6:30 a.m.

Wakes us up with his baby-talk version of “Hello? You guys up yet?”

Patrick gets up to give him the bottle I pumped the night before. I sit up to pump the next feeding.

7 a.m.

Morning PT – I help Joe with:

• Tummy time. This helps him learn to push up on his elbows. (He hates it, but if he’s ever going to crawl he has to do it!)
• Rolling over. He can get onto his side, but then he gets stuck. He’s such a calm kid that he would probably stay like that for days if you didn’t help him follow through.
• Sit-ups. I pull him by his hands up to a sitting position and make sure he’s holding his head steady instead of flopping it back. (He’s already the world champion of this, so we don’t really need to do it anymore. But it makes him smile!)
• Sitting without support. He’s getting less wobbly all the time! If you balance him just right, he can sit like a champ for a few seconds. Then he starts to topple over sideways, backward or forward. (Forward is the funniest because, again, he would stay like that for days – with his face down between his feet – if you didn’t come get him.)

8 – 10 a.m.

Nap time! (Lately he has not been using this time to sleep, but he will stay in the crib and enjoy talking to himself for a while.) This is when I get some work done, tidy up the house a bit, or just goof off.

10 a.m.

Another bottle for Joe, another pumping for me.

Then we might do any of the following:

• A play date. We have a regular group of moms and babies that we get together with. Sometimes it’s at someone’s house, or it might be at one of the local mom hangouts like Cartwheels & Coffee or Chat & Play Café.
• A walk. Joe loves it outside. If he’s fussy, all you have to do is step onto the porch and he goes all quiet and serene. Even if we don’t have time for a walk, we do go out and say hello to the trees. And there’s a big yellow “children at play” sign at the end of our driveway that makes him smile every time he sees it.
• Some shopping. I usually try to do groceries on a weekend or evening, so I’m not distracted from my complicated coupon system, but Joe is a lot of fun in the store. He loves the bright lights, and I like to show him things from the produce department and say their names.
• Lunch. We might go out to meet a friend (we had lunch with Patrick one day last week!) or we might stay in. While I eat a sandwich, Joe sits in his exersaucer or kicks around in his baby gym.
• Weight Watchers. I still go once a week, and Joe is a big hit with the ladies there. He stays perfectly quiet for the meetings and patiently tolerates a lot of cooing and cheek-pinching afterward.

2 – 4 p.m.

Nap time! This might be earlier and longer, if he blew off his morning nap or got worn out with whatever we did around lunch time. I get a little work done, maybe pump another feeding, whatever.

4 p.m.

Another feeding for Joe, and pumping for me if I haven’t already.

A little play time, maybe a swing on the porch if it’s nice out.

5 p.m.

I start dinner while Joe plays or swings. Sometimes I put him in his Bumbo seat on the counter so he can watch me make dinner.

6 p.m.

Daddy’s home! He plays with Joe while I get dinner ready. We eat while Joe swings or watches us from his perch on the table.

7 p.m.

Bath time! Patrick bathes Joe while I hover and coo at him (he’s just so CUTE in the tub!)

Once he’s dry and PJ’ed, I feed Joe while we listen to music in his room. Then we read a book. Smooches from both of us and he’s down for the night.

He rarely falls asleep right away, but within an hour or so he’s usually conked out. Patrick makes fun of me because I check the video monitor every 10 minutes just to look at him sleeping.

What an easy, sweet baby!