A Weekend of Single Parenting

Day One - Friday

Today Marc left the house at 6:30 am to drive to the airport and catch his flight to Las Vegas. I was expecting Violet to be up at this time as she is usually up with Marc when he's getting ready to go to work. I had nursed her at 4:15 am and to my surprise her pacifier actually worked to soothe her back to sleep from 5:30 until 7:45. It's almost as if she knew that I needed the extra sleep today.

Hanging out with Monkey

Since Thursday I have noticed that Violet has been having slightly more quiet alert times during the day. They can last about an hour to an hour and a half until she starts to get tired and fussy. This morning I was able to eat breakfast while Violet hung out in her bouncy chair. Then she spent some time on her play mat hanging out with the monkey and kicking the elephant. It's the first time I've really ever been able to use the play mat with her.

Naptime success!

I decided this weekend I would experiment with putting Violet in her crib for daytime naps. This morning I lucked out with her taking a full 30 minute nap in her crib. Enough time for me to shower and get ready for the day plus have something to eat. This afternoons attempt wasn't quite as successful - she was in her crib for two hours but I was in and out soothing her probably every 15 minutes or so. I think she probably only really slept for a total of 30-45 minutes in that 2 hour span.

Today we also went to the grocery store, loaded the car up with our recycling for our trip to the transfer station tomorrow, and checked the sap buckets on the maple trees.

Day Two - Saturday
It feels like we are beginning to get into a little routine. Last night we both went to bed at 8:30 and Violet didn't wake up until 11:20 for her first feed. It feels really good to start the night out with a 3 hour stretch of sleep. It definitely makes me feel more rested for the 1.5-2 hour stretches the rest of the night.

With this weekend of solo parenting I've realized how important it is to start finding a routine for Violet. Not only does it help me know what to do during the day but I think it also helps me understand what Violet needs. I've also realized that for both of our sanity it's equally important to have little activities to do on a daily basis whether they are inside or out of the house.

Tummy Time

Today's outing was taking the recycling to the transfer station and then going for a walk. I originally thought I would head over to Dartmouth and walk around the pond but with Violet screaming in her car seat I decided to stay local and head to the park in town. I loaded her into the bjorn, where she promptly fell asleep, and then walked for an hour at the park. I met a few dog walkers while I was there and was able to complete three full loops around the fields. It felt really good to stretch my legs and get some fresh air.

Day Three - Sunday

Green socks for St. Patrick's Day!

This weekend has actually flown by. I'm surprised. The last couple of days I have brought Violet into our bed in the morning. I've found that by snuggling up with her I can get an extra hour of sleep from when she starts fussing in the morning. Usually Marc will take her out of the room and let me sleep. Knowing that she will sleep a little longer I wonder if Marc will also want to sleep in when he returns or whether he will keep his Father-Daughter time that he usually gets.

Does this face look ready to nap? 

Today I tried to follow the eat, active, sleep pattern throughout the day along with our normal feedings every three hours. It seems as though it went pretty well although I was only able to get Violet to nap for 30 minute stretches in her crib. The two times she fell asleep in my arms she was out for at least an hour. I guess we're still going to have to work on that. On the other hand I was able to be super productive during those 30 minute segments - I got a shower, made bagels, did 2 loads of laundry, made pudding, and caught up on some emails. I guess being a mom is all about taking advantage of every minute you have - whether it's cuddling with the baby or getting stuff done when she's sleeping.

sleeping on Mom's shoulder

I'm really looking forward to having Marc back tonight. Hopefully he'll arrive before midnight and if his timing is really good I'll be up feeding Violet and he can say hi to us both. I'm hopeful that in the next couple of weeks we can figure out a routine that works for the three of us.