A Day in the Life of an 18 Month Old Reed

For the last month I've been trying to figure out a good day to do a "day in the life of" post, but there hasn't been one. I sat down and looked at our calendar for the rest of April and we are so busy, I decided that this past Monday would have to do. The only problem was Jon left at 5:30 in the morning for a brief work trip and wasn't home when the Munchkin went to bed; so I'll throw in a few comments here and there on what Jon and Reed usually do together during a regular Monday. Prepare for picture overload - I limited myself to twenty!!!

6:10 Reed starts to toss and turn. I finish up my stationary bike ride and watch him on the monitor hoping he'll go back to sleep.

6:15 I can tell he is up for good so I go get him. He's in a great mood. I change his diaper and we head down the hall.

6:20 This time of year Jon is usually still asleep and Reed wakes him up around 7:30 by knocking on the door and then "pushing" him out of bed. When he notices our bedroom door is open and Dad's not in bed, he's confused but accepts my explanation of Dad being at work and runs in to climb up on the bed. He shuttles a few stuffed animals and a quilt from his room to ours and the faces come out.

 

6:30 Reed lets me know he's hungry by saying "eat" over and over again. We head to the kitchen for a breakfast of leftover oatmeal, blueberry pancakes, and rice milk.

 

6:45 Reed says he's "done" with breakfast so I clean him up and then let him run free while I clean up the kitchen. I hear him say "shoes way (away)" and look up to find him putting my bike shoes away for me.

 

 

6:55 We head back to his bathroom to do his inhaler, brush his teeth and hair, and change his clothes. Then we start a load of laundry.

 

7:10 Reed helps me make my bed by couriering pillows over to me. Once the bed is made he dumps all of his alphabooks on our comforter and we go through a few of them.

7:30 Reed goes into his room to play with blocks and I let him play independently while I brush my teeth, feed Dodger, and start a leg workout in our room where I can hear what he's doing.

7:50 He finds me and proceeds to launch a massive ball attack.

8:00 My nose tells me that Reed needs his diaper changed. Then we head back into the laundry room to finish sorting through the piles.

8:10 Reed finds a basket and asks to hunt "eggs." I convince him to hunt stuffed animals instead

8:20 I fold clothes and switch the laundry around. Reed finds a hat in the laundry and puts it on himself.

8:30 Reed requests some "crisps" so we go to the kitchen for a snack of Snap Pea Crisps, Mangoes, and water. He makes it a leisurely snack so I get out my phone and make a grocery list.

9:00 Done with his snack Reed wants to play "tar" (guitar) and "dance"

9:30 I fold clothes while Reed plays in his room

9:40 I put Reed in the carrier and we take Dodger for a walk. Reed helps walk Dodger for the last 10 minutes.

10:15 We are back from our walk and Reed wants to read books, he requests "Meat----Balls" (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs)

10:30 Reed helps me fold clothes

10:40 We head to the kitchen to make pear bread. Reed is very helpful when it comes to "meas----ure" and "mix"

11:10 We've been gone all weekend so I raid the fridge for food. Reed ends up eating sausage, pasta, peas, applesauce, and rice milk for lunch.

11:30 Diaper change and a quick story before I lay him down for his nap.

11:40 Reed is asleep. I clean up the kitchen, get the pear bread out of the oven, get the mail, pay some bills, catch up on our HOA duties (Jon's the President), pick up the house, finish unpacking mine and Reed's suitcases, change the laundry and fold more clothes, take a shower, and make a smoothie for Reed.

2:10 Reed wakes up. I change his diaper and we clean-up his room. He asks for something to eat so I give him the smoothie.

2:35 Jon calls to check in on us so I juggle the phone while I load the car and herd Reed through the house.

2:45 We leave for Fresno.

3:25 We arrive at Reed's Pediatrician's office for his 18 month appointment. It is 45 minutes before we are seen and in the process Reed starts having an allergic reaction to something in the exam room - red hives, scratching himself, watery eyes, and sneezing. The NP says he's growing steadily and seems to be advanced in his language development. I wipe the Kiddo down with diaper wipes and hand sanitizer and get out of the office asap.

4:45 Reed is doing much better after just 10 minutes so I brave Trader Joe's . . . he's a trooper and is so happy when the cashier rewards him with a strip of stickers.

5:50 We are finally home and Reed helps me unpack groceries by putting things on the counter, while I put together dinner - so much for the homemade meal I was planning, we are just going to be scavengers today I guess!!! Honestly, I really do make a homemade dinner almost every night and usually Jon and Reed play during this time.

 

6:05 Dinner. Reed eats a big pile of shredded roast turkey dipped in hummus, three pieces of rye toast spread with avocado, and some hemp milk. He tries a bite of cantaloupe but doesn't like it. I oblige him when he requests some "O's"

6:40 Reed announces that he has a "poop." As I carry him back to change his diaper Jon calls. I put him on speaker just in time to open up the craziest poop explosion I've seen in six months. We say our goodbyes to Dad and head to the bath. Usually Jon and I tag team bath time.

 

7:05 Reed brushes his teeth, while I put lotion and his PJs on. He gets a dose of allergy medicine, fluoride, and his inhaler. We head to the living room to put a Signing Time DVD in. While Reed is zoned out to his show I clean up our dinner and make a batch of corn bread and start working on a pot of chili I'm making for our friends Shannon and Kevin who just had a baby.

7:30 We head back to Reed's room. I turn on his sound machine and night light, then get him zipped up in his sleep sack. He grabs his pacifier, Soft Sheep, and Pup. We cuddle up in the rocker to read a few stories. Jon usually reads the bedtime story while I cuddle with the Monkey, but he seems okay with Mom doing both tonight.

7:40 I lay him down and head back out to the kitchen to finish up cooking.

8:00 Reed is finally asleep