At the moment, I’m a stay-at-home mom to my 8 month old Evan. I am extremely grateful being able to spend so much time with him these first few years of his life. In May, I’ll have my bachelor’s degree in management and eventually will look for a full-time career.
I plan to write a few posts about his new feeding schedule and what foods we have introduced. I’ve been making all of his food homemade, with the exception of yogurt melts and “puffs” from Gerber’s. Life has been extremely busy lately and trying to maintain a balance between remodeling a house, raising a baby, learning and experiencing a new marriage, going to school full-time, volunteering, and more has definitely had its ups and downs. I chose to go forward with my blog at this time though, because I’ve had so many things I’ve been “itching” to share with others, as well as having this outlet for myself. It’s great at night to work on posts because I enjoy writing and it’s a treat for me after a long day.
Spending most days with Evan, we’ve developed a great schedule that seems to work very well at the time being. Here’s a typical day for us:
7-7:30 AM, Evan wakes up by talking to himself and rolling around. Breakfast consists of an 8 oz bottle of Earth’s Best formula which has been working very well since he was a month old (breastfeeding struggles may be a future post). We are working on starting solids, and Evan has tried quite a few things so far. Very soon I’d like to have him on the schedule our doctor recommends of three meals a day of “people food”. We do not stay in every morning for breakfast though, as some days we go out and Evan enjoys his new love of scrambled eggs.
8-9:30 AM, Evan is done having breakfast and time to play. We have a nice area in our living room that’s dedicated “Evan space” that has a foam mat we love, in addition to many blankets. We purchased these foam mats from Amazon. Unfortunately since purchasing them just two months ago, they are no longer available. Here is a link for others that look incredibly similar and I’m sure are just as great. Since the photo below, we have added even more blocks to create a much larger space.
9:30-10:30 AM, Evan takes his morning nap. Some days it lasts for 30 minutes, while others can go upwards of one hour. I know this nap will eventually stop when he gets older, based on what I hear from other moms, as well as the helpful Internet blogs and Pinterest I love reading. It took a while for us to stop the “swing addiction”, as Evan refused to sleep in his crib for naps. At night, he would always sleep in a still, non-moving crib, yet would not sleep like this for naps. I started him on the swing right away from birth, and therefore it developed into a habit for him as he got older. To finally break him of this habit, I plan to write a brief post on what worked (a great idea from lots of “googling”).
10:30-1:30 PM, Hangout time! I definitely like to get out a lot unless there is something major preventing me, like extreme cold temperatures, or just too much to do around the house. After having Evan I experienced a few weeks of the “baby blues” and being able to leave the house and take him even to a short breakfast was a lifesaver. Everyday is different, but our favorite activities at the time being are shopping, going out to eat, and walking. Once our beautiful Minnesota summer arrives, I’m excited to go out and bike/walk more with my little guy.
1:30-4PM, Bottle and nap time. Evan loves his sleep, so it’s great to have this time for his afternoon nap. Everyday is different of course, but we always have an idea when he’ll go down for the nap. I have always heard the phrase “babies thrive on consistency and routine”, so we try our best to stick to a schedule but still have fun and not get too uptight about timing.
4/4:30-7PM, Afternoon / dinner activities. Now that Evan is eating with us in the highchair, it’s great to have family mealtime with all of us at the table. Glenn loves to cook so a lot of the time he’s making the meals, but I do enjoy it occasionally.
Around 7/7:30 is when Evan will go to sleep after his nightly routine of bottle, books, and cuddle time.
It’s so surreal how everything can change so much and so quickly when it comes to toys, activities, feeding, and more with a new baby. I knew the time would go fast, but at just 8 months, so much has changed. I would love to write a post about newborn products that did and didn’t work for us during those first few months. It was so great reading and learning from other moms online what they enjoyed, along with acknowledging that every baby truly is different. Certain items I was told that I “had to have” just didn’t work out.
Hope everyone enjoys my blog. It’s a bit new at the time, but I’m just so excited to journal our life.
I am nowhere close to having a baby, but I feel like I am retaining so many baby tips from your blogs. One day it’ll come in handy! Haha..