How on Earth has this kid been in our lives for nine months? Didn’t we just come home from the hospital with him? I feel like every month that goes by, we learn something new about him, or his personality develops and changes even more. One thing I do know, this child is wild. He’s all over the place and loves to show off in front of large crowds. He no longer has stranger danger and crawls up to random people. He’s falling and hurting himself left and right and we’ve had to secure the house.
It kills me to see Grady growing up so fast. I get so sad with every month that goes by and I have to pull out that next sticker for our photo shoot. A friend of mine said I have to hold onto the memories I’ve made and to look forward to all the new memories and milestones he’ll achieve in the future. She says I’ll never forget the first time he says, “I love you, mommy.” This is something I’m so excited for.
Grady’s Schedule
6:00 am – What I wouldn’t give to have this child sleep in a little. But he is up at 6 am on the dot. That is, IF he goes to bed early. There have been several instances in which he’s gone to bed late. He was up at 5 the next morning. So that advice about making them stay up late and they’ll sleep in??? Yeah, doesn’t work.
6:30 am – First and only bottle of the day. We’ve weened him off all bottles except his first one when he first wakes. He’s still pretty hungry first thing in the morning but 6:30 is a little early for breakfast.
6:30 – 9:00 am – Play, morning stroller ride, trip to the playground, errands, etc. Grady’s first nap is early because he’s up so early. Like clockwork, he’s rubbing his eyes three hours after he wakes. I try to stay close to home so that I can stick him back in the crib by 9.
9:00 – 10:00 am – Nap #1 (sometimes it’s an hour, sometimes and hour and 15) I’ve had so many people ask what I do while he’s napping. I ain’t sitting around eating bonbons. I’m usually cleaning, doing laundry, cooking or baking, picking up around the house, etc. I don’t know what I’m going to do when he’s down to one nap!
10:00 am – Wake and Breakfast
10:30 am – 1:00 pm – Play, park, pool, story time, gym, etc.
1:00 pm – Lunch
2:00 – 3:00 – Nap #2 (sometimes it’s an hour, sometimes an hour and 15)
3:00 pm – Snack
3:30 – 6:00 pm – Play, afternoon activities, stroller rides, etc.
6:00 pm – Dinner
7:00 pm – Bedtime
What Grady is Eating
We’ve had a lot of fun with food. Grady is pretty brave when it comes to trying new food but I would be lying if I said he eats anything and everything. Who eats anything and everything? It’s human nature to not like some things. I remember hating celery as a kid. To this day I can’t even smell it without gagging. Because I hated celery so much, my mom never forced me to eat it. Instead, she provided healthy foods she knew I would eat. I’m trying to do the same with Grady. These are some of the things he clearly doesn’t like and has spit out multiple times:
- broccoli (I can get him to eat it if I put it in a veggie nugget)
- carrots
- rice
- backed potato
- mashed potato (he’ll eat it if it’s in shepherds pie)
- unbaked apples (he prefers them steamed with cinnamon and spits it out if it’s just cut up)
- scrambled eggs (prefers them fried with the yolk and white separated)
- sweet potatoes (he used to like the fries but now he won’t touch them)
- two ingredient pancakes (I liked these because they didn’t have a lot of flour in them but he didn’t care for them)
I have been doing a lot of cooking and some of Grady’s food I’ll make in bulk. I’ll set out enough for two days and then I’ll freeze the rest. I keep a stock pile in the freezer and have a list of what I need to restock. That way I’m not cooking all the time. Below are some things Grady likes to eat:
Breakfast
- homemade pancakes from the baby led weaning cookbook (1 cup flour, 1 cup milk, 1 egg) spread with peanut butter and topped with banana slices or strawberry slices
- yogurt (this is the only kind I’ve given him because it’s made with whole milk, no added junk and it’s teeny tiny)
- avocado toast
- fried eggs (he likes to eat the yolk and white separate)
- fresh fruit
- carrot and apple muffins (LOVES these!)
- fruity oat breakfast bites (I added blueberries)
- blueberry fritters
I offer him a variety for each meal because I don’t know what he’s going to be in the mood for. This morning I offered him a slice of avocado toast, two fried eggs and a small bowl of fruit. He wanted both the eggs and the fruit and only half of the toast.
Lunch
- veggie nuggets (he loves these and they’re loaded with broccoli!)
- cauliflower tots (another winner!)
- pasta salad (I also gave him grilled chicken nuggets from Chick-fil-A with the pasta salad)
- baked Parmesan chicken nuggets (he didn’t really care for them)
- I keep a stack of these pizza crusts in the freezer to make him pizza on occasion
- vegetables such as cucumber, red pepper, tomatoes, green beans, peas, corn, asparagus, squash, zucchini
I usually serve him a “main” with a side of fruit and another vegetable such as cucumber with humus or red pepper.
Dinner
Dinner is easy. He eats what we eat and I just make sure I cook with no salt added ingredients. Tonight’s dinner was salisbury steak meatballs with egg noodles, zucchini and squash casserole and an orange for dessert.
What Grady is Doing
Screaming, climbing, crawling, throwing, kicking… Diaper changes take an act of Congress. He’s never sitting still and I’m constantly dragging him out from behind a crevice that’s going to injure him. I have to keep an eye on him 24/7. It’s exhausting. As a former teacher, I’m concerned he’s not going to be able to handle himself in school. I do have a while before all that. As of right now, I have to keep him busy.
Music class is coming to an end and I’m wondering what we’re going to do to fill up our Monday’s. At first, he acts shy as we walk into class. He sits and listens for a few moments but then he comes out of his shell. Grady is then crawling all over the room, refusing to sit for circle time. He’s climbing on random parents and saying hello to other babies. He’s climbing up the side of the wall and beating on the windows. Grady does, however, come running when the teacher gets the instruments out. He will sit for that.
Wednesday is story time at the library. I was recently asked to stay close to him as he moves about the room for safety purposes. It was embarrassing and I was sweating by the time class was over. I’m just waiting to be asked to not come back.
Friday is gym day. This is the best day of the entire week. This is the one day where Grady can let loose and scream and climb and be free. The floors and walls are padded and the instructors say to let him GO! There is a short circle time before the kids get to play and as expected, he won’t sit still for.
On days we don’t have classes, I try to keep him moving. He loves rides in the jogging stroller but I better be moving! I start to slow down and he’s screaming. He’s worked his way up to 30 minutes in the pool but he doesn’t like to sit and splash around. He’d rather crawl OUT of the pool and explore. One of my neighbors asked if he liked to sit and play with toys. I laughed. Um, no. We grow bored with clicking the animals back in the train and start to explore. I’m exhausted just writing this…but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
