A Day in Pictures

It's been about a month now since our days went from being at home babysitting every day to... whatever we want! So I thought that big change plus C turning 18 months was reason enough to document one of our days in pictures for you. Even I wondered what we would do all day when it was just us, left to spend the day however we wanted. These photos are from yesterday and pretty well capture what a typical day is like around here.

Somewhere around 8-8:30 I usually hear C stirring and talking. That's when I get up and throw myself together, minimally- contacts, clothes, brush teeth. Seriously though, could there be a better alarm clock?? 

 Then I get her from her room, pick out some clothes for her and we head downstairs. She often wants to snuggle for at least 15 minutes before doing anything, and that includes getting dressed/clean diaper.

Yesterday she took pictures of herself while I change her diaper and got her dressed.

 We can't forget to give the pup his medicine and food/water

 I usually make eggs & toast for breakfast because we can share and that eliminates the time it takes to prep and eat another separate meal, otherwise C's favorite breakfast is Chobani yogurt and baby oatmeal.

 After breakfast we usually play around the house for a little while. If we have errands to run I'll make my lists and pack the diaper bag while she runs around. I always do my errands in the morning because after her nap is too close to rush-hour and there are too many people in the stores! So glad to have that option again :)

 I think she wasn't emotionally ready for her new car seat....

 We didn't have any errands to take care of yesterday so we got to take advantage of the gorgeous morning. At about 10:30 we headed down to the airport to watch some airplanes, or as C calls them "ahhhmeen!"

 When I was little my mom used to take us to this little gravel spot on the side of the road across from the airport so we could watch the planes take off and land. Now it's an official "observation area" complete with parking lot and playground. Since C loves airplanes so much I wanted to take her there one more time before the weather gets too cold. She was mesmerized :)

 And hugging mommy's legs is the universal sign for "nap time."

 Back at home a little after 12 and C is napping like a champ. 

 Bebe in bed means time for me to hit the treadmill. C is a pretty solid napper, so now that I'm not babysitting I'm pretty much guaranteed 2.5-3 hours. Some days I run, some days I do house chores. I just love that those things can get done without me missing anytime with J or C.

 After a run and shower, I put some dinner in the crock pot and made myself lunch.

 Usually I try to check email or Facebook or blogs while I eat lunch. Here's my station.

 As soon as I finished eating, she was up (around 2:30)...

 She got into some minor trouble and did the Monster Boogie around the kitchen while I made her grilled cheese and peas.

 After lunch we went down the street to the playground. As long as the weather is nice I try to take her down there as often as possible so she can run around outside. Yesterday J was getting home just as we were heading down there so he came with us.

 She spotted an airplane :)

 The fateful slide...

I was at the bottom to take this picture and to catch her, of course. However, our fearless Bebe pushed off down the slide a milisecond after I took this picture. I barely had time to jump up and make it to the slide to catch her even though I intended to hold on to her the whole way down. She flew down, as you can imagine, and when I caught her at the bottom she had rolled over onto her belly. When her feet hit the ground and I grabbed her she lost her balance and fell forward bumping her forehead on the end of the slide :(

 This is how we spent the evening...

 Her goose-egg (which appeared immediately) is actually a hematoma so she doesn't really have a "bump" as much as a squishy spot.

 She was a champ though. A little snuggling with daddy and some Sesame Street had her feeling much better. On a normal day, this is what they do while I make dinner anyway.

 Some potatoes to go with our brisket

 During dinner C knocked her cup off of her high chair. This was the result! I'll be sending an email.

 After dinner it was upstairs for tubby time.

 She loves brushing her teeth while I do her lotion and get her into her jammies.

 She got to watch a few minutes of Big Bang Theory while I brushed her hair.

 My SIL/our live-in nurse wanted to do a quick assessment before we put C to bed. Everything looked great. I still got up in the middle of the night to wake her up and make sure she wasn't difficult to rouse. 

After C went to bed, J and his sister and I finished watching our Thursday line-up: Big Bang Theory, The Office and Community. We're also 30 Rock die-hards but that hasn't started back up yet this season.

Her hematoma looked much much better today. Far less redness and puffiness. She acted perfectly fine but I was still overly hyper about keeping things away from her face and making sure she didn't fall forward. Ah, mommy-life. I wouldn't trade it for anything :)

So that's what life is like around here with an 18-month old! I try to keep the balance between simplicity and getting out to do fun things. I don't want to be either on the go all the time or sitting at home all day every day. We're adjusting and loving our new freedom to go and do as we please. Tomorrow we're planning to head out west in the morning for a hike in the woods and some pretty fall photos. Stay tuned for the pics!