A Day in the Life

I thought I would give you all a little glimpse into what its like to be the keeper of the Juju Bean. Those of you with little kids wont find this too fascinating, but then again Jubilee always puts a funny spin on things.

6:30am: Some people get woken by the alarm, some by the morning light shimmering through their bedroom windows, some by the internal clock of their lives after years of waking at the same time. Me? I get woken by Jubilee waking up. Jubilee doesn't wait until she is fully awake to make her first noises of the day. She makes them as she is waking. It sounds like a mash-up of a bear cub and the sound the creepy thing made in The Grudge. I have a recording of it...if I can figure out how to put it on my blog, I can let you guys listen.

7:00am She is for sure fully awake by now, and if she isn't I would be sticking a mirror under her nose. If Im not awake, showered, and dressed by now, it aint gonna happen for a few more hours. Jubilee is probably most demanding in the morning time. If I haven't gone to get her from her crib yet, I will start hearing, "Mommy? Where aaaaare youuu??" If I take any longer to go get her, she will be naked with every single thing she wore to bed, plus a blanket, binkie, two babies and a carebear are all on the floor in protest.

7:15 - 9:00am She is in the TV room checking to see if Mak and D are here. If they are, then she forces them into some sort of play time. If they arent, like today, she plays with her toys and color crayons. Sometimes we play with stickers. This is also breakfast time. Jubilee is very specific about breakfast...

"I am VERY hungry."
"What would you like Juju?"
"Hmmm.... Popsicle."
"You cant have popsicles for breakfast. What else do you want?"
"Hmm... Cheerios."
"Cheerios...good compromise."
"In a bowl."
"Cheerios in a bowl...got it."
"A spoon."
"Cheerios in a bowl, with a spoon. I think I can make that happen."
"Milk too."
"Cheerios AND milk, in a bowl with a spoon. Anything else?"
"Hmm... Popsicle?"

I try to get some time on the computer or doing some laundry while she eats. But if Im out of sight too long I usually hear, "Mommy? Mommy? Mommy?"
"Yes?"
"What doin'?"
I tell her whatever I am doing at that moment...
"Mommy?"
"Yes?"
"What doin'?"
"The same thing..."
"Mommy?.... Mommy?! MOMMMMMY???"
"Yes Juju?"
"........What doin'?"
"Going crazy!"
"Crazy! Right!"

9:00am This is sacred Dora the Explorer time. Usually watched from my bed.

9:30 - 1pmish Play time, chores, maybe a walk, maybe running errands, and lunch. Lunch usually consists of fruit, some sort of wrap or sandwich, and milk. But today Papa took her to McDonalds where she got fries and a "ham-mer-mer". He also took her to his workplace where apparently everyone fell in love with her.

1pm - 3 or 4pm Lovely, cherished nap time. Jubilee loves her nap time as much as I love her nap time. She will tell me she is tired and ready for her "nappy". Sometimes I nap with her if I haven't been sleeping well or if the kids are over I play a game or two with them. And again, The Grudge noise happens over the monitor as she wakes up.

4pmish Jubilee is very energetic after her nap. Today she spent a solid 20 mins dancing to her favorite CD her Aunt Holly made her. Its chocked full of hits like, Youre a Goofy Goober, Itsy Bitsy Spider, You are my Sunshine, and the theme songs to Blue Clues, Dora, and Spongebob. She also made sure I couldnt take my eyes off her, "Watch ME Mommy!" as she danced and pretended to fall down over and over again.

5pmish Dinnertime! Jubilee again was "VERY hungry" and had BBQ pork ribs, baked potato, salad and milk. How this girl only weighs 21lbs and some change....I have no idea.

5-630pmish After dinner we spent some time playing with the desk Meema got her and practicing her ABC's. She can sing the song almost perfectly..but saying and knowing B comes after A is harder. She can recognize A and the number 5 and 8 consistently. Shapes and colors are old hat for her. We also have a talk about big girl panties and not wearing diapers anymore. She is not convinced its as cool as I say it is. We read her two favorite Dr. Seuss books, Hop on Pop and the Dictionary Jackson Harold got for her.

6:30pm Troy takes over and gives her a shower. From the bathroom I hear, "Juju, dont get Daddy wet." I hear this phrase several times with Jubilee giggling after it each time. Somehow I dont think she takes him seriously.
Soon she is in her jammies and ready for quiet time. Quiet time is spent in Mommy's bed watching PBS Sprout or the VeggieTales Lord of the Beans DVD.

7:30pm Its Bedtime. A ritual conversation:
"Juju is time for bed."
"Noooo... Mommys Bed!"
"No.. Juju's bed."
"Juju's bed?"
"Yep....time to go to sleep."
"Its getting dark."
"Yes, when it gets dark, its time to go to sleep."
"Everyone's sleepin'?"
"Yes, everyone. Meema's sleeping, Papa's sleeping, Dylan's sleeping....."
"Maks sleepin', bugs sleepin', airplanes sleepin', flowers sleepin'"
"Yep! So you know what that means?"
"Juju sleepin' too?"
"Yes, time for Juju to go to sleep too."

Sometimes its the same people all going to sleep at the same time. Sometimes its a variation to Uncle Matt and Andy, the kitties, the puppies, and even Dora.

As she goes to sleep I can hear her playing with her babies and rubbing her fingers over their hands in that comforting way she always does. (When I used to hold her as she fell asleep as a small baby, she would do the same to my fingers - rubbing her fingers between mine. Sometimes if she is tired, and just wants me to hold her, she still does it - I love that.) Sometimes she goes over the things that happened that day. Tonight it was, "Papa's truck! McDonalds...fries!!"

A day in the life!