What Do People Do All Day?

Sean's favorite author these days is Richard Scarry -- thanks to Liz for stocking us up on his books! There's lots to see in the Scarry books, and I like that they have some urban scenes to match what Sean's exposed to on a daily basis. And, you can see him making connections -- when he sees the red bus, he shouts, "Circulator!" and the white busses are "L2!" or "42!". Our boy already knows his public transportation!
One of Scarry's books is "What Do People Do All Day?" and inspired me to describe our typical schedule these days with Sean. Sean dropped to one nap almost a year ago, and having just one nap means that morning is the best time to make plans or head out for longer adventures in the city. Naptime varies and it's usually earlier (start 12:30/1:30, done by 3 or 3:30) with me and up to 2 hours later with Chris-- which means afternoon playdates are usually out for them in particular.
Sean's usually up between 6:30-6:45 am and we start the bedtime routine (nursing, bath, brush teeth, pajamas, 1-2 books) at 7:30, with lights out around 8:45 pm. I then wake Chris up so he can brush his teeth about 30-45 minutes later. :)
Since he turned 2, we've made more of an effort to have a consistent schedule where he goes to the same place and sees at least some of the same kids each week -- an effort to get him ready for full-day preschool starting in the fall. Here is a quick rundown of our schedule:
- Mondays: Chris is home, (paid) music class in am at the Sitar Center in Adams Morgan
- Tuesdays: Merrie home, 11 am free playgroup/music class at church at 16th and O
- Wednesdays: Chris home, usually 10 am (I think) storytime at Cleveland Park Library
- Thursdays: Merrie home, 9:30-10:45 I take yoga while Sean is in YogaChai's cute little child care in the back, 11-11:45 toddler yoga
- Fridays: Chris home, often a playdate with our friend Chris C and his adorable daughter Anna.

As the days get warmer and longer, we're heading out on adventures more often post-nap. For me, that means a lot of zoo outings (though the buildings/exhibits close by 4:30), hiking around Rock Creek, some trips to the Wilson Pool in Tenleytown, stopping by the 4 pm arts and crafts drop-in at the Kalorama Rec Center, maybe the Tuesday 4 pm storytime at the Diner, and other occasional happy hour/social gatherings with friends. For Chris, their late afternoons/early evenings include trips to various grocery stores (if you are reading this, you probably know how much milk Chris drinks...) or time at the Kalorama basketball court. Given our limited days in the office, both of us have a hard time walking out the door right at 6 pm and instead we get home 7-7:15 most days -- which means the parent home is juggling dinner prep plus Sean. This is a challenge given that Merrie always and Chris sometimes works during naptime (Merrie usually works right after Sean has gone to bed too, including a few scheduled evening conference calls per week), so we can't prep dinner during that window. Overall, our schedule works for us and Sean and it's only getting better now that Spring is on the horizon...
Chris is also training for the DC half marathon at the end of the month -- running it with his Dad and Meghan. he'll head out post-bedtime for a run a few nights per week, and we juggle our schedules so he can get a long run in over the weekend. Meanwhile, I've been getting up for 6-7 am yoga classes a few days per week (in addition to the Thursday 9:30 am class) and try to fit in some sort of cardio workout during the weekend. We're both looking forward to frisbee starting up again this month! While I really dislike running, I can see the appeal for parents of young children -- it really is the most efficient form of exercise.
This is my first blog post in a while. I've found that I can squeeze in regular tweets (http://twitter.com/#!/RookieinDC) and upload/caption pictures (https://picasaweb.google.com/merriedodson/) regularly, but I don't usually have the time to sit down and write something that's longer. Or, honestly, do I want to spend more time in front of a computer after 35 or so hours per week doing so for work. I'd rather curl up and read on the couch! In other words, no promises that I'll blog more, but who knows...?