Saturday, January 14, 2017

Episode 6: A Day in the Life of Joel

Welcome to Episode 6 of a day in the life of the youngest offspring in the Stapp household.  These posts are mostly just for me to document what daily life looks like for later when I've forgotten.  I plan on printing up a photo book of all of them someday for our family memory library.  But for now, read on if you'd like to be a fly on the wall in our home.


{Sort of.  It is much more chaotic than it appears.} 

Click.  The 7:00 am star light switches on and a pale stream of light falls across my crib. My sister (age 2) in the crib right next to me begins jumping and yelling "Mo-m! Mo-m!"  I pull myself up and jump along with her.  My mom comes in and I am so excited to see her!  My brother (age 4), rubbing his eyes and yawning, does not exhibit as much morning energy as me and my sister.  Next comes morning hugs, a diaper change for me and bathroom visits for my siblings, clean clothes, and some morning milk for me.  My sister doesn't like to sit still very well for getting her hair brushed because she is in a hurry to look at her books.  My brother is in a hurry to talk.  Once I've tanked up on milk, I'm in a hurry to play and explore!  My siblings and I play in our room, usually with books, hot wheel cars, or duplos, while my mom drinks her tea and spends time with God. When the music starts to repeat itself, my brother and sister clean up while I get to keep playing!  Clean-up time is not their favorite, and lately it's been taking them so long, my mom rescues me and lets me start on breakfast without them! 
Yum, meal time is definitely one of my favorite times of the day.  I eat just about anything as long as I can pick it up and chew it.  Breakfast rotates through oatmeal with applesauce, eggs and toast, and yogurt bowls.  Hooray, my brother and sister finally finished cleaning up and come running in to the kitchen as I start my second serving of breakfast.  I love to watch them do everything.  My brother puts away the clean silverware and my sister puts away the clean bowls and plates out of the dishwasher.  My sister likes to go as fast as she can, and my brother likes to talk and work, which slows him down.  Sometimes, my mom makes up a story.  Micah always ask for a new Frog and Toad story.  While I eat my third round of breakfast, everyone else joins me at the table, finally!  They all work on memorizing kids catechism questions, then my mom reads aloud a chapter of a book.  They just finished Little House in the Big Woods.  I get kinda bored with that stuff, so my mom gets me down and I play with the little kitchen while they finish up eating.  

Nap time for me comes next.  My mom used to call me her best sleeper, but recently I've taken to putting up a fight, but only for a few minutes.  I usually fall asleep sitting in my crib with my head on my lap.  When I wake up, I'm always curious to see what they've been up to while I was asleep.  They usually do one chore and some reading together.  Sometimes, my mom sets the timer for 10 minutes at a time and my siblings take turns getting special time with mom to play whatever they want with her while the other does a preschool activity.  Amelia usually picks reading books together, and Micah something more active like balloon volleyball or a snowball fight.  After that, it just varies.  Sometimes they do puzzles, or play games, or bake bread, or do an experiment.  Lately, Amelia's favorite games have been Go Fish, Uno, and Old Maid, and Micah's favorites have been Memory, Set, and Nerts.  I really want to play those games too, but they sit with their backs to me in a tight circle so I can't get in to destroy those cards.  I look forward to the day I'm invited to play games too!  For now, I entertain myself by pulling books out of the shelf, spices out of the pantry, bath toys out of the bathroom, cars out of the end table drawer, and food off the floor.  I also pull myself up so I can stand as much as I can, but I haven't taken any steps yet. My Dad gives me walking lessons often.

By now, it's late morning.  It takes about twenty minutes for Mom to help us all get on our snow pants, coats, socks, boots, gloves, and hats.  I despise getting my gloves on, but I love getting rides on the sled on our driveway by siblings or mom.  The snow is almost as tall as me, so we can't sled in the yard, but the slick driveway works well.  My brother has been digging tunnels through the yard, and every day my mom walks at least a couple loops through the walking path we're trying to keep carved out through part of the yard.  Amelia has grown alot this winter and has moved from hiding with a blanket over her head on a chair on the porch to pushing her toy lawnmower (her "snowplow") through shoveled areas by herself.  My mom says this is great progress.  
Some days, I ride in the stroller and we head out on a walk, but it depends on traffic volume and the current width of the road since there aren't sidewalks right by our house.  It's been a colder than usual winter I'm told, so we usually just play in our yard for 20-30 minutes before heading in as it is usually 5 - 20 degrees F when we are out.  

About noon, we get ready to eat lunch!  Before Micah comes inside, he has to carry enough wood to last us the rest of the day in the fireplace.  Usually, mom gives a lecture or two about not complaining or grumbling about now.  Dad gets to eat lunch with us six days a week, and it is so fun when he
comes home!  We tell him all about our morning and sometimes he wrestles with us.  After lunch, my brother often heads back outside to play a little longer and my mom reads me and my sister a nap time book and lays us down.  Every time my mom lays me down, I pop back up and laugh! Lately, my sister has been entertaining me during the whole nap time, so Mom told us we shouldn't jump and talk anymore so we can sleep.  Micah gets to play outside or rest on the couch during nap time.  I can't wait until I'm four too!

After nap time, we get snacks!  My sister likes to snuggle with mom for a while after nap because she usually wakes up in a bad mood.  Maybe it's because I wake her up?  The rest of the afternoon, we usually play whatever we want.  My sister likes to color pictures.  My brother likes to jump on the mini-trampoline.  Sometimes we play all together and sometimes by ourselves.  At five, I play with kitchen utensils while my brother and sister help cook dinner.  My brother cuts up cucumbers, cracks eggs, and helps brown meat and measure ingredients.  My sister likes to watch and help stir.  We often listen to fun music while we cook.  Once everything is started, they set the table and then my brother and sister read books to each other.  Sometimes, I'm even patient enough to sit still and listen. If it's a night that Dad will be home for dinner, we run to the garage door and jump on him when he gets home.  At dinner time, we each talk about our high point and low point of the day.  Amelia doesn't understand what a low is and says good things for her high and her low!  She also likes to copy whatever Micah says.  Myself, I just know a few words, like Mama and Dada.  I learned how to say uh-oh this week.  

After dinner, we get to play with Daddy or run around the house playing hide and seek, until 6:30.  Before bed, we read a Bible story and pray together.  My mom helps say the words for my prayer since I can't yet.  Dad has been telling us piano stories, where he tells us a Bible story while he simultaneously illustrates the story with music.  Then it's hugs and kisses time and bed time, sadly.  Have I mentioned that I would rather laugh and stand in my crib than lay down?