A Day in the Life with an Almost-1-Year-Old

Some of you had read my post about “A Day in The Life with A Newborn” and I remember writing it just three weeks in when baby Noa was still sleeping anywhere and everywhere … all the time. 

Today, Noa is 11 months old and I can’t even believe it. People told me time goes even faster with the second and they were right! 

Here we are and although a lot has changed, the chaos of motherhood has not. Let’s just say juggling an active 6-year-old and a baby takes some skills (and the help of a supportive hubby). As I near the end of my mat leave (gulp!), I thought it would be fun to now share a little glimpse of what a typical day has looked like for me since I had wrote my original post. Before I know it, I’ll be back into the workforce missing these days at home!

5:30 a.m. Noa is up and ready for action. We grab her from her crib crying while she gnaws on her favourite bunny. I nurse her in my bed while daddy is sound asleep. I am also half in the bag too. Why does she have to wake up this early … every … single … day?! Yes, everyday,

6:00 a.m. Harper is up and now jumps in our bed to play with her sister who is on and off the boob. Daddy is still sound asleep (jerk!) while I try and keep Noa from falling off the bed. Harper gets the ipad with a timer set to 10 minutes. Daddy is still sleeping despite the volume of little kids doing toy reviews on Youtube. Noa is still taking little sips here and there. I am so tired.

7:00 a.m. Everyone is up and breakfast is being made. I skip breakfast – not because I’m trying intermittent fasting, but because there just isn’t time. Noa insists on feeding herself, which means our dog gets an extra big breakfast too. What a mess. I’ll clean it up after I do drop off Harper. Wait – that means I need to look half decent because I have to get out of the car. Hand hubby the baby to shower and send Harper upstairs to brush her teeth. Okay, shower doesn’t happen. Dry shampoo once again.

8:30 a.m. It’s too cold to walk and too icy to bike, so we all pile into the car to drop Harper off at school. Noa is not impressed and cries for the short drive until I pass her mums mums nonstop. Walk Harper to her class line with Noa on my hip. Realize I forgot to brush my teeth, so pray that none of the parents stop to chat. Daddy is always way better at the social stuff in the schoolyard. Second bell rings and I bolt to the car, get Noa back into her carseat (fighting her plank) and then drive back home. 

9:00 a.m. Nap time. Woohoo! Don’t get me wrong, I love this baby but there is something so nice about the first nap. And no, I don’t sleep while she’s sleeping. Instead I hop on my computer and phone and hammer though emails.  

9:15 a.m. Who am I kidding? I’m back on Instagram liking photos and admiring all the little newborn babies. Nope, not going for a third. But they’re still super cute. 

9:30 a.m. I should make breakfast, but still scrolling on Instagram. 

9:45 a.m. Make coffee. Scroll some more. Sip coffee. Scroll some more. Start replying back to text messages. I realize that 90% of my replies start with, “Sorry for the late reply”. I’m so bad.

10:00 a.m. I hear Noa cry. Are you kidding me? Already? I pretend I don’t hear it and pray she goes back to sleep. I finally re-open up my computer to actually do some emails and work. Okay, so Noa is still crying. She’s up and I need to go and feed her. Coffee can wait. It’ll be cold by the time I come back downstairs. Standard. 

10:45 a.m. Finish feeding and changing Noa. We read some books, which usually means I’m reading and she’s crawling around picking things off the floor trying to place them in her mouth. Magna tiles, LOL doll shoes, paper, anything! We come back downstairs and have to walk the dog. 

11:15 a.m. Finally get her bundled up and into the stroller and get the dog prepared and we head out the door. Ahhh, fresh air. This is nice. Then she cries. And then cries some more. So much for a long walk. We head back home. Sorry Vegas (our dog). 

12:30 p.m. Noa has lunch and half of it ends up on the floor (aka Vegas’ mouth) or on her clothes. Head upstairs to wash up. Change her and then get her ready for nap #2.

1:30 p.m. Noa is asleep. Yippee! Warm up my coffee. Eat an energy ball and I feel great … at least for the next 15 minutes because then Noa starts crying. Some of the thoughts that cross my mind: “why is she crying?”, “maybe she dropped her bunny outside of the crib.”, “is her leg stuck in the railing?”, “maybe she has a dirty diaper”, “is it gas?”, “maybe she ate something funny at lunch?”, “what did she eat again?”.

 2:00 p.m. Noa is asleep. For real this time. Warm up my coffee once again and check my phone. Lose 10 minutes. Throw in a load of laundry. Take out a load of laundry. Look at clothes that need to be folded. Throw them on the bed. 

2:45 p.m. Text the hubby and tell him to grab wine on the way home. I also ask if he can get off early to pick up Harper from school. The answer is no. Explain how much I hate having to wake up Noa to go pick up Harper. Answer is still no. 

2:50 p.m. Never wake a sleeping baby … except when you have to wake a sleeping baby. Wake up Noa and get her bundled up to pick up her sister.

 3:05 p.m. Wait outside of the school in the freezing cold with baby waiting for Harper. Why does her class always have to be last out when it’s the coldest day? Harper asks to stay and play. Nope. Explain to Harper we need to get home to feed Noa.

3:30 p.m. Feed Noa. I mean, Noa feeds herself while I prepare Harper a snack. I remember that Harper has swimming lessons at 5 p.m.. Text hubby to come home early because I CANNOT take Noa to Harper’s swimming lessons. Please. Answer is no. 

4:15 p.m. Attempt a workout with the kids. Harper is game. Noa, not so much. Three sets of bodyweight squats and two sets of glute bridges and we’re done. Not bad and better than nothing.

4:30 p.m. Toys are all over the family room floor for the baby to play with while I clean out Harper’s school lunch and get her swimming gear ready.  Tell Harper to play with her sister. Lasts a total of 1 minute and she’s back to her LOL dolls. Snap a few photos of the chaos and send to hubby with a note, “hurry home”. 

4:45 p.m. As I’m getting both girls bundled up and just about to hop in the car to head to swimming lessons, Hubby walks through the door. There is a god. Hand him Harper’s swimming bag and car keys. See ya! 

5:30 p.m. Bathe baby and start bedtime routine.

5:45 p.m. Nurse and place baby Noa in crib and walk out the door. 

6:15 p.m. Harper and hubby are home. Pour myself a glass and have dinner. Leftovers nonetheless. Next up … Harper’s bedtime.

Guys, this is a typical day in the life. Sometimes it’s better and sometimes it’s a lot worse. Either way, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I just wish I could slow down time just a little!