down dogs relieve pain during pregnancy and provide a nice distraction from writing

Day 2 of my 7 day life chronicle.

7:15. Alarm clock.

7:30-10. Get up, shower, but no time to do hair before Genghis gets up. I'm starting to really like that my hair is long enough to pull back.

Genghis spends much of breakfast fear-stricken that I will leave the room. Mostly, I'm just walking around trying to get the next food group ready to put on the table. Oatmeal, toast and peanut butter, milk, grapefruit. After breakfast we enjoy playing with some toys and practice only getting a few categories of toys out at a time. Instead of dumping out all the animals, all the blocks, all the balls, and all the books and then tripping over them for the next 8 hours, we try to play with the balls and blocks, then put the blocks away when we decide to move on to books. Genghis seems a little bewildered by this new attempt at structure, but goes along with it pretty well.

Eventually, we migrate to the bathroom for a diaper change and dressing for the day. Genghis methodically brings all of his animals and his "fuzzies" (comfort blankets) into the bathroom before coming in himself and carefully closing the door behind him. I have given up on getting him to lay down during diaper changes, but today as he roams the bathroom and I chase him with wet wipes, I am nervous about how many loads of animals I may have to run through the wash if things get out of control. Luckily, all goes well.

Unluckily, the next thing on my to-do list is laundry, and I realize that a soak in cold water was definitely not helpful in taking butter stains out of yesterday's clothes. How much do I care about these clothes? The answer must be not much because now, at 9:30pm, they are still just sitting on top of the washing machine, albeit sprayed with stain remover.

Perhaps to balance out the chaos of stained clothing, I decide to deep clean Genghis's high chair area for the morning project. Genghis himself is busy emptying the kitchen cupboards, and discovers that he can make silver mixing bowls spin round and round to his endless amusement. In the meantime, I scrub his high chair, the chair it sits on, the plastic covering underneath, and the walls around. My arms are getting tired by the time I get to the walls. Genghis has also crawled under the table at this point and is watching me intently with an expression that clearly says "my mother is crazy and it's making me exhausted".

10am-1:15pm. Once the cleaning is done, we head out to the car for the downtown library to meet a friend and her children. I know going into it that this trip will involve a lot of re-directing of Genghis's attention (for example, hefting him away from the DVD rack which he can swipe clean in under 10 seconds). We happen to be there during story hour - the one geared for the 2-5 year olds rather than the 0-24 month olds, which is what Genghis and I usually attend. He is clearly interested in what all of the tall little people are doing and expresses it by running through all of them and up to the front of the room to spin around in circles and cry out "Weee!"

More hefting.

We settle in at the back of the room for most of story time with some yogurt-covered raisins and a car puzzle.

After story time Genghis terrorizes the library for about 30 more minutes while I try to snatch bits and pieces of conversation with my friend. When we leave, my back and various tendons in my midsection are hurting so much that I literally hobble to the car, grateful for umbrella strollers that double as walkers.

Next, lunch, adorable playtime that involves me sitting on the floor and not moving, followed by nap.

1:15-5:30pm. This is a working afternoon for me. Abe comes home to watch Genghis and I attempt to be as productive as possible in the other room. Today's big task is to write a project report. The first step to good writing is to avoid it as long as possible. Luckily, I had several emails and project logistics to address. As a bonus, there were unread blog posts in Google Reader. At 3:00, armed with some peanut butter and chocolate chip graham crackers as periodic rewards for getting work done, I seriously start in on writing. I make myself wear my retainers between rewards, possibly to remind myself that some things are more painful than writing.

5:30-6:45pm. I close up work and join the family for dinner. Abe and Genghis have just finished and are heading to the bath. Genghis runs back and forth between the living room (where I am) and the bathroom (where the bath is), clearly communicating that I must come watch him in his bath since he hasn't seen me all afternoon. I eat a plate of spaghetti sitting on the toilet next to 2 diaper pails. But, I'm rewarded with hearing 2 new words from Genghis. "Please" and "Oh no!" He says the latter in a distressed cry while swishing back and forth on his tummy in the tub. I think he's imagining a shipwreck in the Pacific or something equally dramatic. Play time after bath, and bedtime at 6:45.

6:45-9:40pm. I fall asleep on the couch for 30 minutes. Abe is working from home for the night. When I wake up, I head back to the computer to work on our finances, which always boils down to 2 basic emotions: 1) frustration with Mint.com (I have mixed feelings about the site) and 2) lamentation on how much I consistently overspend on groceries and home supplies. I wrap up my evening work by brainstorming some ideas for an upcoming church activity for the women in our congregation and writing this post.

I have no idea what I will do for the next hour. It will likely involve chocolate and a book or chocolate and a movie. Or perhaps just chocolate and a bed.