It’s funny…I wrote this post merely a week ago, right after KB turned the big “1”, and already everything is completely and utterly different. That’s the universe’s way of saying, “Ha! Take that!” to me, I just know it. We’re in the middle of some pretty epic nap strikes, night wakings and SUPER early wake ups. It’ll be a long time before I complain about a 5 am wake up call again.
BUT let’s pretend none of that is happening. This is the gist of what our days are like. You know, if naps were happening. I always meant to do this more often so I could look back and compare, but I’ve been pushing that off since my last “day in the life” post- at 9 weeks old.{By the way, this is a non-daycare day. Like you couldn’t figure that out by my lack of saying “KB goes to daycare now”.}
A Day in the Life of a 12 Month Old
5:15-5:30 Someone’s up!
6am Nurse. Snuggle. Delay getting moving.
7am COFFEEEEEEEEEEEE.
7:15am Chores: put dishes up, start load of laundry. Simultaneously find ways to entertain the baby by having him “help”.
8am Breakfast for both of us. Usually pancakes, steel cut oats/quinoa/millet/amaranth, banana. {For both of us.} More coffee. Duh.
9am Nap time. If all goes well, this miiiiight last an hour. {30 minutes is no surprise though.} Cross fingers and hope it does. Clean up breakfast and try to get some writing done. Respond to emails, work, & blog housekeeping. Maybe shower, but probably not. <—Ok, definitely not.
10am Nurse. Snuggle. Delay moving.
10:45am Gym or playtime! Story time at B&N or library, play with toys, go for walk. “Gym time” gets tossed aside more than I’d like due to grumpiness, nap timing, or the day care hours. KB isn’t the biggest fan of the gym day care.
12:00 Lunch time. Assortment of beans, fruits, and veggies. Some sort of puffed grain to keep those roaming fingers occupied while I get everything else ready.
12:30 Make a mess. For the umpteenth time of the day. We don’t call him “The Ky-nado” for nothin’.
1-1:30pm. Nap time. Hit or miss how well this goes. IF he falls asleep, it’s usually a max of 30 minutes. I try to clean up, pay bills, prep dinner or work on recipes, general work stuff, etc.
2pm Nurse. On rough nap days he falls back asleep while eating. {I know, I know! I don’t care.}
3-3:30pm Errands. Grocery store, Costco, Target. Anything that gets us out and entertained.
4pm. Dinner. More beans, fruits, and veggies. Spaghetti if I’m brave.
5pm Bath time. Loves bath time, hates getting dressed afterwards.
5:30pm. Nurse, get last cuddles in, read books.
6pm*. BED for baby
6-9pm. Make dinner, dishes, clean up, Junior League meeting. Try to catch up on work but usually too tired to do anything but veg on the couch with the husband watching DVRd tv and stuffing my face. In bed by 9 or I turn into a rotten pumpkin. If the husband’s out of town, I use this time to catch up on work before I crash.
Rinse, wash, repeat.
*No, a later bedtime does not equal a later wake up time. Trust me, if it were that easy I would’ve done it a looooong time ago. 
What’s your day like?
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
OMGOSH swoon.
I kinda miss those days.
xo
I can’t even remember his schedule before now – he is 17 months and his schedule today is different than it was 2 weeks ago. Naps were going great until he got sick and now he won’t nap by himself or for longer than an hour. Ya do whatchya gotta go though!
So glad I took the time to read this today. We’re in a really difficult phase with the Lightning Kid (http://meandthelightingkid.blogspot.com) these days – and it comes down to those same nap strikes and sleepless nights (though I’m getting pinched and bitten an unbelievable amount too). He’s 15 months today, and both of my sons have been lousy sleepers. What’s making it extra tough is that though I’ve developped black-belt level techniques to rock and sing the kids to sleep, nothing but nursing is working right now, so I get to feel useless on top of sleep-deprived and frustrated.
He is so freaking cute and I can’t believe he’s 12 months already! I love these day in the life posts, I don’t know if I should post one though haha, our days are so unstructured!
My daughter is 12 months old! She loves destroying her bookshelf like your son. As much as it annoys me, it’s just too darn cute to walk in her room and find her in a giant pile of books…
Looks extremely familiar. Have a 15-month at home.
Loved the photos and day.
Sounds like he needs that early bedtime if he is not napping well. And I am sure you look forward to having some time to yourself! Live the pics of him helping with the laundry, so cute.
I have an 18 month old at home and I remember these days perfectly!
We’re down to 1 nap/day (daycare made the transition at 12 months, though on weekends at home or with a 10AM car ride, he’d still sleep 2x). I find that if he’s up & BUSY from 7-12/1, he’ll nap well and hard for 2 hours. 12-2/1-3. If there is any break in that routine, we pay for it with a less than ideal nap. I wonder if he’s ready for 1, longer nap??
I’m sure you ‘ve tried lots of things for the 5AM wake up call; I hope someone has a suggestion you haven’t tried that will work!
Wow! How have I just now stumbled upon your blog?! This could have gotten through me THIS WHOLE YEAR, just knowing someone out there is EXACTLY like me and my son! My son Beau will be one on FEB 4th and since day one, he has been the cutest, happiest and most wonderful addition to my life; while also including the exact same dietary and sleeping issues… The exact same! He is still nursing and I am still eating kale and ice water (that’s my joke, but of course I have learned how to eat over the year), still has never slept through the night (people still look at me like I’m the crazy one) and, I’m a stick compared too who I used to be (which was never big but I’m not complaining about that!). What a relief to know I’m not alone! I’ve barely gotten through a few of your posts and what brought me here was the 1st birthday cake which I will definitely be making…..but I will read on! Until my next wake up call! Xo!