5.30am – Maia wakes up for a feed having slept nearly 6 hours since the dream feed last night (at 11pm for 45-minutes). I feed her for 20-minutes and we fall asleep on my bed and sleep for another two hours (she has another 30-minute sleepy feed around 7am).
8.00am – I wake Maia up having let her sleep for longer than usual because her morning nap will not be until after the swimming lesson today. I leave her to cuddle with daddy while I get our swimming stuff ready, throw a jumper and jeans over my own bikini (easier than changing into them at the swimming centre) and have a coffee and porridge. Then I change Maia’s nappy, she has a wee on the changing table (again) and I rush around to get her dry and changed and ready to go by 8.40am.
9.00am – I half ran to the swimming centre pushing Maia in her pram and just got us into the pool on time for our lesson. I even remembered to take out my nursing pads this time, haha! We have a half an hour swimming lesson every Tuesday but we missed it last week because of my cold so we were happy to be back! Or I was anyway, it’s still hard to tell whether Maia enjoys her swimming or not. She hasn’t cried once but I suppose it’s a lot to take in and she’s quite serious when in the pool. She is fascinated by the older babies and follows them with her gaze all the time (ignoring me completely). I haven’t dunked her under water just yet, but we are building up to it (read: mummy is still a bit scared). It was only us and one other mum and baby today so it was nice and calm in the big children’s pool. The local leisure centre offers baby swimming at 17£/month (weekly lesson) which I think is very good value.
9.50am – I manage to shower us both and get us dressed. Maia falls asleep as soon as I pack her into the pram and start walking back. At home I carefully transfer her into her basket and she sleeps for an hour! This is my window of opportunity to hang up our wet towels and swimsuits as well as the laundry I forgot in the machine last night. I have a Greek yoghurt with banana and berries as I’m hungry (again).
11.00am – Maia wakes up from her nap. She’s on a good mood. ☺️ I feed her for half an hour and get our coats and hats on again as we have our first baby sensory class starting at 11.50am at a nearby community centre.
11.50am – Baby Sensory. Wow, I’m not sure how to describe this experience but it sure tickled all senses! About twenty of us parents and babies were seated on a floor in a circle and we were singing and signing and using all sorts of props from colourful sensory toys to wooden spoons and jingle bells. Not forgetting the disco lights and the bubble machines. The noise was quite something! Allegedly babies learn to understand signing and can sign back before learning to speak. Not sure I believe that but no harm I suppose. Maia spent the hour looking around with an expression of “what on earth is going on…?” 😃
Considering Maia had just slept and been changed and fed, I felt pretty confident about this class. We started singing “Row row row your boat” and as I was rocking Maia in her boat (my lap) she got (sea)sick and vomited all over herself and my jeans. Literally two minutes into the class! Oh well, this what baby wipes are for!
1.00pm – Maia fell asleep in her pram as soon as we left the sensory class. Ideally she would now have a two-hour nap, preferably at home. But I had some errands to run and there was nothing for lunch at home so I thought I’d risk it and hoped she’d just sleep in the pram. So I met up with her dad (who is still at home sick) and we went to Tesco for groceries, bought flu meds for him, and picked up dry cleaning. We then got too ambitious and thought we could sit down for a pasta lunch but as soon as we entered the restaurant Maia woke up, after only a 40-minute nap (nooooooo!!). We got the pasta to take away and walked back home with Maia screaming in the pram.
2.00pm – Back home. I change Maia’s clothes which still smell like sick. Might as well put a pyjama on her, we won’t be going out again today. I try to feed Maia and put her back down to continue her nap but now she’s all happy and chatty and wants to play – typical. So we have our lunch instead and I play with her a bit. I am exhausted from today’s activities and really, really want her to nap so that I can have a lie down myself. So at 3.40pm I take her to bed with me, wrap her in a blanket and she finally settles down to feed (instead of just playing with my boob smiling mischievously and getting milk everywhere). We both eventually fall asleep and wake up two hours later feeling much more refreshed!
5.00pm – Playtime again! Maia is on a good mood and entertains herself a bit too, waving her toys around and chewing on everything. I have a cup of tea.
6.00pm – Maia starts to get tired again. She is crying and refuses to be entertained by my made-up songs. I’ve come to realise my knowledge in nursery rhymes is seriously lacking. I change her nappy and offer her the boob, mainly because I’m feeling uncomfortably full. As I open my top milk starts to spray everywhere, on Maia’s face, on my (shocked) fiancé, on the sofa and on me, and for the life of me I just can’t seem to find any sort of towel or cloth anywhere to wipe it. I could not stop laughing at my fiancé’s reaction haha! Poor guy, he’s seen everything now. Maia is not happy – “bad joke mummy” her face says.
6.30pm I decide to start running the bath already since Maia is tired. I fill the big tub so we can both get in and make sure to get rid of any remains of chlorine from this morning’s swimming. Having a bath with her is not as relaxing as by myself but it’s still very nice. She is usually very relaxed and sits on my lap facing me, leaning on my knees. We read our bath book (a freebie from Johnson & Johnson – she loves it!).
7.00pm We get dressed in pyjamas. I put Maia into her sleeping bag and feed her for half an hour in the dimly lit bedroom.
7.30pm Maia is asleep and I put her into her Moses basket. Phew, baby duty over and adult time starts. Chance for me to write this blog, have dinner and watch TV before the late evening dream feed.
To be continued tomorrow!
xoxoxo,
Sini