Order and process. And pee.

While I was pregnant, I read all sorts of books about what a baby needs, and the overwhelming #1 recommendation from all of the experts was: A baby needs routine. (I think "love" came in a close 2nd...).


With this in mind, we've tried to set up a schedule for John, which John modifies as needed.

Our planned bedtime routine:

• 6:30 pm -- bottle of milk and Curious George
• 6:45 pm -- upstairs for a bath or to change into jammies
• 7:15 pm -- in jammies, reading books
• 7:30 pm -- bottle of milk (yes, another bottle), rocking, nighttime music, snuggling, bed
• 8:00 pm -- asleep

John's morphed version of the routine:

• 6:30 pm -- bottle of milk and Curious George (good start!)
• 6:45 pm -- turn off the receiver, try to open the DVD player, try to play with the stones in the fireplace
• 6:50 pm -- figure out why the office door is closed
• 6:55 pm -- maybe time for a wagon ride??
• 7:00 pm -- get picked up by mom or dad and race the other one up the stairs (mom's fast)
• 7:05 pm -- escape the room dressed in a diaper and run into Sean's room to check and be sure it's all OK, and play the piano while there
• 7:10 pm -- get locked into the bathroom for bath time, push all of the shampoo and soap bottles into the tub, move the trashcan
• 7:15 pm -- Splash!!
• 7:20 pm -- mom wraps John in a froggy towel and rushes to get him diapered, lotioned and jammied, John brushes his teeth (yes! brushes his own teeth!), dad rinses the tub
• 7:30 pm -- comb hair and hang up towel
• 7:35 pm -- read books, find the Snoopy Sox Pez dispenser that plays music and *insist* and hearing...a few times...
• 7:40 pm -- help dad wind the clock, help mom select the CD and start the music (John is much better at pressing buttons than mom)
• 7:45 pm -- bottle of milk, rocking, talking, sticking fingers up mom or dad's nose, more talking
• 8:00 pm -- into the crib to "sleep"...most likely to talk more, since there is so much to tell George about the day!
• 8:15 pm -- help George escape the crib...be free lil monkey!
• 8:30 pm -- collapse and sleep with head pressed against the corner of the crib

And so you know the characters in this entry, here's George:

All in all, not a bad version of the original plan.

In the morning, we have a very quick routine. Tom and I alternate who gets John each morning (and we each wish secretly – and not so secretly – that John would sleep in more on our morning!). This morning was my turn. So it should have gone like this:

• 6:30 am -- John starts talking, wakes mom up
• 6:35 am -- mom has John's milk ready (after a very blurry trip to the kitchen), and gets greeted by a very excited boy who just LOVES the morning! WOOHOOO!
• 6:40 am -- milk has been drunk, time for a quick diaper change
• 6:45 am -- time to play!

But this morning, things did not go quite as planning. When I went to get John, he was not happy. His jammies were wet (I wouldn't be happy either). So I needed to change him. But he was crying. And didn't want to be put onto the changing table. So I tried to change him quickly. Which is so sad. Because then you have a crying boy who just wants to be held, but he's covered in pee and needs to be changed, and since he doesn't want to be changed, he's twisting and turning. Which is making the changing take longer and longer. And we're struggling with each other because he can't stay covered in pee but he just wants to be picked up. And it's *really* hard to change a baby while holding him. And I'm now sweating so I'm convinced he's too warm, but he's naked, so maybe he's cold. So if I could just get him diapered and dressed, I'm sure things would be better. But I've also convinced myself that I'm emotionally scarring him for life since he wants to be held and instead I'm pinning him to a table.

Of course, he recovers instantly. I am going to need therapy.