One of my favorite posts last year was when I took photos documenting my path through a pretty normal summer Friday. And it may be the last Friday of official summer, but I really wanted to document what a Friday looks like for me now. Today was a good example of one of my more adventurous days (in that I left the house! Although I do try to get out a few times a week).

The day started with a very happy, chatty baby. He woke up on the later end of his normal range (around 6:30am) and I took over after Ben ate so Dan could get ready for work. We played a bit and worked on tummy time, and stared at the ceiling fan for a while. I managed to get him to fall asleep for a nap (30 minutes, as is the norm now) without too much trouble so I could take a shower. He ate again, and then we met up with my mother in law at the outlets. One of the stores there was having a pretty crazy Labor Day sale, and she offered to buy him his Thanksgiving outfit, so why not? We walked around a bit, and got some fresh air, which always feels good. (There are more days than there should be on which I just don’t leave the house and it is such a bad idea. It becomes so apparent when I go outside for the first time in too long, and the fresh air, no matter how hot or humid, feels like heaven.)

I stopped for a giant iced coffee (getting Dunkin Donuts is my treat these days) and then Ben and I went to the grocery store so I could buy ingredients for a side dish I want to try out for one of our BBQs this weekend. I even managed to keep the stroller moving at a steady pace while I was there so Ben stayed asleep. (I was hoping that I’d trick him into an extra catnap with the car trips there and back, and it totally worked. And then I realize how much of my time is spent strategizing naps these days and that… is just still so strange.)

When we got home, Ben and I both ate lunch, and then he kicked in his bouncy seat happily while I put ingredients in the crock pot for a new recipe I’m trying. I am feeling more accomplished than I maybe should for getting dinner going (an actual real meal! Not frozen pizza or take out or chicken on the grill! It’s been a loooooong time since we cooked for real.). And Ben can barely keep his eyes open playing with the monkey toys that hang over his bouncy seat, and falls asleep mid-swipe. He’s napping while I type this post (although 32 minutes in, he’s wide awake. It’s like he has a timer or something).

It’s funny; in some ways my Friday is exactly the same as last summer’s (I interacted with only a few people, I went on a walk, I got iced coffee…) and there’s some comfort in that. I kinda dig this new normal, though. Especially the part that’s snoring across the room as I type.

And just for fun, I leave you with this summer’s jam:

I am not sure that I know how to write here anymore, now that life is so different. But maybe I can figure it out if I just jump in. I’m typing this on my phone from the rocking chair in Benjamin’s room on a sunny summer Wednesday morning while he’s snoring softly in my arms. I know I need to start getting him to learn how to fall asleep on his own but once the overtired thrashing/nap fighting stops it’s nice to let myself just snuggle. I’ll probably regret these moments when he wakes up in a half hour, but… how can you regret sleepy baby snuggles?

Time is fast and so, so slow. How are we almost done with August? But how, too, are weekdays so very long? (Of course, on the days I have big goals, weekdays can feel pretty damn short. Life now is just one giant contradiction, basically.)

I drink a lot of iced coffee these days. Don’t ask about the totally klassy way I make it at home. All I want to do is work on my scrapbooks, but now that Ben is fighting naps so hard, it’s harder to find time. I am still limping through project 365, even though I hardly ever take out my dSLR. (Which is so bad. I miss it so much, and really need to break out of this photographic rut.) I’m trying to figure out how to start exercising.

Benjamin at fourteen weeks old is just pure sunshine (except when he’s tired). He gets absurdly excited whenever we put him on his changing table (could the mobile I made be that much of a hit??) and spends a lot of time trying to get his whole hand into his mouth. He’s starting to notice toys, and is so chatty. I feel like he’s so close to laughing for real, although I admit I’m not sure how old babies are when they learn that. I’m sure I’m the millionth mom to say this, but I’m so excited for the next things – to hear his giggle and listen to what he has to say, to see if we’re right that he will be mobile before we’re ready – but I also want to completely stop time. He’s so stinkin’ cute now, and I don’t want time to go any faster than it already is.

Life these days is slow and focused on a very little dude and truthfully? I’m just loving it. (It would be awfully nice if we could figure out this nap business, though.)