The 21st of June

It's the 21st of June and Claire is 11 months old...and that has me a bit sad.  My youngest, and likely last, child is about to turn a YEAR OLD.  I don't know where the year has gone...but I'll spare you and save the sentimental "I can't believe my baby is one" stuff for next month.

This is the ninth month in a row I have documented the very average and mostly boring details of our day.  I started way back in September, inspired by a post from Jill over at Baby Rabies - and it just happens that this month coincides with another "Day in the Life" post over at Baby Rabies!  So you can check out her post and also check out everyone who recorded their day and linked up to share.

Without further ado, I bring you...the 21st of June!

6:45 AM

Guess what?  It started early.

Claire woke up at 6:45.  Last night was a long night.  Charles took Claire and I slept for another 45 minutes.  Sweet, sweet sleep.

7:30 AM

Breakfast!  I have big plans for the morning.  We are going to the gym.  But first, we eat.

Mmmm.  Grapes.

It was as good as it looks.

The only thing missing from my breakfast was MY TEA.  I ran out of teabags.  This did not go well.  Luckily, Charles came to the rescue and made a quick Starbucks run.

8:30

All I want to do is get out of the house and get to the gym.  They have childcare and this is the highlight of Jack's day - he loves playing with all of the toys.  But OMG GETTING OUT OF THE HOUSE was challenging.  

Jack insisted on wearing long sleeves, even though it's the end of June in Texas (hot, y'all).  His logic?  "I'm cold and I only want my hands and my head to show out of my shirt."  

Umm, can't argue with that, I guess.  But here is his response to my request to please use the restroom while I got his sister dressed:

A few minutes later and we are finally in the car and on our way to the gym, and he's much happier.

9:30

Home from the gym, Claire is quick to fall asleep and  - praise the powers that be - actually stays asleep.  She sleeps for almost an hour (that's practically an eternity around here!) and I let Jack paint (his favorite activity) while she naps.

Painting is one of Jack's very favorite things - but the preparation and clean-up take more time than the actual painting, so I take great steps to avoid it when I can.  But today I was happy I had caved, because he painted me this rainbow:

12:00

It's noon, and Jack is so tired...but, as usual, fighting sleep.  And Claire is cranky and teething.  Fun.

My mom send this postcard in the mail today.  She's visiting my new nephew in California.  I felt this postcard...needed to be included somewhere.

2:00

Jack is at an awkward stage as far as sleep is concerned.  He can certainly go all day without a nap and often does...but on days when he doesn't nap, as the afternoon wears on, he grows clingy, and whiny, and starts messing with his sister and pushing buttons and OMGDRIVESMECRAAAAAAZY.  So around 2:00, Charles went and laid down with him and just a few minutes later, he looked like this:

While Jack sleeps, Claire naps on me and I check some emails.  I wrote a post for Today's Mama that went live today about Raw Vegan Cookie Dough Bites (which I just made for the second time, in a non-vegan version because I love chocolate chips, and they are so good!), and I actually got some feedback, which is nice (sometimes I feel like I send my blog posts into a giant black hole).

And then I have this sweet, sleepy baby on me and I start to get tired myself and I think "Oh, what the heck" and lay down with Claire for an hour.  These opportunities are few and far between.

But at 5:00, Jack is still asleep...and we need to wake him up.

5:00

I know better.  I let Claire do my dirty work.  It goes surprisingly well.

He wakes up like his mama (that would be...umm...not well).  This, along with a distaste for anything even a little bit spicy, might be the only trait he's received from me.

But then I get a smile, and that makes me very, very happy (have you ever tried soothing a cranky poltergeist before??  Because that's what it's like when he wakes up grumpy).

6:00

Charles plays in a local softball league and tonight is his last game (finally).  This is how we eat dinner (well, the kids anyway) - on the floor - because for whatever reason, no one will sit nicely at the table tonight.  So, they win.

7:30

When it comes to late-night activities (and yes, 7:30 PM is now "late" - I wish my 21-year-old self could see me now!), I am kind of a grump.  I like to get the kids bathed and to bed, not be gallivanting around town watching softball games and such.  But tonight was a fun night at the park, and although the guys didn't win the game, I was happy we got out of the house.

There are two funny things about these pictures.  One, Jack has his shoes on the wrong feet (which you can barely see in this little pic, but I asked him repeatedly to switch them and he insisted he was fine, running around with his toes hanging over the edge of his flip-flops for most of the night).  And two, in the bottom-left picture of Jack, he saw me coming and told a couple of kids, mid-Transformer-attack, to "hang on, my mom needs to take a picture!" and made them all wait.  I guess when you're Optimus Prime you can make everyone wait.

9:00

Jack tells me he's cold and get a robe to wear over his pajamas.  He watches Shrek while I nurse Claire to sleep (Charles is out with his teammates for an end-of-the-season celebration).

10:30

Jack is laying next to me as I write this, playing with Optimus Prime and definitely up past his bedtime.  I keep wishing he'd just fall asleep, already - but to no avail.  

OK Ladies and Gentlemen, I need to go get this kid to sleep.  Prepare yourselves for next month, when I get all weepy and sad about my baby turning a year old.