I was thinking of doing "A Day in the Life" post, but I can't get my act together enough to write everything down, take pictures along the way, AND post it soon enough before I forget the details. So this is a little snapshot of what our days look like right now. Yeah, another one of
those posts where you probably just want to skim for the pictures since it's mostly for my personal record.
I was a little worried about what this summer was going to be like without the structure of preschool that Ruby did so well with. I thought a lot about what our days would look like and planned to create some structure (insert laughter here). When you have kids you know that any kind of schedule has to start with naptime...
I figured it was likely time for Ada to transition from 2 naps a day to 1 afternoon nap.
Most people are surprised to hear at 20 months she was still happily and regularly taking 2 naps a day. I think the fact that she was sick for 8 months probably had something to do with it! Anyhoo, she's never slept well at night, had been waking e.a.r.l.y., and, let's face it, it's kinda difficult to do much when you have to be home for a length of time in both the morning and afternoon. She's a happy, easy-going bear so the transition wasn't too bad. She'd usually get her bubby and lovey and was laying on the floor by 11:30 though! Or crash on the go.
We did an early lunch and naptime which was a transition for all of us (read: it made for a LONG afternoon for Momma!). Unfortunately, Ada hasn't really lengthened her afternoon nap or night sleep much, and after over a week the one nap was actually getting shorter. Like less than an hour. So I decided when we are home and able, she'll still take 2 naps. Maybe in a few months she'll be ready to fully transition. This Mom won't complain about her good napper!
So our "structure"revolves around Ada's nap and loosely looks like this:
Having survived 9 St. Louis summers (yes, this is our 10th year summer in STL!), I figured we'd start the day getting outside as early as possible. I really want to encourage my kids to spend lots of time outdoors and love it! So after breakfast it's out the door. Ruby is taking swimming lessons in the mornings twice a week for the month of June, on alternate mornings we go for a run before it's too hot. I'm
trying to get back into shape, but honestly my runs are pretty pathetic. I keep telling myself that I'm pushing 70ish pounds of kid/stroller and that's why it's so difficult, but truely I'm just out of shape. The girls seem to enjoy the runs though which really helps. Most mornings at breakfast Ruby says, "let's go for a run today", which helps me get us out the door! I try to plan routes that either take a pit stop at a park or end at a park where we can get out and play for awhile.
The girls often play in the backyard for a bit when we get home too. I've pretty much given up and put them in swimsuits because "water table"= "pool" apparently.
We love water.
I usually shower during Ada's morning nap, but did figure out a way to shower with both girls home/awake. If I need to, I put Ada in her high chair and Ruby sits on the couch while they watch 15-20 minutes of cartoons.
We play inside and after lunchtime it's naps/rests for everyone. Ada sleeps in the PNP in our room and Ruby rests in her room.
I try to have some kind of activity planned for us to work on at home every day, usually after naps. They're mostly geared towards Ruby but I try to get Ada involved as much as possible.
I'm not super strict about activities, but I try to get a balance of crafts, Bible lessons, cooking, and games. With some hesitation, I pulled out some of my Kindergarten teaching stuff and Ruby loves it.
After a lot of searching, I bought the
Pray and Play Bible and the bible lessons are some of our favorite activities. We read the creation story and the girls made play-dough shapes of all the animals God made.
(Ada mostly did this!)
After reading the story of Noah, we took our ark and animals out to the water table and created our own "little" flood, then made rainbows.
We also read the story of Daniel in the lions' den, did a lion craft, and made a lions' den with blocks and Little People!
When it comes to cooking we keep it simple. In all honesty, letting the girls help with cooking projects is not my favorite thing! We've made popsicles and kale chips, but I think Ada would be happy just making popcorn everyday!
Often we're outside again before Dad gets home and we have dinner. If it's not too hot we'll walk to our neighborhood park.
Otherwise we play in the water table, pool, or sprinkler!
In addition to all that, we try to go to Storytime and the library one morning a week. And there's always playdates, zoo trips, grocery trips, errands to run...
So, needless to say, my worry that we wouldn't have enough to do to keep the girls stimulated was unfounded! Kinda makes me tired just reading this. And rest time is over.
Wow! Ruby and Ada are 2 lucky little girls. Love you all Tons!
ReplyDeleteBusy, busy and busy! Lots of wonderful activities and days full of love and laughter. Love you guys a bunch.
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