Tuesday, April 17, 2012

At Home With A Toddler

As I'm 39 weeks and about to pop, you'd better believe that I am working very diligently on finishing up the nursery. For the time being, however, I don't have much house-related news for you. So, since I'm about to pop and my daily routine is about to be totally interrupted, I thought I'd share how Joseph and I have been spending our days together up to this point.




I love that I can be home with my son. I know I'm biased, but I think he's pretty great and I love watching him grow and learn and develop everyday. This is what I have posted on my fridge as a daily reminder of what I could and probably should be doing with the little man.


*****


Typical Daily Routine
(not necessarily in this order)

  1. wake up & read books
  2. get dressed
  3. make & eat breakfast together
  4. walk to the park or, if the weather is bad, go to the library (with Joseph's friend Noah as often as possible)
  5. help Mommy with chores**
  6. music and dance
  7. arts and crafts
  8. make & eat lunch together
  9. read books & nap time
  10. free playtime (outside if weather permits)
  11. help make dinner together
  12. eat dinner
  13. free playtime (puzzles, trains, etc.)
  14. bath time
  15. brush teeth & jammies
  16. read books & say good night
  17. bed time

**chores will include tending the vegetable & flower gardens in the spring/summer/fall



Weekly Chores
Every Day - dishes, laundry, pick up
M - vacuum, wet mop, & dust something downstairs; take out the trash
T - vacuum, wet mop, & dust something upstairs
W - clean both bathrooms; water house plants
Th - organize something (a closet, desk, cabinet, dresser, room, etc.)
F - deep clean the kitchen (wipe down walls, appliances, & organize cabinets)
S/S - anything



Other Weekly Extracurricular Activities


  1. play dates with friends
  2. visit river or story book trail; some kind of nature related hike
  3. storytime at the county library & visit Gran in Woodstock
  4. Dreams Come True Park (or PetCo if rainy) & Girl's Night with Theresa in Harrisonburg
  5. Daddy’s dodgeball or softball games if in season







Daily Learning
  1. manners (please, thank you, etc.)
  2. life skills (i.e. dressing/undressing, potty training, etc.)
  3. colors
  4. shapes
  5. alphabet
  6. counting
  7. name identification - “Joseph”
  8. animals
  9. objects - inside (i.e. table, chair) vs outside (i.e. garden, house)
  10. body parts
  11. encourage imaginative play
  12. fine motor manipulatives (i.e. puzzles, shape sorters, etc.)
  13. gross motor skills

*****

Do my days always go like this? HECK NO. I don't always have the time (or energy) for crafts or for the assigned chore of the day, but I still try. This is simply my attempt to have some semblance of order in our daily life while incorporating learning through "helping Mommy" and play.


It will be interesting to see how much having a little baby around will impact our daily routine. Should be fun, right?

4 comments:

  1. Cutest Little Boy Pictures EVER :)
    I can't wait to see the nursery!! :) And the little banana baby too. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. 1. No popping until May 3rd. I would consider May 1, or any date after May 3 acceptable, but May 3 is prime popping time.

    2. Please tell Joseph to STOP GROWING.

    ReplyDelete
  3. SO CUTE! Having a second little one around changes (totally screws up) your schedule entirely. All of the sudden you're back to nursing round the clock and everything seems to end up planned around that, at least it did for me. Putting Maddie down for nap or bedtime was always the hardest thing for me. Somehow that was always when Ellorie was the fussiest or needed to eat and she would be crying (which isn't particularly helpful in getting Maddie to fall asleep). It gets WAY easier though, I promise! And it's so fun :-) I can't wait to see this sweet little baby too!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wear her and it won't interupt your routine at all!!! For real :)

    ReplyDelete

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