Another Perfect Day...

So as sleep exhausted as we often are in this house, I have to admit that when it comes time for me to finally drag myself out of bed, I still get that rush of excitement and anticipation like its Christmas morning!

But MY present takes the form of none other than Eliza Mae.

Whether it's screaming from her crib, the oh-so-subtle karate kicks in the stomach, or slobbery fingers pinching my face, I love having Eliza to wake up to. I don't necessarily love to wake up, but I love this gift of a child in my life!

This is because when I scoop her out of her crib and she cuddles her cheek against mine, wiping her tears from her cheeks onto me ...

or when I sit up in bed and seeing her face change from bored to delighted, I'm excited to have a day with her. (oh yeah- and Mika too)On occasion people (non-mothers both men and women) will ask me, "Sooo, what did you do this week?"

At first I was taken aback by this question. I usually answered, "oh, ya know, same old stuff!" while inside I wondered, What had I done all week long? Nothing! I stayed at home... alllll 7 days long. And that kind of made me feel little and unimportant.
At my job, in order to be reimbursed by medicaid for our services, we have to fill out an Activity Log that catalogs the interactions and services we've done for and with the clients at the end of each day and week. This is how we formulate our bill for them.

So as I've considered the previously mentioned question more, especially as I have begun working part time, I realized that the people asking me that question don't really want the real answer.

They don't really want to hear that ...

I nursed Eliza 59 times for a total of approximately 33 hours.

I sang I Caught Myself a Baby Bumble Bee 42 times
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star 21 times
I am a Child of God 25 times
Itsy Bitsy Spider 8 times
Rubber Ducky 10 times
You are my Sunshine 16 times
Apricot Tree 22 times

As soon as we start singing this, she stops crying! It's amazing!

I changed 46 diapers, 6 of which were poop explosions meaning I was wiping, scrubbing and rinsing off poop from bottoms, legs, feet, socks, onesies, and pants for about 70 minutes during the week.

I mixed and served baby oatmeal/rice cereal 12 times meaning that I made fake "MMmm, Yummy" sounds while "chewing" 64 times. I also saw about 19 cute smiles hiding behind adorable apple/carrot/peas/cereal goatees!

I held a juice bottle up to baby's lips while my arm cramped for a total of about 17 times.

I woke up before 5 am four times.I took 15 walks carrying a squirming baby backpack on my back while simultaneously leading a half-blind/half-deaf doggy around some wooded trails and apartment buildings (usually while singing the above mentioned songs) totaling about 105 minutes.

I peeked through our front door's peep hole to see if I saw Steve walking down the sidewalk finally coming home from work about 6 times.
I went to 3 aerobics classes and picked up a baby that was crying and grumpy from the childcare center each time.

I read about 7 different board/squishy books about 43 times while making up funny high pitched animal sounds to go along with them.I rode in a car with a screaming baby who hates her car seat for a total of about 50 minutes.

I soothed my crying baby about 70 times.

I covered my baby in noisy kisses and raspberries about 85 times in hopes that she would crack a smile.

I stood in front of the bathroom mirror while holding the baby and smiling and saying "Who's That?" about 21 times.I said "Mamamamama" about 85 times "Dadadadada" 35 times and "Babababa" 55 times.

I thought I heard baby crying (but was actually hearing nothing) 6 times.

I got pinched in the face, cheeks, mouth, eyes, nose, ear, arm, hair, glasses, etc an average of 10 times a day-- total of 70 times a week. Ouch!I converted 45 different household objects into entertaining baby toys.

and much more...

And I'm excited to start a new week too!

I know that it's just a simple question from people who aren't sure how to make conversation with someone whose daily lives are composed of such different activities than theirs are composed of (oh, no! I ended the sentence w/ a preposition!!). But hopefully this will help answer their question.

So what did I do this week?

Nothing much... but we managed to somehow stay busy...