9 Month Baby Schedule

Averie is just three months away from being a year old. I can hardly believe it. She is getting so big and has become very mobile these past couple weeks. She won't sit still for anything hardly. It is a lot of fun changing her diapers!

I always found it interesting to check out other baby's schedules, so I wanted to share her's:

6:15 - 7 am - Averie wakes up with a beautiful smile on her face! I change her diaper right away and then fee her for about 10-15 minutes. After that sometimes we might play in her room or read a book for a little white depending on how early it is just to have some more peaceful time before the day begins

7 - 8 am - We give daddy a morning kiss and interrupt him while he gets ready for work. I make coffee, make myself something to eat while getting Averie's breakfast ready. I usually give her some finger food to keep her content while I get the rest of the food ready. Lately she has been enjoying steamed carrot slices, black beans, Cheerio's, and banana slices. I also feed her oatmeal with some applesauce and a little cinnamon and then she will finish about half a banana and some days she will also have some yogurt. We say goodbye to daddy as he leaves for work and give him kisses. Once we are done with breakfast, I clean up her face and hands and just put her down for her nap in her pjs.

I can't get Averie to sit still anymore, so I had to put her in a laundry basket for one of her 9 months photo shoots!

8 - 10 am - Averie will nap for about two hours after the morning routine. If she is not tired right away we will read or play for a little while but she generally is asleep by 8:30 - 9 am. I take this time to clean up the morning mess, do dishes, take a shower, and in general just clean up the house maybe some laundry etc. I will do some work on the computer with my photography business or catch up with emails or volunteer work.

10 am - 1 pm - Averie wakes up from her nap after about two hours almost all the time. Some days she surprises me and wakes up after just an hour...those days can get long! On days like that I might let her stay in her crib a little while longer as long as she is content. I change her diaper right away and then I feed her for about 10 - 15 minutes and then change her into the clothes she will wear for the day. We will play around the house, read books, go for a walk, or something along those lines for about an hour before she eats lunch. She just started eating three meals a day. Some days she seems really hungry at lunch time and others she just snacks more or less. I will give her carrot slices, some black beans, some cut up cheese chunks, some more fruit, and maybe a little more oatmeal. Daddy usually comes home for lunch, so we try to be here most of the time to see him! After lunch, sometimes we will run more errands or play outside at our house. By this time she is close to her second nap, so we try to be close to home. There are days where she will skip this nap altogether because we are busy with family or friends. She handles it quite well though most of the time.

1 - 3 pm - Averie will nap again for about two hours. Pretty much the same as her first nap. This nap time I might use the time to cut the grass or do some stuff yard work now that it is nice out! Pretty much try to get done whatever is on my schedule. I also use this nap to get dinner prepped for that evening so there is not too much to do when Justin gets home.

3 - 5 pm - Averie wakes from her second nap and I change her diaper right away and then feed her again for about 10-15 minutes. I have a feeling this feeding will be the first to go sometime here soon. Depending on what is going on that day, I might take her and Milo for a walk, go to a play date, or I might be busy getting dinner ready. If Justin and I are planning to go for a bike ride or running with Averie, I try to make sure she is fed before we go so she is more likely to be content the entire time we are exercising. If I am busy in the kitchen, I will give Averie some snacks and let her watch this Noggin Playlist on YouTube...she absolutely loves it!

Averie learned a new trick...sticking out her tongue out and spitting all over the place!

5 - 7 pm -  Justin is usually home by this time. Averie always has BIG SMILES for daddy when he comes home. She is just so happy to see him....and probably happy to look at someone else after looking at me all day! During this time we try to get some biking or running in, or do something with all of us. I usually try to feed Averie solids again around 5 pm, so she will be hungry for her bedtime feeding. The three of us are not usually eating dinner at the same time. I find it too hard to eat and feed her because she is still doing a lot of spoon feeding. She does eat more finger food now, but not her entire meal yet. Sometimes we will feed her some stuff off our plate since she can eat almost anything now except high allergy foods.  Basically we spend this time as the entire family as much as we can.

7 pm - I will feed Averie one last time before bed. We try to be as close to this time as possible. Some days she is crabby and needs to go to bed earlier, so the time is moved up. Then some days we don't get home until later and the schedule is adjusted accordingly. Early on we noticed how important it was to have a very strict schedule. She needed that to help her sleep and get used to the way of life. Now she doesn't seem to need it to be as strict. Now we give her a bath after her bedtime feeding about three times a week, but 5-6 months ago we were giving her a bath everyday to keep her on her schedule...and she is a great sleeper!

7:30 - 8 pm - Averie will go down to sleep for the evening. Justin usually puts her to bed because she seems to like his rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star better than mine! She likes that time with her daddy, but some days I do put her to bed. We give her her pacifier at sleep times (naps and bedtime). She practically falls asleep the minute you give it to her. She has a little security blanket she sleeps with...Justin calls it "her guy" no idea why...but it has stuck. She will be asking to sleep with her guy in a few years and people will be wondering what the hell happens in our house!
LOL :-)

Averie is pretty much down for the night. She rarely fusses anymore. Lately she has had a few more nights that she has randomly woke up screaming. We've read in a few places that this age might bring on some separation anxiety. It is not too bad, but for the most part she sleeps through the night until 6:15ish...we are very lucky!

Then comes mommy and daddy time! Justin is currently working on finishing off our basement, so that takes up a lot of his time. We sometimes do more work in the yard. Last night we had a fire in the new fire pit Justin got for an early Father's Day gift! Some days we will just relax with some wine, beer, or _________ fill in your favorite alcoholic beverage here...while watching some shows. No matter what, we try to make sure we have our time together as a couple and some time on our own.

We are really happy with the way our system works. It may not work for others, but I wanted to share it.