Another week of being parents and it just keeps getting better and better! Nelson and I absolutely love parenthood; we often wonder why we didn't start sooner! : )

Kalaya is just about to outgrow her 6 month clothes! She can still wear some outfits, but anything that's the 3-6 (as opposed to 6 month) month is getting too small, especially onesies. (those bulky cloth diapers!) It looks like fall weather is here to stay, so it looks like summer outfits won't get too much more use. The outfits that are just too cute to not wear have acquired a layered look with long-sleeved onesies underneath, along with tights or Baby Legs. (leg warmers, love them!) That's the problem with having a spring baby; everyone shopped for showers in the spring and bought spring clothes! We've been wearing a lot of fuzzy warm jammies too. I've started washing and getting the 6-9 and 9 month clothes ready! We started our current size in early August and I'm STILL finding things she hasn't worn yet. Trying to get them all worn at least once!

We haven't had any major milestones in development this week. She still turns onto her side, almost all the way to her tummy, but likes just hanging out there. She is content to lay on her back, looking at toys, books, faces, playing peek-a-boo and interacting. Rolling over is not currently a priority for her. Fine by me! She coos and babbles all the time, mainly noises like "ahhh!" "neeeh!" "haaaa" "mmmmm" and other things like that. Not too many consonant sounds at this point. I swear she has already connected the "Neh" sound with "nurse" because she makes it whenever she is looking for that activity, which she didn't do before.

Here is a typical day at home for Kalaya and I:

*Wake up for the day* This can be any time between 7:30 and 9:30. Typically around 9. When she wakes up at 7:30, it's because she hears Nelson getting ready for work. Usually when we nurse, she'll fall back asleep for at least an hour or so. If she's ready to start the day, she coos, babbles and smiles. If she is still tired (which is usually the case) she's cranky and fusses until we nurse.

*9:30 Playtime* Kalaya is staying awake for longer periods of time. Play time is getting more and more interesting, as she can do such a variety of things now! She enjoys both independent play and interactive play. Independent play usually consists of watching her mobile in her swing, playing on her gym or sitting in her bouncy chair and playing with the hanging toys. Interactive play is so many different things! We tickle, play peek a boo, sing and listen to lots of different songs, read books, play with a large variety of toys, play with Pippy, play with puppets, have tummy time, and so much more. This can last from half and hour up to 3 hours, depending on how well she slept and how hungry she gets. She usually stops to nurse for about 10 min, about halfway through.

*11:00 Morning nap* After a while Kalaya starts yawning, rubbing her eyes and losing interest in playing. Then we go into our room, lay down on our bed and nurse until she falls asleep. She is not a long napper, usually only about 45 minutes. Our pediatrician said this is fine, as long as she seems rested when she wakes up. It's very obvious when nap time was successful. She starts talking and babbling to announce that she is awake! If she fusses awake, more nursing and then usually sleep for a little longer.

*12:00 Playtime, interrupted by nursing*

*1:30 Nursing and early afternoon nap* During naptime I usually get some laundry or other housework done, or read, check my email, watch TV, etc. If we had a tough time the night before, I often nap with her.

*2:30 Playtime and take Pippy for a walk* If is isn't pouring rain, we take a walk around our neighborhood, which is really big! Some days we walk to the library, which is about a 10 minute walk from our house. We have parks near our house as well, all of which are fun to go see. She some times naps in the stroller toward the end of the nap, but not usually.

*3:30 Nursing and late afternoon nap*

*4:30 Playtime interrupted by nursing* Some times this is her fussy time. During that time, she doesn't want to nurse, play, nap or anything else. The 2 ways to calm her are to put her in the sling and walk around or to put her in her crib with quiet music playing from her mobile.

*Around 5:30 Daddy gets home!: Nelson is great about spending time with her when he gets home. He likes to play peek a boo with her, talk to her about her day and sing songs together. This is when I usually am making dinner or having some time to myself.

*6ish Dinnertime* Right now this consists of us taking turns playing with her (or calming her, she's starting to wind down for the day at this point) while the other person eats dinner. Usually she and I nurse while Nelson eats and then I eat while he plays with her. Some days she's have independent play time while Nelson and I both get to eat.

*Between 6:45 and 7:30 (depending on fussiness) Bath time! We are still using the baby bath on the kitchen counter and it works great! She loves bath time. As soon as she notices she's getting fully undressed, rather than just a diaper change, she wriggles and squeals, because she knows it's time! Bath is followed by lotion and massage, jammies, swaddling and stories.

*By 8:00 Tank up Nursing* We usually do a big long nurse, with her awake on and off. Most nights she falls asleep within 5 minutes of starting to nurse. But, she'll wake up every 45 min or so to continue nursing.

*9:00 Down for the night* At this point she'll usually sleep on her own, in our bed, for anywhere from 45 minutes to 6 hours, but usually until we go to bed for the night.

*9:00-6:00 Sleeping, waking to nurse occasionally* Since we co-sleep, I truly don't know how much she wakes up to nurse, unless it's a challenging night where she wakes up more than twice to nurse. I am usually barely conscience when we wake up at night. She really isn't awake either. We have nights where I'm a human pacifier and she wants to nurse every 45 min, but those are getting less frequent. Typically she starts moving around once or twice and nurses back to sleep really quickly.

Again, theses are very, very general times. Some days are completely different, especially if we have places to go, things to do. Even around the house, these change constantly. It's so nice to be a stay at home mom, so that I can be ready for anything. She rarely cries when we're at home and it's so simple to figure out what she needs, based on her noises and actions. I am not big on having the same schedule every day, because it doesn't always work for her! Maybe by the time she's 2 or 3, her routine will have settled more. Or, maybe sooner! We'll see!