One day in a life with a toddler
In the last posts I shared that we’re vacationing in the sunny Los Angeles. It’s been truly a blessing. I’ve felt joyful and optimistic. The warmth and sun relax you like nothing else does. Last but not least, the time away gives me a higher perspective on life. … And I got back my mojo to blog.
I’ve never written a post on how I spend the weekday with my little one, so here it is!
7:30 — The day starts. I do a basic bathroom routine and go get my two-year-old. Luke, my son, still sleeps in a crib, even though he has long outgrown it — he’s a tall tyke. Fortunately, he hasn’t yet tried jumping out of it, so we’re good for now. We use SlumberPod to darken his environment while on travel and at home. It’s truly a friend in need, and the one that helps out every day (note, I’m not affiliated with them in any way).
We start the day with water and berries. I incorporated the habit of offering fruits to Luke on wake up when I weaned him off. He was used to being nursed on wake up. We change diaper, comb the hair, and go out to the deck to salute the sun. That’s Luke’s idea. He runs towards the sliding door and goes like: What’s down there?
On return Luke has oatmeal with butter. He looooves butter! (And there’s really few foods he loves.) Maybe the creamy soft texture is the reason? He’d eat half the stick, if I let him.
8:30 — It’s Dad and son time! It usually means playground time: either walking to a nearby one or driving to a further one when yearning for change. When they’re out of the door, I almost always nap. I’m not a morning person (hate to say that!).
9:30 — When they return we have together some protein-rich meal, either eggs, Paleo-approved sausages or cheese. I drink herbal tea, so often share it with Luke, who I think likes it because of its novelty. In intervals between interaction with Luke I try to squeeze in stretches and loosening my muscles with a massage ball. It’s often challenging to juggle both of these tasks because my son is very active and also wants his attention. I do often find that balancing your own needs and your child’s needs, while you’re spending most of the day together, is an art you refine with time. I have to confess that I feel guilty at times for not fully focusing on him while cooking, cleaning up, taking care of my own needs.
10:30 — We head to the beach, which is only a couple of blocks away from our rental apartment. We take volleyball, bucket with rakes, shovels, and sand molds, a puree pouch for Luke, water for both of us, towel, and lots of other small things. We spend around 1.5 hours there: playing with the waves, digging, throwing the ball and sometimes just people watching (yes, you can do that with a two-year-old!). I noticed that the sun relaxes Luke, especially if he slept badly the previous night, and that makes him more passive, than his usual self, and then we just sit and do nothing.
12:00 — We head back to get ready for the midday nap. We wash hands and feet from the sand, change clothes, drink water.
12:30 — We head with a few toys to Luke’s room. I brush his teeth while singing Raffi Brush Your Teeth. I also count to 3 while brushing so he knows when it’s going to end. I think these two small rituals made it much easier for Luke to stop resisting brushing. Also visiting the dentist a month ago helped, it made him more aware of his teeth and the hygiene required. I put him into crib, tell him I love him, and that he needs to rest, so he can get the energy for the rest of the day. Once we’re in his room, it only takes a few minutes for him to settle down, though falling asleep is around 15–20 minutes. This changes if the circumstances are different. When we first arrived to LA, he wasn’t used to his new bed, everything was different, so sometimes it took 30 minutes to an hour to settle down, and I had to actively participate. Once he actually couldn’t fall asleep after one hour of trying, so I just let it be.
While he naps, which is around 1.5 hours, I do yoga, write in the blog, cook, and research about places we could go to while on vacation.
2:30 p.m. — Nap is over. We have a quick meal, change and head out as a family to explore places. Our choices: A. playground B. beach. I find that playgrounds are more engaging for him, especially because they’re so different and cooler than those we have in Seattle. Plus, let’s be honest, the weather here just rocks.
Sometimes on the way to our destination we stop at a cafe to get tea, a scone or a muffin and water. I also have a puree pouch with me or a peanut butter sandwich, in case Luke gets hungry on the walk.
4:45 p.m. — Sunset. We watch sunset together, and start heading back home, it quickly turns dark. At home we eat and play.
6 p.m. — Luke and Dad time again. I usually leave home at this time to go on a walk, reply to messages, or shop.
7:00 p.m. — Small meal of fruits, veggies or anything else Luke wants. We read books, play with a ball, or just mess around.
7:50 p.m. — We start our bedtime routine which is bath (in our case right now a sink bath), drinking last sips of water, changing to pajamas. Right before bed I also brush his teeth. Luke’s usually in bed by 8:15 pm, unless we happen to fight whether to have a bath, what pieces of PJs to put on, whether to have the lights on, etc.
I use white noise and a fan to filter out any noise from the streets or from us. He sleeps through the night since he was 10 months old (and since then I felt like a normal person again, haha).
8:00 p.m. Once Luke’s in bed, I clean up the kitchen and do all the remaining chores — you know what usually the housewives do… Just joking, I don’t think I do nearly as much. For one, I do not cook for my husband.
8:30 p.m. Now it’s my me time. I read Kindle (currently The Best American Food Writing 2019, borrowed from Seattle Public Library). I also like to just surf the web and read curious stories about Los Angeles, its history and prominent people. I also meditate for 10–15 minutes every single night.
10:30 p.m. Lights out. I fall (hopefully) soundly asleep looking forward to the next day’s adventure.
How different is your day?