calling the shots

For six beautiful months, Garrett has reigned supreme. But it's high time for someone else to be calling the shots around here. And so today marks the beginning of my official attempt to put Garrett on a schedule.

Our day, more or less, has gone pretty much like this:

• got up, got dressed, ate
• out the door by 8:15 to get grocery shopping done before morning nap time
• first nap at roughly 10:00 - he slept for nearly 2 hours!
• a bottle for lunch
• because it's, like, 60 degrees outside (I know - in January!!), we went for a walk to the park and to the library
• back at home, time for a solid food snack
• practiced sitting, was tickled, and played with toys on the living room floor
• down for the afternoon nap at about 3:00

Which is where we're at now. So far, with the exception of the rather dramatic crying episode for about 25 minutes before the afternoon nap was settled in to, things have gone pretty good. I expect the rest of the day to look a little something like this:

• wake up from nap; eat bottle, somewhere between 4:00 and 5:00
  
• play
• eat solids (around 6:00) so we'll have a happy baby to deal with while I work on dinner
  
• take a bath
• play
• bottle (8:30ish)
  
• bed (9:00ish)

This whole scheduling thing really isn't too dramatically different from what we've been doing for the last few months. It's just, well, monitored better, I guess. Because for some time now we've been testing the "I'm- gonna- leave- you- in- your- crib- for- your- nap- so- get- used- to- the- idea" waters, getting him to sleep at the approximate times I'd like him to hasn't been too bad. What's been the real challenge is keeping him awake (so he WILL take a crib nap) while I'm toting him around in the Snugli or the stroller while out on errands. I've taken a vow to get myself up and ready earlier, especially on grocery shopping and laundry days (because there is NO WAY I'll EVER be in the mood to fight the afternoon crowds for these errands) so I can get them done before the morning nap. And, to the best of my ability, I'm going to keep that baby awake while I get them done. So if that means risking humiliation by talking and cooing with him in the aisles of the grocery store or setting up a mini play station at the laundromat, then so be it. Because, by golly, he needs those crib naps. Or, really, I need those crib naps. Those precious hours are as much my time as they are his, and I'd rather not have them compromised.

I think the better-monitored schedule is so far doing us both a bit of good. I can manage my time and tasks better, with pleasantly productive results, and Garrett, whether he's aware of it or not, is definitely benefiting. He LOVED our little adventure on the park swings:


Which isn't to say he didn't enjoy the swings last time, but, see, we've turned over a new, scheduled leaf, which makes all of us happier.