Our daily schedule with an almost 2.5 yo (and 32-weeks pregnant ol’ me)
Because we have many changes in store for the coming new year, I thought I should document our typical weekday snapshot of our lives at this very stage before it changes all over again. For the record, Sean is 28 months old.
0630 My alarm goes off. I turn it off, wake the husband up and crawl back into bed for a few more minutes of shuteye.
0640 I eventually crawl out of bed and get washed up.
We do not turn on the room lights at all and try to be very quiet so we don't wake Sean. Just so I can get dressed in peace without a clingy toddler hanging off my leg.
0700 Foops helps to carry my bags to the car. Then I carry both Sean and his huge bolster to the car. Some days he wakes up, other days he carries on sleeping. The husband kisses both of us goodbye and I drive off to my mum’s place.
If Sean is awake, he is usually content just hugging his bolster quietly and watching the cars go by.
If he is in a more alert frame of mind, he will bug me for biscuits/gummies and ask me to play his CDs.
Most days, we will have a nice little chat about what he is going to do at Grandma’s for the rest of the day.
(He usually gets a bad case of Monday blues - and will tell me he does not want to go to Ah Po jia (Grandma's house) on those days.)
0720 I give my mum a ring to let her know we are nearing. She will meet us downstairs to carry him (and his barang-barang) back to the house.
I update her about what time he had his last feed, what time he slept, whether he is unwell, etc. Then I drive off to work.
0730 Sean has a bottle of milk (about 6-7 oz).
Then he flops around in bed while waiting for all his Yiyis and Jiujiu to wake up to play with him.
Grandma usually leaves him with one of them to tidy up around the house and prepare breakfast for the family.
0800-1000 Sean sends everyone off to work/school one by one. He plays with whoever is around and steals bites of breakfast from everyone's plates.
He usually poops around this time too. Once he does that, my mum will give him a shower, brush his teeth and change him to day clothes.
1000-1030 My mum feeds Sean his first proper meal of the day (usually porridge with bits of fish cake/egg/noodles from breakfast).
They usually work on activity books (puzzles, colouring, matching games) as he eats.
1030-1230 More play and reading time.
He is also a bit of a snack monster so my mum always prepares small containers of biscuits and cut fruits for him to help himself to all day.
Sometimes his Yeye and Nainai will come over to play with him for an hour or so.
1230-1630 Another bottle of milk then it's nap time for Sean.
He will insist that my mum nap beside him and usually goes down without much fuss.
Somehow he sleeps really well at my mum's place and can nap up to 4 hours in the afternoon.
The only catch is, my mum has to nap with him throughout. If he wakes up and finds that she is not next to him, he will howl and demand that she return to the room with him. Very bossy kid, he is.
1700-1800 Sean wakes up. He has a bowl of porridge and some fruits.
He knows I will get home around this time and will look out for me.
1800-1900 I get home and the first thing Sean asks me is: 'Mama, kan cartoon (watch cartoon)?' or 'Mama, ha-fone CBBs (can I play with the CBBs app on your phone)?'
Because he knows Grandma doesn't let him watch TV at all and I guess he figures I am easier to manipulate. I usually don't give in so easily though.
As long as it is not raining outside, we get changed and head to the playground downstairs with his skate scooter to play with all the ‘Jiejie, Gorgor, Ow-ow (dog) and Miao-miao (cat)’.
He always has a good time running around while I catch up with my other young mummy friends :)
1900-2000 We head home once it starts to get dark.
I toss a very grubby and sweaty Sean into the tub and take my shower at the same time too. I am now an expert at entertaining him while getting both of us washed up in super-quick time.
I eventually settle down to read the papers and have my dinner.
Whoever is at home helps me watch him for a bit. If I am on my own, I resignedly plonk Sean down in front of BabyTV (which I am actually quite okay with).
2000-2030 I feed Sean his dinner or if he is not hungry, I pack some to bring home.
Then we say our goodnights to everyone, take a long slow walk to the car and drive home (or what Sean calls Mimi-mount).
2030-2130 We get home.
Sean plays with Yeye and Nainai for a bit then retires back to the room for his dinner (if he hadn't had any earlier) and spends some time with Papa.
I fold the laundry, tidy up and get our stuff ready for the next day.
2130-2200 We get ready for bed.
This is the time when Sean will use all the delay tactics he knows to avoid getting into bed.
We let him play/read for a bit, roll around in bed, etc. He will fuss about how he needs to powder his neck or blow his nose, how his bolster is facing the wrong direction or sneakily try to climb into our bed to sleep in my spot.
We eventually give him his last bottle of milk, brush his teeth and then declare 'Lights out'. He usually fiddles with his night light and torch for a bit more before quietly settling down.
I wait for him to fall asleep then put on his PJ pants because I can never get him to wear them when he is awake.
Then, we turn in for the night. Ahhhh.
There are still rare nights where he would wake up crying from nightmares (many times) or ask for milk. I will wake up to soothe him if he cries. I am also trying not to give in to his requests for milk because I have come to realise that he is not really hungry and usually falls back asleep before I am even done making his bottle! (The husband sleeps right through all night wakings)
Oh, and at 32 weeks along my pregnancy, I have to wake up a few times to pee/adjust my position a few times in the night.
But it is true everything gets a lot easier as they grow older. This schedule has been working really well for us but the truth is, all of this will change when Sean starts pre-nursery in the coming new year.
Coupled with our impending move end Jan and the new baby arriving sometime in February, I am getting quite jittery just thinking of the upheaval in our lives.
Wish us luck! *DEEP BREATH*
Compare this with our schedule at 1, 2, 5 and 8 and 16 months.
0630 My alarm goes off. I turn it off, wake the husband up and crawl back into bed for a few more minutes of shuteye.
0640 I eventually crawl out of bed and get washed up.
We do not turn on the room lights at all and try to be very quiet so we don't wake Sean. Just so I can get dressed in peace without a clingy toddler hanging off my leg.
0700 Foops helps to carry my bags to the car. Then I carry both Sean and his huge bolster to the car. Some days he wakes up, other days he carries on sleeping. The husband kisses both of us goodbye and I drive off to my mum’s place.
If Sean is awake, he is usually content just hugging his bolster quietly and watching the cars go by.
If he is in a more alert frame of mind, he will bug me for biscuits/gummies and ask me to play his CDs.
Most days, we will have a nice little chat about what he is going to do at Grandma’s for the rest of the day.
(He usually gets a bad case of Monday blues - and will tell me he does not want to go to Ah Po jia (Grandma's house) on those days.)
0720 I give my mum a ring to let her know we are nearing. She will meet us downstairs to carry him (and his barang-barang) back to the house.
I update her about what time he had his last feed, what time he slept, whether he is unwell, etc. Then I drive off to work.
0730 Sean has a bottle of milk (about 6-7 oz).
Then he flops around in bed while waiting for all his Yiyis and Jiujiu to wake up to play with him.
Grandma usually leaves him with one of them to tidy up around the house and prepare breakfast for the family.
0800-1000 Sean sends everyone off to work/school one by one. He plays with whoever is around and steals bites of breakfast from everyone's plates.
He usually poops around this time too. Once he does that, my mum will give him a shower, brush his teeth and change him to day clothes.
1000-1030 My mum feeds Sean his first proper meal of the day (usually porridge with bits of fish cake/egg/noodles from breakfast).
They usually work on activity books (puzzles, colouring, matching games) as he eats.
1030-1230 More play and reading time.
He is also a bit of a snack monster so my mum always prepares small containers of biscuits and cut fruits for him to help himself to all day.
Sometimes his Yeye and Nainai will come over to play with him for an hour or so.
1230-1630 Another bottle of milk then it's nap time for Sean.
He will insist that my mum nap beside him and usually goes down without much fuss.
Somehow he sleeps really well at my mum's place and can nap up to 4 hours in the afternoon.
The only catch is, my mum has to nap with him throughout. If he wakes up and finds that she is not next to him, he will howl and demand that she return to the room with him. Very bossy kid, he is.
1700-1800 Sean wakes up. He has a bowl of porridge and some fruits.
He knows I will get home around this time and will look out for me.
1800-1900 I get home and the first thing Sean asks me is: 'Mama, kan cartoon (watch cartoon)?' or 'Mama, ha-fone CBBs (can I play with the CBBs app on your phone)?'
Because he knows Grandma doesn't let him watch TV at all and I guess he figures I am easier to manipulate. I usually don't give in so easily though.
As long as it is not raining outside, we get changed and head to the playground downstairs with his skate scooter to play with all the ‘Jiejie, Gorgor, Ow-ow (dog) and Miao-miao (cat)’.
He always has a good time running around while I catch up with my other young mummy friends :)
1900-2000 We head home once it starts to get dark.
I toss a very grubby and sweaty Sean into the tub and take my shower at the same time too. I am now an expert at entertaining him while getting both of us washed up in super-quick time.
I eventually settle down to read the papers and have my dinner.
Whoever is at home helps me watch him for a bit. If I am on my own, I resignedly plonk Sean down in front of BabyTV (which I am actually quite okay with).
2000-2030 I feed Sean his dinner or if he is not hungry, I pack some to bring home.
Then we say our goodnights to everyone, take a long slow walk to the car and drive home (or what Sean calls Mimi-mount).
2030-2130 We get home.
Sean plays with Yeye and Nainai for a bit then retires back to the room for his dinner (if he hadn't had any earlier) and spends some time with Papa.
I fold the laundry, tidy up and get our stuff ready for the next day.
2130-2200 We get ready for bed.
This is the time when Sean will use all the delay tactics he knows to avoid getting into bed.
We let him play/read for a bit, roll around in bed, etc. He will fuss about how he needs to powder his neck or blow his nose, how his bolster is facing the wrong direction or sneakily try to climb into our bed to sleep in my spot.
We eventually give him his last bottle of milk, brush his teeth and then declare 'Lights out'. He usually fiddles with his night light and torch for a bit more before quietly settling down.
I wait for him to fall asleep then put on his PJ pants because I can never get him to wear them when he is awake.
Then, we turn in for the night. Ahhhh.
There are still rare nights where he would wake up crying from nightmares (many times) or ask for milk. I will wake up to soothe him if he cries. I am also trying not to give in to his requests for milk because I have come to realise that he is not really hungry and usually falls back asleep before I am even done making his bottle! (The husband sleeps right through all night wakings)
Oh, and at 32 weeks along my pregnancy, I have to wake up a few times to pee/adjust my position a few times in the night.
But it is true everything gets a lot easier as they grow older. This schedule has been working really well for us but the truth is, all of this will change when Sean starts pre-nursery in the coming new year.
Coupled with our impending move end Jan and the new baby arriving sometime in February, I am getting quite jittery just thinking of the upheaval in our lives.
Wish us luck! *DEEP BREATH*
Compare this with our schedule at 1, 2, 5 and 8 and 16 months.