time to change

percy is growing. der, obviously, but it's sometimes more apparent than other times. i was in the attic yesterday putting away another lot of clothes she's grown out of. i'll be getting another measure of her done next week as this weekend she will be 13 months old. we visited orion and daniel on saturday, whose little son zac was born a week ago. he was nearly identical to percy in birth weight, length and head circumference. it's hard to imagine she was once that size. zac just wanted to be held by his parents, percy on the other hand was up and down the back steps, playing in the fountain, patting the dog, chasing her ball, and generally checking out orion and daniel's really lovely home (yes, i'm jealous.) i suppose it was just evident again that there is no stopping her, nor the passage of time.

due to the increasing collection of clothes in the attic, the collection in percy's cupboard is getting a bit small. we need to stock up on warm long-sleeve t-shirts and fleecey pants. i think i'll be making a trip or two to st vinnies and target this week.

we also think it might be getting to a time to make some other changes. we think percy can handle being awake for longer stretches of time during the day, tho still needs a nap morning and afternoon, and seems to sleep 11 hours at nite. she's been waking consistently at 6am after going to bed at 7pm. i don't think this is still a day light savings change hang over. plus she can have some other things in her diet now. so this is what we're thinking of moving to:
cow's milk during the day,
only formula for her "good nite" bottle,
cow's milk from a sippy cup, not a bottle,
a bed time of 7:30pm,
instead of having a milk drink after getting up from naps change this to the cows milk drink from a sippy cup with morning and afternoon teas,
lots of water throughout the day,
moving dinner back to 6:30pm because we should all be able to eat together at that time (ie paul will be home from work by then 95% of the time)
also brushing teeth after breakfast too, not just after dinner.

i think that's it. oh, and getting her happy with paul putting her to bed at nite. she's happy to go down to naps with him but so far has always been unsettled if it's anyone but me putting her to bed for the nite.
i know it doesn't sound like momentous changes. they are important ones tho. we'll work on getting them made and the new routine they entail over the next few weeks.

these things are important to paul and i for our health and life too. we both want to return to our preferred exercise regimes and seeing friends out before we forget these things exist at all! i used to practice yoga everyday, right up to percy's birth. paul went to the gym or out running nearly every day of the week. i think i've got the yoga mat out half a dozen times in the last year and since returning from kiev paul's been to the gym probably six times too.
what to do?! i've joined a new gym just up the road that has yoga and pilates classes at 7:30pm weekdays and mid-morning on weekends. yoga really is best done at first rising in the morning, since i can't manage that, evenings will be okay. if we sort out getting percy to day care in the mornings, hopefully paul can get to the gym or run some mornings, or go at lunch time.
all we need now is reliable baby sitting and we may make evenings out together too! what a luxury. i'm really looking forward to one day sitting in a darkened cinema holding paul's hand and kissing and giggling like teenagers again- who cares about the movie!

i should clarify something here... it's not that we haven't had offers of baby sitting. up until the last 6 or so weeks all i've wanted to do in the evenings is sleep. this is because percy would wake so thru the nite and we'd be zombies the following day. eleven and some months of this and i think anyone would just want to lie down to snooze constantly. even these recent weeks haven't been consistently 'percy into bed, not to hear from her until morning.' probably three nites out of seven we have to spend time settling her at 7pm, or later on, or both. i will not force that responsibility or worry on someone else. i really doubt anyone other than paul or i could comfort her to sleep anyways. without us i predict she'd just ramp up and up on the screaming and squirming. i won't let that happen. so we are working our way steadily to more rest and relishing life that may soon be, on occasion, separate from little miss. all in good time.