5 weeks home and A.’s really starting to flourish. He seems very comfortable with us and with his surroundings, and the initial sensory overload has subsided to allow his natural toddler curiosity to satisfy its need to know, do, touch, and see everything. He’s thriving in his routine yet open to new experiences. And he has seemed to accept that he will have to learn English.
Routine:
7-8 am wake up. Some days he’s hard to wake up; other days he stares blankly at nothing for a few moments and then demands to do something (go outside/watch Barney/eat). He sleeps like a dream, rarely getting up in the middle of the night crying or for the bathroom. He sleeps on his stomach, with his legs tucked under him and his little bottom sticking out — truly a Child’s pose, like in yoga.
Sleeping in Mommy and Daddy's bed
8-9 am. Some mornings he’s not interested in food at all. We’ve had to start giving him daily medication that needs to be taken on an empty stomach, and since he refused to take it straight, we mix it with some orange juice and demand he drink the juice before he does or eats anything. Some days it takes 15 minutes to coax him to drink the juice; other days, an hour. I can only hope that the juice will become automatic because he needs to take the medicine for the next 6-9 months.
After he drinks the medicine juice, we’re supposed to wait an hour before giving him food, but that gives him horrible stomach pains so it’s okay to give him some food before. Some days he demands meat for breakfast; other days, yogurt, bread, or cereal bars; a few days he decided after his juice he’s not hungry and then have stomach pains and then refuse to eat anything until well into the afternoon, when he will do nothing but eat.
9am. Brush-your-teeth is all one word to him, and he uses it to refer to anything having to do with brushing his teeth (toothpaste, toothbrush). Last week I took him to the dentist but he refused to open his mouth and we decided not to force him. He’ll brush his teeth for about a minute; we suspect he’s really only brushing his tongue. Then he’ll let me take the brush and go at it, and his gums inevitably bleed. After brushing his teeth, we’ll get dressed (he needs a lot of help with this) and be ready to face the world.
Mornings. Depending on the weather and day of the week, A. will either go to the playground, go to Gymboree, play indoors with his trains and cars, have a playdate, run errands with Mommy, watch Sesame Street or (on weekends) go on an adventure with Mommy and Daddy. He loves going to stores. The other week we went to Old Navy and he spent a inordinate amount of time picking out his socks. Unfortunately, his favorite pair were sold out in his size, so I grabbed another pair and told the cashier not to ring up the pair he liked. He forgot all about them when we got home… parental sneakiness is usually the best policy.
Shopping for Socks at Old Navy
Lunch is a bigger version of breakfast — he usually asks for the same thing he had for breakfast.
Afternoons. We’ve given up on naps, although if we lay down in a bed he likes to lay down next to us, cuddle and play. The recreational swim hours at the pool are 2-3pm, so if the weather is bad we’ll go to the pool; if it is nice out, it’s another trip to the playground or sometimes Middlesex Fells so he can experience the “real” outdoors. Yesterday we played basketball at a local playground, which he enjoyed though the ball was easier for him to kick than throw.
Basketball with Daddy
Dinner is around 6, and again, he usually wants the same thing he had for breakfast and lunch.
7ish bathtime (unless we went to the pool that day and he already had a shower), which he usually love once he’s in the tub.
Mommy and Daddy eat at 8pm, and we always give him a plate with a little bit of whatever we’re eating. Some days he’ll try a bite. He professed to like the sweet potato mash but then refused to eat any more. Yesterday we had scallops cooked in bacon and he looooved the bacon (who doesn’t)? One day he tried some white fish, another day some salmon. We taught him to do “cheers!” and he loves clicking glasses with us.
Bedtime is 9pm. After another round of brush-your-teeth, on some days we’ll watch a nature documentary and he’ll fall asleep on the couch and be easily transported to the bed. Other days one of us will “read” a book with him on his bed and then turn the lights out. He’ll usually fall asleep pretty quickly, although some days he’ll try to get out of bed or loudly demand the other parent (he actually does this a lot, all hours of the day, no matter who he’s with. He’s happiest when we’re all together.)
Sleep!
After he goes to sleep… party for Mommy and Daddy! (“Party” usually being reading.)
