Some days it is too easy to get lost in the mundane. The day to day routine. The "Tuesdays." But, the great thing about being a mom is not one day is routine. The past 10 months have been a new adventure of something new every single day. Recently my husband and I were looking at photos on our phones and got weepy seeing photos and videos of our itty bitty baby who is nearing the end of her infant age and becoming a toddler. We don't know what the future holds in terms of growing our family so it's so bittersweet watching her grow and develop. She's so smart and so happy and the answer to so many prayers and manifestation of dreams that we are overwhelmed with this gift of parenthood so while it's sad to see each phase pass it's awesome to start the next one!
I decided I need to capture more of our mundane. Owning a photography business allows me to be home with Maisy a lot. Well, "home" is a stretch - we go out and about a lot. She goes to swimming lessons, music class, ECFE classes and playdates. So we are busy! Maisy also spends a few days a week with her Grammie so I can do some office work. While Maisy is a great addition to my office space it's hard to keep books on the shelves and contracts in their file folders when she just HAS to touch everything.
So, here is a sample of our day. She usually wakes up pretty slow and anywhere between 8:30-10. She just kind of talks to herself, as if she is psyching herself up for waking. (On Sunday morning s we wake her up earlier and bring her into bed with us so we can have some morning snuggles and she smiles at us with her eyes still closed refusing to wake up. She'll snuggle and let us kiss on her and let us say silly things to get her to wake up and just turn her head and keep her eyes closed - "five more minutes, guys.") So I went in with the camera as she was stirring and opened her window shades just enough to let some morning light into her room. She eventually stood up and, as she always does, woke up on the right side of the bed as happy as could be. All smiles and giggles and just happy. She looked out the window at "Maisy's birdies." She loves birdwatching! If you ask her what a bird says she'll reply "tweet tweet tweet." Her hair in the mornings is so silly and wild. This girl has serious bedhead. Lately I go in and tell her good morning and she will grab her blankie, stand up in her crib and asks "dadada?" I tell her he's at work and she looks on the floor and says "lolololola?" asking for Shelbey's puppy, Lola. She LOVES little miss Lola, it was the first name, besides Mom and Dad, that she said. She get's so excited about that dog - I think it means we NEED a puppy, right, Honey?
After being in her crib I gave her two outfits to choose from. On this day she choose a pink "Little Lady" shirt and matching sweater. I don't think she understands the concept of choosing her outfit, but I like presenting her with options and letting her indicate which she likes. We go through our morning routine of getting dressed, which includes a quick stop on the potty and a huge fight to lay still enough to be diapered and dressed. She wakes up with so much energy and just wants to play that laying still to get a clean diaper and clothes on is a production that includes bribery. "Here, Maisy, hold this (fill in the blank) *oil roller, *spatula, * comb, *sock, *toy, *headband, *SOMETHING MOM CAN QUICKLY REACH." After we fight, I mean get dressed, she brushes her six teeth. She sits on the counter with her feet in the sink and looks in the mirror as she basically sucks all the strawberry toothpaste from the bristles of the brush. I set her in her crib with some toys and books for a few minutes while I finished getting ready. She's a really great independent player. Her imagination is strong!
On this day we had ECFE she had a quick breakfast and bottle on the way to class. While we drive to Waconia we listen to a CD from her music class. Her current jam is "Jumpin' Josie." I can watch her in the mirror we have on the head rest behind her seat and see her little feet kicking and arms waving and clapping. It's adorable. Other times she quietly looks out the window. She is in a convertible carseat now and can see out the windows better. I think if she was forward facing she'd be happier, but she's just gonna have to wait! She played in class and fell asleep on the way home so I laid her in her crib where she napped for just over an hour. She woke up ready to have some lunch! She loves veggie straws and ate quite a few of those along with a reusable pouch.
After she ate it was playtime. She recently was given a play kitchen and spends a ton of time playing with it. I love her little imagination and fight the urge to show her the "right" way to play with some of the things in it. I'd like to keep the play fridge closed and don't understand why she would put a banana in the freezer or the salt in the fridge and the pepper in the sink, but I gotta let it go and just let her play! She loves it. She also likes to pretend to be a gymnast and put her little belly on the footrest of the bar stool and fall into the space between the four legs of the stool and hang out. It's a Maisy-sized fort, I suppose.
I also was able to capture bed time. Which is so obvious when it's time for Maisy to go to bed. She climbs up to me or her dad and snuggles on our shoulders while saying "nigh nigh night" and whining. So we fight the outfit change from clothes to jammies and a nighttime diaper. Brush teeth again, say goodnight to the world outside and close her shades and turn on the sound machine and table lamp. She has always loved books and right now is really into "Pat the Bunny." She can do all the little activities on the pages and I think her favorites are "daddy's scratchy beard" and "Judy's book" pages.
We rock her as she falls asleep. Sometimes she takes a bottle. I hold her with her head on my shoulder standing over crib and tell her "I love you to pieces. Thank you for letting me be your mommy," and lay her down. I turn on her crib "tv" thing (that's what we call it, it's a Baby Einsteins underwater scene with motorized moving sea creatures and classical music.) Much like she wakes up by talking, she does the same with going to sleep. She makes a big, open mouth, monotone "aaaahhhh" over and over and over before she finally lets herself sleep. I stayed in her room to get pictures of her closing her day and it was so peaceful. I loved that she didn't even notice I was still there.
I hope to do this more and capture more of our days together so someday I can come back to them and feel how we felt and appreciate it again.
