A Day in the Life of Emerson

Now that the days of January are ticking by, my return to work has started to cross my mind more and more. It seems crazy to me that a lot of moms return to work after only six weeks. I think back to the six-week mark, and I was just barely getting the hang of things! I still have about four more weeks of maternity leave, and I am so glad for the extra time to spend with my little girl. I hope to always remember this special time that I have had at home with her.

With a newborn, there is a lot of unpredictability, but we are slowing developing a routine. We try to balance time at home for naps and feeding with shopping trips, play dates, and other outings. Most mornings start around 8AM. Well, back up just a bit....both Em and I have been up before that, around 4AM or 5AM, when I feed Em and also pump. Then, as Daddy is getting up for work, we both go back to sleep for a couple more hours before officially starting our day. After hearing her noises through the video monitor, I love going in to her room and getting her out of her crib. Some mornings, she may still be in-and-out of sleep; other mornings, she may already be awake and waiting on me. 

It always makes me laugh the way she springs out of her swaddle. She has the biggest yawns and stretches as she gets ready to take on the day. The mornings usually pass by quickly, with feeding, changing her diaper, getting her dressed, and having a bit of playtime. Em is becoming so expressive, and she has started to smile a lot. She seems to be in such a pleasant mood during this morning time. It is probably a bad habit, but I will bring her in my bed, and she will kick around and we will 'talk' for a little bit. Yesterday morning, I took this picture of Em, and it is one of my favorites so far! 

Here are a few more pictures from our morning 'girl time.'

If we have a play date or an errand to run, I usually try to plan it around 10AM. This seems to be a good time that coordinates with Em's feeding/nap schedule and my pumping schedule. (I am still nursing in the morning and in the evening, but during the day, I bottle-feed Em with the milk that I pump.) If we have somewhere to go, I load Em up in her car seat, and we hit the road. I have to be quick about getting out the door, because Em usually doesn't like being in her car seat if we are not moving. I did manage to capture a half-smile in this picture. 

This past week, we had a play date at Sarah's house one morning, a visit with my mom's friend Linda another morning, and on two days, we went to the YMCA. The Y has childcare in the mornings, so I managed to get us both there so that I could do a 30-45 minute workout on the elliptical. I am slowly getting back into my exercise routine. Other outings include going to the grocery store or visiting Great-Gma and Great-Gpa. 

In the afternoons, I try to knock out anything on my to-do list, like laundry, cleaning, mail, email, etc. Em is usually quite content hanging out in her monkey chair (our name for the sling passed down from Zander and Maddox). As long as I am close by, she likes to look around at the lights or just chill...

  ...until she falls asleep!

This is a 'live' picture; she is sleeping now as I write this post!

 

In between naps, we do some tummy time, either on a blanket or on the boppy. The first time we used the boppy for tummy time, she posed in the sweetest way: 

 If I could read her mind, I think she is saying, "Well, what I am suppose to do now?" After some tummy time, Em likes to kick around under her rainforest play mat. I predict she will be a very active little girl when she grows up. Her arms and legs will move constantly (much like they did when she was inside of me!), and she loves the lights and music. 

The highlight of the day is when Daddy comes home! Daddy immediately sweeps in to play with Em, whether under the rainforest or on his lap, sometimes while he is still in his shirt and tie! If he doesn't have any evening events, Boomer is usually home between 5PM and 6PM. We like these nights the best! After dinner and a little TV, we all get ready for bedtime. We usually put Em to bed between 9:30PM and 10:00PM. With a full belly and swaddled tightly, she will sleep for around a 6-hr stretch. We feel so lucky to have such a good sleeper. Just like the mornings, the evenings go by pretty fast. Before I know it, we are doing it all again the next day!