Daily Life With a 2-Month-Old

I promised when I began this blog, that I wouldn't solely write about "what I did all day." But, I thought one post about what a day is like for me with my now 3-month-old boy wouldn't be the worst thing. :P I wish I'd done one when he was 1-month-old so that I could compare and see what the difference is. Because it's hard to notice change when it happens gradually over the course of a month.

So, here's what a standard day is like for me. He only turned 3-months-old the other day, so I'm going to write about what life is like with a 2-month-old since that is what he was up until a couple days ago. haha.

Keep in mind, babies don't have set schedules and aren't exactly predictable. So these are just average times and estimates. Babies this age can start to develop patterns, but it's not set in stone.



6:00am Daddy wakes up, showers, walks the dogs. Sometimes baby boy decides to wake up at this time too, but after an hour usually falls back asleep and I'm able to snooze for a couple more hours.

7:00am Daddy leaves for work

8:00am Baby G and I wake up and I nurse him.

8:00-8:30am We hang out on the bed. He's the happiest first thing in the morning (don't know where he got it from - I am not a morning person!) so he does a few minutes of tummy time on the bed and I talk to him (he coos back).

8:30-9:00am He plays on his activity gym. I put him on his back, looking up at the mirror, with his feet against one of the poles so he can kick it and make the toys jingle. He's usually pretty smiley at this time still. I go through my morning ablutions and get breakfast and feed the dogs, then go hang out with him in the nursery. If he's in a good mood still, I have him do a few more minutes of tummy time.

9:00-10:00 We hang out on the couch - sometimes I play music and we sing and dance, other times I'll read him a few books. If he's being chill, I'll try and get some computer stuff done - like work on a new blog post, check my email, check my social media accounts and blog statistics, etc. I may cut out some fabric and pin it in preparation to sew a burp cloth or bib or something. I usually don't get to sew it at this time though.

"sitting up" with help from the boppy

10:00am I feed him. I am still nursing him close to every 2 hours. We're trying to stretch it past the 2 hour mark, but it still seems like he gets fussy at the 2 hour mark and nothing else works to calm him down, so I end up feeding him.

10:30-11:30 Usually around 10:00 or 10:30 he falls asleep for his first nap of the day. He takes pretty short naps still. We try to put him in his crib as soon as he falls asleep, if not while he's still awake. But I usually hold him in my lap for his first nap. :) I try to get a lot of writing done during this time.

Sometimes he naps on the boppy right next to me.

12:00pm I feed him again.

12:30-1:00 Around this time I usually strap him into the Ergo or put him in a wrap or sling and take him out with me to walk the dogs. I recently discovered that he likes to be carried on my back (in the Ergo). It takes me a few extra minutes to put him on that way though. It's not exactly graceful.

1:00-2:00 I try to grab a bite to eat during this time - and on Mondays and Wednesdays, I start getting ready to go to Gymboree (class starts at 2:00). Getting ready means getting dressed (I usually don't bother with makeup and I just cut all my hair off so I don't have to do anything to it either), making sure the diaper bag is ready, changing Baby G if he spit up all over himself or drooled profusely, soaking his onesie, locking the pantry and trashcan so the dogs can't get in them, moving the diaper caddy into the nursery, locking the nursery, and putting the baby play pen/gate up around the couch so the dogs don't sleep on it. I also try and feed him just before we leave - it may mean that it's less than 2 hours between feedings, but if I didn't then he'd be ravenous by the time Gymboree was over. It may not sound like a lot, but it can take me a whole hour to get ready sometimes. If it was a while since his last nap, I try to get him to snooze for a few minutes - usually in the car - so he's not cranky at Gymboree. If we aren't going to Gymboree, then we spend this time wandering around the apartment. He likes to be carried facing out so he can look at stuff. I have him "walk" on the counters or from the nursery to the couch (he likes to try to stand and he'll pick his feet up, looking like he's walking). We'll read some more or sing more songs.

"standing" on the couch.

 

2:00-3:00 Class at Gymboree Mondays and Wednesdays - it's barely even 5 minutes away (one of the benefits of living in an urban area!) On non-Gymboree days, I usually feed him around 2:00 and he may nap during this time - though I'm trying to get his naps roughly the same time every day so that he's not thrown off when we go to Gymboree or anything. During his afternoon nap(s) I try to do chores like laundry, vacuuming, or cleaning the bathroom or do some more writing/blog maintenance or I may sew a burp cloth or bib.

3:00-5:00 If it's a Gymboree day, he usually sleeps in his crib for an hour and a half or so after we get home. Non-Gymboree days, he could still be slipping for part of this time. Either way, I often nurse him around 4:00ish and I also try to pull out ingredients for dinner at this time so we're ready to get it started once my husband comes home. If it's a more intensive meal, I may get it started early, do what I can in advance.

5:00 Daddy comes home around this time.

5:00-6:00 Once Daddy's changed and done what he needs, if the baby is awake, he usually takes him and spends time with him while I run around doing a couple things. I usually put away any mess we created during the day (any diapers that didn't make it to the diaper pail, or dirty burp cloths, clothes or blankets that got drooled or spit up on go in the hamper, activity gym gets put away), I may sew a little more if I didn't finish (or start) earlier, sometimes I walk the dogs. I may start dinner too if we're both hungry.

Anyone recognize the book?

6:00-7:00 We usually eat during this time, and baby G usually takes a shorter nap around 6:30 or 7:00 after eating at 6:00 or so. We try not to let him sleep too long or fall asleep too late. We try not to watch too much tv while he's awake, but once he's asleep we may start an episode of something or a movie. Almost never are we able to just sit down and finish it in one go.

7:00-8:30pm Sometimes G-man falls asleep for a short nap at 7:00, but we try to avoid letting him fall asleep any later than 7:30 as much as we can. Cause that just pushes his bedtime back even later. We hang out on the couch during this time - if we started watching something, we may try to watch a couple more minutes if the boy cooperates - we usually pass him back and forth between us, making sure he isn't looking at the screen.

8:30-9:30pm Baby G gets his bath at the same time almost every night. Then we put him in his pjs and read a bedtime story or two. Sometimes Daddy gives him a bottle (sometimes he gives him one earlier in the evening), other times I nurse him. Most of the time he then falls asleep. If he doesn't, then Daddy carries him around until he does. I'll also pump when Daddy feeds him a bottle. Usually right after his bath, or after I pump, I'll shower. I don't like doing it when I'm home alone and he's asleep - he could wake up when I'm sudsy! At least waiting for Dad to come home lets me take a long shower and not rush it.

9:30-11:00 We finish watching whatever we started and then get ready for bed. Daddy walks the dogs one last time, I may do some more writing.

11:00-11:30 Bedtime! Sometimes it's earlier, say 10:30, and sometimes later, like 12:00. It depends on what time my husband has to wake up or how long the movie we're watching is, etc. I usually nurse him while he's sleeping right before I go to bed.