeze...but sometimes the bottle part is a bit of a challenge. She's just too busy and distracted to sit still and eat! But tonight she eats contently and is rewarded with one of her other favorite stories, Guess Who? She loves seeing herself in the book's mirror.
Finally it's time for bed. Daddy takes her up and rocks her and she usually falls asleep in his arms. He has a signature baby-holding position that I haven't mastered and he has a pretty good track record at rocking her to sleep. Sweet baby is down for the night.
And now I have time to sit down and reflect on the day's events. So mundane, ordinary, peaceful and predictable. There is such a graceful rhythm to our days now that I truly cherish. As busy as she is and as much of a full-time job as it is chasing an 8 month old, I still feel like I have time to stop and just breathe and soak in the beautiful details of these ordinary days. I want to take this day and put it in a bottle and open it up again sometime far in the future when I'm missing my little baby. Just one day.
I loved it! Such a sweet memory to re-visit one day when you're missing your sweet baby while being fussed at by a teenager. :)
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