Hellobee

After a sun and fun-filled Saturday spent sharing the parenting duties, it’s time to capture how it goes when Mr. Milk is at work, and it’s just me with William. Here’s Sunday, where I solo-parented from morning until evening.

Sunday

4:30 AM: Mr. Milk’s alarm goes off. He wakes, grabs his clothes and steps out of our bedroom to finish getting ready. The oak floors in our older home are super creaky, so he tries to minimize noise early in the morning for me and Will. I’m super grateful, as I keep on sleeping! He leaves around 5 AM, and texts me an hour later to let me know he arrived at work safely.

5:58 AM: Will wakes up. He slept through the night – wahoo! He is cooing and chatting to himself, so I let him have some fun while I wash my face and such. I go to greet him at 6:25 AM and find him in his new usual place – standing and smiling! We head back to my bed with a new diaper as it was, once again, dirty and stinky. He finds his favorite friend, the remote control and we sing and play for about half an hour.

7:00 AM: We are downstairs. I carry Will on my hip as I warm him some milk, let the dog out and give her food, and turn on the water for coffee. I narrate what we’re doing to keep Will interested, and after he gets his reflux meds, I hand him his bottle in his pack n’ play and quickly wash all the bottles and grab my coffee.

7:15 AM: Will is done with his morning milk, so I quickly dress him and offer him some toys while I settle in to pump.  I like to let him crawl around as much as possible, even though it makes pumping a bit tricky sometimes, as I have to quickly unhook the tubes if he heads in a direction I can’t monitor or tries to lift up on something I fear is unstable. We get through it though, and I fill a second cup of coffee while I put away the 15 ounces I pumped.

8:00 AM: Will plays in his jumper while I enjoy my second cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal.  He starts to show signs of being tired, so I decide to see if he’ll sleep in his bouncy chair. He typically takes 2 longer naps these days, but on weekends, it sometimes becomes three shorter ones. I put him in the chair with his loveys and bounce away as I catch up on Mad Men.

8:30 AM: He’s asleep! I count my lucky stars and dash off to take a quick shower. I have only left him for a shower once before and I of course worry the entire time that he is crying. It’s a very short shower, but I feel refreshed after I’ve taken it! By 9:15 AM, Will is awake and it’s playtime again!

9:30 AM: We head upstairs so that I can put away clean clothes and finally wade through my work clothes to sort out items that are tired, don’t fit me in a way that I like, and don’t align to my new uniform. Will crawls everywhere while I do, getting in to everything he can. The task takes twice as long as it normally would, as I constantly pause to stand by Will as he stands up against our dresser, or try to stop him from licking the floor. Eventually, I finish my task and we head back downstairs.

10:30 AM: Will gets a new diaper, his second bottle of milk and some cruising around the pack n’ play time as I pump for the second time of the day. I hydrate and continue my Mad Men watching while I pump, and marvel at the fact that I’ve already accomplished something today with the closet organizing. I could stop now and be ahead! Woot! I remember that the dog has her biannual check up though, so there’s no stopping. We need to leave by 11:15 to arrive for her appointment at 11:30.

11:30 AM: We made it! We walk through the parking lot to the vet, as Will looks around at all the cars and dogs passing by.  I put some make up on in the car, so I feel a bit more presentable to the world, but I notice that I forgot to bring my bottle of water. Pumping/producing milk makes me so thirsty and I hate being without water!

12:30: We are finally back in the car and the pup’s appointment is over. Will and our dog, Boomer, officially weigh about the same thing now, which amazes me. Will enjoyed watching our very pregnant vet take care of Boomer, and he must have been tuckered out because he promptly falls asleep in the car. We are supposed to be meeting my friend in the city for lunch, and I had planned to stop at home briefly so I could pump, drop off the dog, and grab water. I amend my plans and instead let Boomer inside and quickly grab my pump bag and water. Will continues to sleep as I pump, and we drive to a restaurant near to where my friend and I met attending college (and lived as roommates freshman year).

1:30 PM: Will wakes up, just in time for me to stick in the stroller and roll us to lunch. He enjoys some milk while we walk, and is pretty chill as we eat. I offer him some of my food once it arrives, and he shows little interest. The small bites he does take come back a few minutes later, and I’m glad I wore black clothes in public, for just this reason!

3:00 PM: Lunch is over, and my friend and I decide to take a stroll down memory lane and walk around campus. We stop in the middle of the quad, and I offer Will some pureed vegetables. He has a leisurely meal in the sunlight, as the adults watch students play frisbee and walk around campus. I want to change Will’s diaper, but the Starbucks and campus bathroom in a brand new building on campus are both lacking a changing table! I finally just settle down on the ground with our portable changing pad and give Will a fresh diaper. Around 3:30 PM, my friend and I part ways, and I decide to pay a little visit to Mr. Milk’s grandparents and uncle as we head home. Mr. M calls me as we are driving to let me know he got off work earlier than normal. We agree to meet at his grandparents’ house.

4:30 PM: We play around with Will’s great-grandparents and great-uncle for a while. I’m disappointed as I hoped Will would take his third and final nap in the car as we drove, but instead he had a major blowout. Mr. M helps me change Will (it’s a two person job!) as soon as we arrive, and forego pants to let Will have better grip for crawling and cruising.

5:45 PM: We are home, and Will gets some solid food while I pump for the third time of the day. Mr. Milk decides to see if Will will eat a graham cracker – and to our surprise, he loves it!  Not an ideal nutritional choice, but if it gets the kid eating solid food, I’ll take it! We use this time to Skype and FaceTime with some of my family, and I also prep Will’s bag for daycare (clean bottles, bibs, diapers, etc.) while Mr. Milk entertains Will.

6:55 PM: We decide to head up to bed a little earlier since Will missed his final nap and is getting a bit fussy. Will loves to watch the water fill the tub for bath time, so Mr. M does that with him while I get everything else ready for bed, like starting the noise machine, filling the humidifier, and prepping the changing table with laid out pajamas, sleep sack and fresh diaper.

7:15 PM: It’s my turn to help Will fall asleep, so after Will says goodnight to his lamp, alphabet and the animal mobile, I settle into the nursery armchair with him and offer him his bottle. It’s another not-so-easy night for bedtime, but I’m able to do it alone this time with lots of rocking, shushing and singing. Will is finally fast asleep by 7:30 and I join Mr. M downstairs for dinner and snuggles.

9:40 PM: Will wakes up and decides he needs some extra love. Mr. Milk goes to him while I pump for the fourth and last time of the day, and join them upstairs. After about twenty minutes, Will is asleep again, and we are in bed, preparing for a long night of more wake ups.

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That’s a typical, solo-parenting weekend day!  I try to schedule one social activity every time I am solo parenting, to keep me and Will entertained.  Often, when Mr. Milk works evenings, I prep bedtime before he goes to make life easier.  If I can’t get to it, I let Will crawl in his crib for a few minutes while I prep all the necessary items and fill the bathtub.

What do you like to do when you have days or moments of solo-parenting?