The Routine

Daddy and Karston left for the coast yesterday morning. Since babies don't have normal (that might be pushing it) skin until 2 months, and sunscreen is listed for 6 months (at best) and older, we stayed home. I burn too easily, even with sunscreen, and I don't want Cale to get a sunburn either. Cale and I are having a perfect weekend! We both agree that early Beatles songs are good kids' music. We played the Standing Game, where Cale stands, I provide balance, he smiles at me, and I smile back. Sometimes we skip the tiring standing business and just do the smiling part for the Smiling Game. The Ooga Game is the latest, where Cale says oo ga to me, I exagerate the same sounds back to him, and I repeat his sounds and expressions while he's smiling and cooing. Once he gets tired of making sounds, I repeat the best ones to his great delight. We like our games.

The most important lesson I learned on this toddler-free weekend was not how to play the games that Cale loves, though. I watched for his subtle signs, and I have found his routine! What I learned from this quiet time is that he prefers a two-hour daytime schedule, plus or minus half an hour. He's happiest alternating between two hours awake and two hours asleep. He likes to nurse every two hours too (like I said, it's roughly every 2 hours. This schedule is delightful! Just knowing I get those breaks from baby carrying is a wonderful notion! Today during my breaks, I took a shower, I washed the dishes, and I used both my sewing machine (my good buddy) and my embroidery machine (usually my nemesis, but a success today). What a perfect weekend!

Cale really enjoys me following his lead for the daily routine, and I enjoy knowing that I can finish what I was doing in two hours. Everyone's happy. And playing games, nursing, or going for a baby-fascinating walk outside. Just perfectly happy. We had two very pleasant days for Mommy and Cale.