Sleepy Time Routine

Welcome 2013!

This year I am excited to work hard, grow as a family and watch as my little one develops and changes.

When we came home from the hospital I quickly observed that Kumquat had his own schedule, he would be awake and alert for part of the morning and most of the evening; from about 7 PM until 1 or 2 AM. He would also sleep all afternoon and the rest of the night. That was his own schedule, and for my part it is easy enough to work around.
At this point though I am starting to consider how life will change when I return to work, not to mention when I start taking Kumquat long for daycare. Towards that consideration I am attempting to introduce a bedtime routine. I have been getting to know him, and I know what soothes and comforts him, so I can use that for guidance to meet his and my own needs.
My plan is to begin at seven o'clock by turning off distractions such as TV, turning down the lights, and turning on peaceful music using Pandora Radio. The next step will be to give Kumquat a bath, he loves the Tummy Tub so this works to relax him. Bath time is followed by infant massage or baby yoga, which I am still trying to get the hang of, I am not sure yet what he enjoys. With the rub down over, I put him in a cozy sleeper and we move the party to the bedroom where I feed him while singing lullabies and bedtime prayers, which ideally puts him right sleep.
Realistically he does not go right down so enter my fitness ball where I bounce while I sing and he does slowly drift off. If that does not work, but I can see that he is ready to sleep, my last resort is to lie down in bed and nurse him, which he enjoys so much that it is a near guarantee he will sleep.
My success with this has been spotty, so I am trying to be persistent without letting my expectations be too high. He's only four weeks old! I believe that in time and with thoughtful modifications he will learn regular sleep. When we do get the hang of it, we can do a modified version for naps.
It feels like he is very young for me to be expecting a routine to matter, but even if he only falls asleep for an hour, I will have that regular hour to meet some of my own needs, such as eating dinner, taking a shower, or sleeping myself. Additionally by making a ritual of this, it will be something we can share when I am not with him all day every day, and I treasure every minute I do get with him.

What rituals and routines do you and your family have?

Stages of Life

As a mother we are in love with each and every inch

I have reached a new stage in my life, over the past year my husband has finished school and begun working, I have taken a full-time job as an Infant Teacher, we have moved from Michigan to Massachusetts, and to top it all this month we had a baby. I am the happiest I have ever been.

I am ready in the New Year to revamp my blog, but with all my life changes it is likely to be going in a new direction - to be honest it’s my blog and I'm going to write about whatever I want! I will still have things to say about the professional field of education; my current position is at a childcare and preschool, in this capacity I am caring for babies between six weeks and 15 months, so I will write about the proper care of that age group, I will also be undertaking the school's garden project this spring, so I am looking forward to sharing about the successes and failures that I encounter.

Besides my professional life, I am excited to talk about being a mom; I will plan to share my birth story and write about birthing topics that are important to me, I will write about the emotions of working as I go through them, and I will share about anything else that matters to me.

2013 is going to be a great year, and my New Year’s resolution will be to write on a weekly basis. I am very excited to share more, and I hope you will join me on this journey.

Have you made a cliché New Year's Resolution?

Status Update

I am spending the summer working as nanny for a beautiful boy/girl twin set. They will be turning one year next month! I love working as a nanny, but this should be my last family since I have now finished my bachelors.
My goal for the 2011-2012 school year has been to find a full-time teaching position in Massachusetts, ideally somewhere near Boston. I will have a hard time getting my MA license in time for the school year, so my search has narrowed to charter schools, private schools, and otherwise non-certified teaching jobs.
Of course there is no guarantee that in two months I will have found any job in Massachusetts, so I have a contingency plan; I have been welcomed by the twin's family to stick around and continue working with them. In that case I will also go back to subbing for another year, I am not looking forward to the stress of subbing again, but it is important that I stay in the classroom to keep my skills sharp for when I do find a long-term teaching position.
It may seem crazy, but I have decided not to search for a full-time job in Michigan, because if I were to find one I would quit next summer for a move to Massachusetts. Which brings me to the point, if I do stay in Michigan for this school year, that will be all, next summer (when my husband is also done with school) I will be moving to Massachusetts.
So wish me luck in the Massachusetts search, but know that everything will be okay even if I don't get to move this summer.