The Daily Grind

As much as I was fighting a schedule- we have in fact fallen into one at the Vandever household. With Ethan taking 2 naps a day instead of 3- scheduling is a breeze. With 3 of more naps a day, it seemed like every time I turned around, it was time to sleep again and a schedule seemed too confining for me.

Our typical day now looks like this:

7:45-8:30 wake up and nurse
10:45-11:15 Ethan goes down for nap/ nurse to sleep
12-12:30 Ethan wakes up
between 2 and 3 nurse
5pm Ethan takes a nap and either falls asleep in car or nurses to sleep
8- bedtime snack, bath, and pjs
8:30-9 Ethan down for the night/ nurse to sleep
one time at night- up for a 15 minute nursing- right back to sleep

Ethan sleeps in his crib most of the time now, but if we are out he will sleep in his car seat. It's the best of both worlds for me. I don't have to lug his pack and play every time we are out during his nap time and he sleeps tucked away in his room when we're at home.

Nursing is so easy now. It takes about 10 minutes when he's awake and about 20 minutes when he's nursing to sleep. That's faster than the time it takes to make a bottle and clean it afterwards. I really love nursing now, because Ethan's walking and it is often when he is the most still and I get to cuddle with him. He does not like to cuddle much anymore because he has walking to practice!

Ethan is eating solid foods. And by solid I mean pureed foods and finger foods. He still does not have a single tooth! So, that keeps me from giving him serious solid things- like Turkey at Thanksgiving. He does eat things like bananas and scrambled eggs. Every time Jason and I or just I sit down for a meal, I make sure to feed Ethan solid foods. So, he's getting breakfast and lunch and sometimes dinner. He sleeps through our dinner time some nights. He gets a bedtime snack before his bath and he snacks on puffs, mum mums, and anything else handy for him to eat during the day. He drinks water out of a sippy cup- with no valve. He will take a bottle but does not get one very often. He is trying to use a spoon but has not even come close to mastering it. Ethan loves to pick up food and feed himself. He almost always wants to feel the food before it goes into his mouth- including the purees.

Ethan has only been sick one time. We both had a cold a few weeks ago that lasted about a week. There was green snot and the snot sucker had to brought back into play. Poor baby. I think all in all- that's great for the first 9 months. No ear infections or reflux. No pneumonia or major diaper rashes. It has been a good healthy 9 months.

I can see the transition from nursing happening now. It takes less and less time during the day to nurse. I see how it could be skipped altogether at times. I have really enjoyed nursing. The first few months were very hard, but once we got the hang of it, it has been nothing but rewarding. Now, I am not putting a timeline on when we'll stop. I used to say 6 months. Then I said 1 year. Now I say, when we're ready to stop. :)

Here are a few recent pics of our little man: