As a first time mommy, Dipti had a very hard time once she lost her mom and mom in law’s help. She was at a loss for what to do with herself and with Diav all day long especially with pumping every 4 hours. Some times she would get so overwhelmed she would run to mom or Sheena’s house just to have something to do. Well, it didn’t take long for Sheena and Nina to get her back on track by forcing her to write things down! She began tracking her days with Diav and soon realized that he was doing the same thing every day! Before she knew it, she was able to come up with a schedule that helped her wrap her head around all that she had to and wanted to do! Sure, Diav is going to change just as she gets used to things, but having a rough schedule makes it easier for her to keep everything in order! Here’s what’s going on in the Dedhia household:
The Norm: Diav is an early riser (just like his Daddy) so every morning he is up at 6:00am sharp! Since Daddy is awake at that time he does Diav’s morning feed and puts Diav back to bed for a long nap. In the meantime, Mommy wakes up and does her own breakfast and such. By then Diav is up and at it again – he feeds every 3 hours and in between Mommy does lunch and cleans up, and the dreaded task of pumping. Of course in all this Mommy likes to change things up by taking Diav out for a walk or to his Bapa and Bhabu’s house, or even to Oak Tree so Nani can play with him at the store! Sometimes she just needs to step away from the norm and thankfully there are so many people around ready and willing to take him for a few hours!
Activities: Dipti wanted to write down activities for Diav to do since it was hard to come up with them on the fly. Diav has loved music since Day 1 so she likes to incorporate music time with him during the week – she’ll do this by playing with a kids piano, or tabla that her dad bought, or even listening to nursery rhymes on Youtube. Nina has told her time and again to put Diav on his belly so he spends most of his free time doing that. Nina also teaches Dipti how to practice each of Diav’s milestones with him – currently it’s rolling over so she crosses his leg over and gives him a little push to encourage him to roll over! Finally, she puts him in the Bumbo to encourage head and neck control! Diav just loves to talk so they spend a few minutes a day chit chatting – Dipti cleans up around the kitchen while making sure to keep in conversation with Diav to encourage his language development!
Evenings: Daddy and Diav time is a very important time in this house since daddy is out at work all day and Dipti and Diav spend all day together. So when Daddy gets home from work it’s all about the two of them. Daddy will play with him, talk to him (or Diav will list his complaints for the day), and practice some milestones. Then while Mommy is massaging, exercising and bathing Diav (our nighttime routine), Daddy will decide what he wants for dinner and start prepping. While Daddy gives Diav his last bottle of the day Mommy will finish up dinner. After Daddy puts Diav up to bed, Mommy and Daddy spend some quality time together and then pass out! Of course none of this happens all the time – it’s more what we strive for. We try to keep it flexible since we have such a large family and there’s always something going on! For that reason we also use white noise in his room through the night.
It’s a long and hard process but for now, this is Dipti and Sachin’s lives with baby Diav ! Dipti is constantly looking for more activities to do with Diav so we’d love to hear what you all are doing with your little ones!
