Details, details, too many details

While I’m in the hospital birthing Baby Eggerts part deux, my Mom is coming to our place to care for Noah. In an effort to assist her I thought I’d jot down some notes on what we do on a typical day. I by no means intend for her to follow this to the letter – but merely give her an idea of our routine so that she can take or depart from it as she wishes. Plus once I got started it just became an interesting and odd effort in documentation. Of course in writing all this down I was struck by a couple of things. First – holy anal! It’s funny – I don’t consider myself a letter of the law person but I’ve always been pretty organized and disciplined about work. And since THIS is my work I’ve gotten fairly regimented. And two – goodbye routine! Once Baby Ray enters this world the whole routine flies right out the window and the next couple of months will be me floundering to put some order back in our days. It’s like starting a new job.

So welcome to our minutiae.

Morning
- Noah typically wakes up at around 7:30 am but could sleep as late as 9 am – if you are really lucky.
- He’s usually cuddly and wants to play a little bit in his room before going downstairs for breakfast.
- Breakfast is normally around 8:30. He typically eats an Eggo waffle, with a puddle of whip cream for dipping and some fruit. He also drinks a little orange juice in one of his big boy plastic cups.
- He might play for awhile in the kitchen after breakfast depending on the time. I typically try to take him up to the third floor in time to watch Big, Big World on PBS channel 12 at 9:30 am on weekdays. We take a breakfast snack upstairs – a sippy cup of watered down apple juice and a small plastic bowl of dried cherries and cheerios.
- On the way upstairs I will also grab his clothes – but I don’t normally change him until after I’m showered and hopefully he’s pooped.
- He watches TV while I shower, dress and check email – Big Big World is followed by Sesame Street or he might ask to watch something on On Demand. Typically Zoboomafoo which is under Kids, PBS Sprout, and then on the second page. Sometimes it’s Berenstein Bears which is in the same section.
- I try not to let him watch more than an hour of TV in the morning –and he doesn’t normally give me any problems when I tell him to turn the TV off when his second show is done. We then go downstairs and either head out for a planned activity or find something to play.
- Our biggest windows of free times are 10:30 to 1 and 1:30 to 3. Noah will tell you what he wants to do and it’s most often playing trains, “baby and big sister,” blocks, art (supplies in one of kitchen wicker bins), or going out on the town to visit friends, or see the park, the Y, a museum, etc.

Afternoon
- Lunch is normally around 1 pm. He normally has lunchmeat, cheese, bread veggies, and fruit cut up. I don’t usually give him his juice cup until he’s done his meal otherwise he fills up on juice. And sometimes he’ll have dessert if he asks for it or you need it to bribe him to finish his meal. Jello, 8 jelly beans, or a couple of cookies or kisses.
- Quiet time is typically between 3 pm and 4pm. I ask him what he wants to play with during QT and put it in his room. Then I close the gate and set the cooking timer for 45 minutes. I close the door and lay on the bed in “Ray’s room” and nap. You could probably read a book if you prefer. He’ll come in to get you when the timer goes off.
- After QT and a little bit of play comes Mr. Rogers on DVR and a popsicle. He’ll often ask for more snack after the popsicle and I’ll give him some crackers and juice. And he’ll typically watch a second show after Mr. Rogers – either another episode or Bears – at which time I’m normally starting dinner.

Evening
- Dinner is normally around 6 pm. I feed him what we are eating – some meat, some veggies, some fruit – and normally a cheese stick too. And a watered down sippy cup of juice after he starts eating. Dessert is normally reward for eating most of his food. I do negotiate with him if he’s obviously not going to eat everything – you know “Eat two more pieces of meat, three green beans and the rest of your strawberries and then you can have dessert.” And the dessert list is pretty much the same as lunch.
- After he eats dinner I usually set the timer on the microwave telling him exactly how much time there is to play before bath time which is typically between 7 and 7:30 pm. When we go upstairs for bath we take up a plastic straw cup of water which we leave in his bedroom when we go in so he can pick out his own pajamas – and take the timer upstairs.
- Start the bath water and ask him if he wants bubbles or color. Bubbles is one cap full and he has to put it in the water himself. Color – ask him which one he wants and then he gets to put in three pellets.
- Undress him and he pees on the potty before he gets in. Set the timer for 20 minutes bath time – give him his toys. I’m sure you will have to remind him at least once to not splash water out of the tub. Sit on the floor next to the tub – use the Johnson Baby Wash to soap up his hair and the cup to rinse him off – after reminding him to try to put his head back. Then tell him to stand up and ask him what letter he wants you to write on his belly with foamy soap. Then help him distribute the soap everywhere and wash himself before rinsing off.
- When the timer goes off he should put all the toys back in the green bin, give you the wash cloth and pull the plug.
- Then he gets ten minutes on the timer for naked time. When the timer rings, ask him if he wants to pee on the potty and then dress him and give him an additional ten minutes on the timer to play before going downstairs.
- Brush teeth. Put his paste on his brush – he brushes first and then gives you a turn. Then he likes to weigh himself before going into his room.

Bedtime
- Turn on his lullaby CD. Press power, play, then p.mode twice for repeat and then timer until you see the number 90 for the sleep timer.
- Noah picks out three books – two for you and one for him. The one he reads means that you just let him finish the sentences – though he can do this with most books. He’ll drink his water while you read.
- After books, turn on the monitor, give him a stuffed animal, turn off the light and lay down with him.
- We talk a little bit about the day (“I had a lot of fun with you today. What did we do?”) and then I tell him it’s time to get ready to sleep. If he’s restless he might roll around a bit but I just kind of lay there like I’m already sleeping and will occasionally quietly go “shhh” if it goes on too long. After he nods off I cover him up and leave the room. The monitor receiver should be on the windowsill.
- Later when you go to bed in “Ray’s Room” close the gate so that if he walks in his sleep in the middle of the night he won’t fall down the steps.
- The odds are fifty/fifty that he’ll sleep all night in his bed. Or he’ll come in and get you around 4:30 and you can either lay with him until he falls back asleep or just sleep with him.