Happy New Year!
If you hadn't noticed, I've been trying to catch up on writing about the Shane-annigans that go on around here. I always have trouble writing about him, because I want to write too much. It's fair to say that my life revolves around my son. I wake up to him in the morning, I cater to his whims all day, and then I get a couple hours of free-time at the end of the day if I'm not too tired.
Overall, I feel more like a 'minion' than a father.
My typical day:
First, anyone who tells you that babies don't like routine is an absolute idiot. Feel free to disregard any suspicious advice they offer you about anything. Shane loves new experiences, but there is a definite routine. I feel like parts of my brain that used to hold computer programming knowledge and Calculus have been cleared to store details about the idiosyncrasies of my son.
6:30-7:30: Wake Up Time - Shane normally wakes up before I want to. Scratch that, he ALWAYS wakes up before I want to. He normally sings and kicks around in his crib happily.
Morning bottle: 4 ozs. Formula. Some days I'll risk a 6 ouncer, but Shane doesn't like to eat a lot when he first wakes. He's more interested in playing.
Bedroom playtime: After the bottle, Shane gets his diaper changed. Any attempt to change him before the bottle is met with baby criticism (aka: crying). I normally put Shane down after the changing and he tears around his room playing. He loves shutting the bathroom door to hide and then making me open it to find him.
Mainfloor playtime: I open and shut the bathroom door until I can stand it no longer and take Shane downstairs. He plays in the gated area. I make sure he has bottles for the day. He stands at the kitchen gate and begs to be allowed in. I work in the kitchen as long as his patience (aka volume) allows. Sometimes I sing as I work because it helps keep him from getting upset. A good day is when Shane plays and I the bottles, dishes, counters and get tea and a bagel ready for breakfast. A great day is when I can get all of the above plus any other morning chores like trash duty accomplished.
Downstairs playtime: Shane will only stay on the main floor for so long. It really offends him that he can see the kitchen, but is not allowed in it. It offends him even more when he sees anyone else go into the forbidden zone without him. When this happens or if enough time has passed (1 to 1.5 hours) I take Shane downstairs for his morning solid food. Normally, I put one a Phineas and Ferb episode/movie and fast-forward to a song. Shane loves music. It's the quickest way to get his attention and he eats much better when he can listen to something. After eating, Shane runs around and plays his heart out.
Nap time: The number of naps is slowly shrinking. There used to be a guaranteed, short morning nap somewhere between 9:30 and noon (30-60 min, avg 40). This would be followed with a afternoon/evening nap between 3:00 and 6:00 (40 min to 1.5 hours). Lately, Shane is starting to cut back to one nap a day. At first, this meant he was a crabby customer, but the past two days he's managed well. On a single nap day, the nap can start as early as 11:30, but normally comes between 12:30 and 1:30. The boy will then usually sleep for at least one hour. At the longest, he'll sleep two. Often, he'll wake up after an hour and then Carrie or I will go down to lay with him on our chest and he'll stay down for another 30 minutes to an hour.
Playtime begins again: Yay, yay, yay, yay!
Bedtime: Around 7:40 - 8:20 Shane shows signs of being tired. He'll be cranky and start rubbing his eyes. I do my best to keep him entertained, because we don't put him to bed until after 8. Ideally, he is headed upstairs with me (or whoever loses Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock) between 8:15 and 8:30. If he's showing no signs of being tired, I will still take him up and feed him so that he's in his crib by 9:00 asleep or not. He normally drops off fairly quickly even if he sings through the monitor for a few minutes (as long as he ain't crying, I figure he ain't dying).
Exact times and games played obviously vary, but there's enough routine and monotony I feel like a robot some times. I realized quickly that I follow almost the exact routine myself whenever I rock Shane to sleep. I sit down, adjust the blinds and baby as he tries to reach for them, turn on the monitor, pop in the bottle, and sing "Nighty, Night" for a couple of verses. After that I normally recite Psalm 23 or say a prayer out loud in a quiet steady voice to help lull the boy to sleep. Then I normally get quiet and think to myself "Did I just do exactly what I did the other night?" and think about random things. Mundane, huh?
Raising a baby is hard work, but it's not rocket science. I half think nature made it this way to "break new parents in." It gets you used to a never-ending workload and the knowledge that the baby's needs should come first before they can complain and talk back with actual nouns and adjectives (and maybe a verb or two as well!). Sadly, not everyone gets that message. I hope I've learned it well enough that I'll be the parent that Shane needs growing up.
That's all for today! I'll keep updating tomorrow.
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