Day in the Life

Last year around this time I did a Day in the Life post and I really like looking back and remembering how our routine changes as Kip gets older. So last week I took pictures all day to capture another random Monday in January.

See 2019 here.

Lately Kip has been going through a little bit of sleep regression/developmental leap/ornery toddler phase. Take your pick. He was regularly waking up at 5 am and coming into our bed while we tried to get him to go back to sleep until 6 am. This particular morning we ended up letting him watch a show around 5:30 and I got up and showered earlier than usual since it was obvious no one was going back to sleep.

Most mornings, Kip drinks his milk and watches a show in our bed while Dan and I get ready for the day.

Since we got an early start, we had time to relax a bit and watch some of Kippy's favorite "train show" with him before breakfast.

I got Dan a Sudoku book the weekend before so he started trying one of those while Kip played trains and we ate breakfast. This particular day it was leftover biscuits with butter and Christmas jam that Terri Mom sent us. Yum!

We said goodbye to Dada and got busy with our new race car track in the bedroom.

I got Kip dressed for the day and he begged for another cup of milk. I asked him to pick up this basket of stuffies he dumped on the floor while I got him milk and when I came back he had actually picked them up! Listening is hit or miss with him and I was surprised it was a hit in this instance.
 

He played around and I tried to get some quick chores done like empty the dishwasher, clean-up breakfast, take some photos of some clothes to post for pick-up.

It was about nap time so I asked him to put his tracks away and he did! 2 for 2!

Nap time! He is usually so happy to nap and it is such a blessing. Today since he woke up so early he went down around 9:30 am.

While Kip napped I picked-up the living room, did some work emails and other computer stuff and then read and took a small rest since I was up early too.

Kip woke up around 11:30. Not so cheery.

We had a bit of lunch to perk up!

Feeding Mama a bite.

I had a slice of pickle on my plate and he wanted to try it and LOVED it. He proceeded to request two pickles of his own.

A little light lunch reading - gearing up for potty training.

After lunch it was straight to trains!

A random snuggle with the bathroom rug.

And then back to trains!

He requested a diaper change for his doll.

Then he examined the wheels on his doll stroller.

Grazing on another pickle.

Then it was time for Facetime call with Marmee. I chatted with my mom while Kip made a mess in his room.

Then we sent some selfies while Mandy was texting me.

We usually watch a show or movie in the afternoon especially when it is too cold to go outside. Today, Kip picked one of his current obsession "train shows" which is just video of trains in various parts of the country or model toy trains.

More trains...

And yet more trains. While he plays I try to get stuff done like emails and blog drafts and tidying tasks. I dust and vacuum the bedrooms every Monday so I did that in between Kip insisting I fix his train or get him another pickle.

Mini Popsicle break.

He played in his room while I got dinner ready around 5 pm.

Chicken Alfredo pasta from Trader Joes. He enjoyed it.

Pre-bath nakey vacuuming.

Bath time!

Jammies and rocking with Mama before bed. Kip is still going to bed at 6 pm but we are going to start pushing that a bit latter due to repeated incidences of refusals to go to sleep.

Like this night! Kip threw all his stuff out of the crib and then screamed for me to come into the room. I thought I saw him trying to climb out of the crib while I was watching him in the monitor and cleaning up his dinner at the same time. It was unnerving so I let him out to play for a bit while I finished getting dinner ready for Dan and I.

Being a little rascal.

When Dan got home he put Kip to bed and, naturally, Kip didn't resist Dan like he does me. What is it with kids and their moms?? Dan and I had leftovers while we watched the monitor to make sure he didn't try to climb out.

We worked on the Sudoku while finishing dinner.

Normally I go to dance class on Monday nights but I was having a lot of knee pain this day and I was exhausted, so I skipped out that night and Dan and I watched a show while I tried to catch-up on drafting some blog posts. We headed to bed around 9:30 pm.

It was a long but ordinary day and a relatively happy one with Kip. I do enjoy being able to have one day home with just him and me and it truly is a blessing even though during this phase I often feel like I'm trying to do a million other tasks while he is demanding my attention and acting out at the same time.

The constant needs of a newborn are dramatically different than those of a toddler. I remember when Kip was just a baby other moms would comment about how easy a newborn is and I was shocked because I thought it was the hardest thing ever...well, nearly 2.5 years later I'm starting to see what they were talking about.

Newborns don't run away from you and think it's funny or throw things at you while screaming with the lungs of a banshee.