Slower summer morning routine

The other day, I was discussing with Nicholas and another friend that all of our mornings look the same. There's a slight variation in timing based on when Cooper wakes up, but in general, we do the same things at the same times every day, up until lunch. There's a rhythm to it that I've come to love. I will jot it here, on the occasion that I ever wonder how did we fill all those mornings at home when Cooper was one?

Around 6:15 or 6:30AM, Cooper wakes up, and sits up, playing with his bunny and making little noises. I get up, go to the bathroom, and then get him from his crib and nurse him. (Nicholas sometimes gets up with us, sometimes gets a few more minutes of sleep). I change Cooper and then we come out to the living room/kitchen. I set him down on the floor, and he usually plays with toys, or he crawls over to me and pulls on my legs. If he wants to be more involved, I'll set him in the special kitchen step stool/mother's helper that we just got for him with birthday money from Great Grandma Donna (thank you, Grandma!). He can be at counter level, and usually keeps himself very busy with very important tasks, like stacking silicone molds or trying on an oven mitt. While he's occupied and involved, I boil water, and measure and grind coffee beans, and brew coffee in our palmpress. We chat and sometimes listen to music, and I try to narrate what I'm doing.

While the coffee brews, I step outside to water the tomato plant, and then make breakfast. Sometimes, I will make baked PB oatmeal, but lately, it's been more eggs and bacon or sausage for us, since that keeps us satiated for longer. Cooper rarely eats eggs (we're working on it), so his breakfasts often look like bacon and avocado or a blueberry banana muffin. Our other current favorite is coconut flour zucchini pancakes, topped with ghee and almond butter (I omit the maple syrup from the batter). He loves these pancakes so much, which might be evident by the sheer amount of almond butter all over him in the photo below ;). The three of us sit together at the table and eat breakfast together.

As it nears 8AM and the start to Nicholas' workday and we're finishing up our coffee, he puts on some music for Cooper (this kid adores music and dancing to it) and gets ready for work. I clear the table, and then rinse off Cooper at the kitchen sink. He's always eager to grab something from the dish drainer with clean dishes, whether that be a spatula, spoon, whisk, rubber scraper, etc.

I clean up any food spills on the floor, wipe down the high chair, put dishes in the dishwater, and wash any pans from breakfast. Then, I usually get Cooper dressed, and then myself dressed, deodorant applied, contacts put in, teeth brushed. Most days I don't bother to brush my hair, a few times a week I may apply a little bit of makeup. Around 8:30 or 8:45 at this point, Cooper and I head out for a walk, his kitchen utensil of choice (chosen minutes before) for the day firmly grasped in his hand.

After our walk, it's a bit of "baby free play" and then naptime. And naptime is my opportunity to tidy up toys or clutter, brainstorm meals for the day, fold laundry, run to the grocery store while Nicholas has the baby monitor, read my bible, workout, catch up on Marco Polo, or sit and knit a little bit (obviously not all of those things, but usually one or two).

And that's the rhythm of our mornings, at least for right now! I do think we are inching closer to dropping a nap, and then we will create a whole new routine for each day.

I'll be the first to admit that it is my tendency to want summer to pass by quickly, or rather, I suppose this is my tendency with many things. A fierce optimism that sometimes keeps my eyes so fixed on the horizon and what I imagine to be "all the good things just ahead" that I forget to glance at the flowers at my feet once in awhile. But this summer has felt a little different. It's my first full summer as a mama, and Cooper is at an age now where we have more (happy) little routines. I'm asking myself this: what necessary routines can I dress up in specialness? What slow things can I celebrate for their slowness? There is much about parenthood that is rushed and chaotic, and still more, perhaps, that is slow, methodical, and beautiful. I'm trying to see it all.