What About the Routine?

Thinking back to where this blog started, I realized I haven't talked about routine in a long time. Goes to show you that eventually things settle into a routine so much that you don't even think about it anymore. So, like they give updates on where people are now on reality shows, here's where we are (Baby Z is now 16 months):

Bedtime: Baby Z goes to bed at 8pm. We put him in his pajamas, brush his teeth, read a book or two, sing him one song and put him in bed. He likes to have the tag on his blanket and puts his thumb in his mouth. He has started to wave at us as we leave the room.

Wake up: Baby Z gets up at 8am (although he usually wakes up and starts talking around 7:30am or 7:45am).

Naps: He's still doing 2 per day, approximately 10:30am - 12:15/30pm, and 3pm - 5/5:30pm. He will still occasionally wake up during his nap. He'll either cry for a 30 seconds and go back to sleep, or he'll wake up and play/chatter for a while. (Note: this happens still around the 45-minute mark.) Most of the time he goes back to sleep after such a playtime, but not always. He is much more resilient about missing naps now, especially the morning nap which he misses on Sundays. We usually leave church around 11:45am and he'll fall asleep in the car for a while. Even if it's just a 30 minute nap, he does better. But if not, we put him to bed early in the afternoon and he sleeps a little longer. I suppose we're getting close to the one nap a day time, but I'm going to hang on to the morning nap as long as I can.

Eating: He eats at 8am, 12:30pm and 5:30pm (or so). I still feed him pretty soon after he gets up from a nap. He also usually eats a little bit of what we have for dinner at 6:30pm. And he has a snack before his afternoon nap.

The biggest thing about routine now is that it feels very fluid and natural. I don't have to think about time and calculate hours. I know pretty well when Baby Z is tired and when nap time needs to come sooner. Since Baby Z is older, everything is a little easier- eating out, going places, changes in schedule. The baby time is pretty much over. Now we're in the toddler stage and the focus is more on training and discipline. So I imagine I'll be talking about that a little more (although it tends to be just as controversial as scheduling). But, don't worry, I'm not going to change my blog name to "Brainy Training" or "Honest Discipline" or some such thing.