I did it!

At approximately 9:00 p.m. I had my son in bed and an official schedule underway (again).

It may seem like a small accomplishment to some, but any parent knows that an accomplishment, big or small, is a huge victory in our books. When you are perpetually clothed in spit up, have chunks of formula in your hair, go days without even pulling out your mascara and can't remember watching anything other than cartoons all day, a victory is something not taken lightly.

I have to admit that Jimmy and I got a little lax on our routine that we had initially started upon baby Jimmy's arrival home. He became the man of the house, and the more attention he needed the less I was concerned about bedtimes and normalcy. Tonight, I decided it was time to get him back on a schedule, especially now that he's teething and life will most likely be the roughest it's been. He's been eating at least 6 ounces at every feeding (about 3-4 hours apart) and we had the go ahead from the pediatrician to start rice when we were ready. After bottle after bottle after bottle and cry after cry after cry today, I decided it was time. We got him in his bouncy chair, put him on the kitchen table and went to town - well, he went to town. He instantly caught on to the idea of putting a spoon in his mouth but never quite mastered swallowing what he was putting in. More than half of the rice cereal came back out and onto his clothes, which I noticed were without a bib about half way through. It was a delight to watch him open his little mouth when the spoon was coming towards him and then blow bubbles with the remainder of the rice he had left.

After that, it was obviously bath time. I let Jimmy take the reigns on this one, seeing as I had, up to this point, been the official baby washer. While he cleaned our little slobber house, I wiped down the table and cleaned the kitchen. One clean baby later, we were putting some pajamas on and reading our favorite night time story, Pajama Time. It was time for bed.

Baby Jimmy has fallen in love with sleeping on pillows, something that worries me to death. This morning he fell fast asleep next to me on my pillow while we played (a new morning ritual) and I let him stay asleep as long as I was near. I figured I would ease into the new 9 p.m. bedtime by allowing him to curl up in Mommy and Daddy's bed and to top it off, fall asleep on my pillow. It didn't take more than 3 minutes for the little guy to pass out. I literally ran into the office where Jimmy was and danced around announcing my victory.

It sure is tough work being a Mommy, but it's the best job out there.