Hey everyone. That previous post was submitted just before Maia went to bed. I thought I'd return here and write a bit more, because I realize that it's been a while since I posted a nice, long, detailed story of how we're doing these days.
I'll start with an overview of our daily routine:
Between 8:00 and 9:00 AM, Maia wakes up from her nighttime sleep. We'll usually have some playtime upstairs, with Maia still in her PJs, and then she'll usually hang out and play in her ExerSaucer while I take a shower. She used to sit in her bouncy chair in the bathroom while I showered, but she's too big and strong for it now. She leaned waaaaay over to the side in the seat this morning and made me a little nervous; we don't want any mishaps with tipped-over chairs. So, I put together the secondhand (YAY!) ExerSaucer that Lesley, Rob and Aiden handed-down to us. That's now sitting in our bedroom, so we have one upstairs and one downstairs.
About one to one and a half hours after she wakes up from her nighttime sleep, Maia goes down for her first nap of the day. This is usually at about 10:00, give or take an hour. This nap usually lasts for about 90-120 minutes. During this time I'll do Lamaze work, catch up on my fun reading, or watch the previous night's Daily Show episode.
When Maia wakes up (usually at about noon), it's time to get out and about! Depending on the weather, we'll go wander around downtown Ann Arbor or campus or perhaps the mall (if it's rainy, like yesterday). Today we went to meet Brian for lunch at our favorite Lebanese/Greek lunch joint, Ahmo's. For this stretch of time, Maia will be awake for two hours (sometimes as much as three). This is usually her most cheerful, silly, excited time of day.
Then, at about 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon, it's time for Maia's second nap. This one is the same length as the first: about 90-120 minutes. This is my time, again, to clean the house, do Lamaze work, read, or catch up on e-mail.
Finally, between 4:00 and 5:00 (usually closer to 4:00), Maia is up and ready for the evening. Brian comes home around this time, and so we usually find a way to get dinner prepared (today it was leftover beef brisket, with sauteed peppers and zucchini) and then get out of the house again as a family. This is the perfect time to wander up and down Main or State Street with an ice cream cone or coffee. We'll try to be home at about 7:00-ish to begin Maia's bedtime routine (PJs, bottle, books, cuddles, then off to bed for the little one).
So, Maia is off to bed sometime between 7:00 and 8:00 PM, and she wakes up for her early morning nursing session sometime between 5:30 and 6:30 AM. Then, as I mentioned before, it's back to sleep until 8:00 or 9:00 AM. Then we start all over again!
Those who've spent time with us over the course of a few days know that whenever we're out and about, one of us carries Maia in one of our baby slings/carriers. My current favorite is my BabyHawk mei tai, which was an early birthday present from my mom. I'm sure we'll use the stroller regularly when Maia's a bigger toddler, but for now it's been sitting in our entry way for about three weeks between uses (on average).
In the course of a day, Maia will nurse about six times, and have one bottle from Brian. Most of those nursing sessions will be here in the house, although we'll have one out and about every other day or so, depending upon our timing. She'll eat solids either once or twice (yesterday it was bananas and peas). Some of the solids will be mixed with a little bit of breastmilk (the peas), some not (fresh banana mashed up!). She'll also have several big, messy guzzles of water from a sippy cup with the sippy top unscrewed. :)
Maia has grown into a remarkably happy, mellow, curious little person. I speak the truth--REALLY--when I say that I haven't seen her cry (with tears) for three or four days (I'm not really exactly sure, but it's been a while). She'll fuss over this and that every day, of course, but she really doesn't cry unless something hurts her, like an inadvertent head bump, or we've taken far too long to get her to bed when she's sleepy. She has a strong personality, and she certainly lets you know when she's bored or preoccupied or just dissatisfied with something, but she's just come to communicate those things in ways other than crying. For example, Maia's sleepy signals are: rubbing eyes, yawning, arching her back, burying her head into your shoulder, and a clenched-mouth whine. If we miss ALL of those things, she might cry . . . but then we've earned it by not paying atttention!
Maia smiles and laughs all day, and her current list of greatest hits are: the game of "sucker-punch Mom," where she flaps her hands in front of my face and I react with "oooofs" and "ouches" that a WWF-wrestler would envy; an article of clothing dangled above her head and brushed against her face; any "lap-ride" type song that involves her sitting on your lap and moving with the music; and "tickle fingers" in her armpits and on her belly. Her laugh is music to my ears, and one of the greatest sounds in the world, if you ask me. :)
Okay, this entry is getting ridiculously long, and it's now after 10:00 PM. I need to do a bit of work reading before bed, so I'm going to say good night. Bye for now!
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