And now, that time has come.
Actually, it's a year and a half.
And reading back on this entry,
the specifics of this routine are just irrelevant.
Because my life is more of a rhythm
rather than a rigid schedule.
But one thing for sure I manifested was the mindset
I wanted to embody,
which was to feel at peace and feel comfortable
with the unknown.
So without further ado,
here's what my mornings look like recently.
(birds chirping)
(dogs barking)
I usually wake up on my own around 6:00 a.m.
or whenever the light starts to seep in.
And the first thing I do is take my temperature.
And I log it onto my Natural Cycles app.
This is what I use to track my cycle
and to check if I'm fertile or not.
Oh wow.
I am extremely fertile today.
My meditation starts by just me sitting
and showing some love to me in my comfy bed.
I try to aim for around 15 to 20 minutes in the morning,
but sometimes I only have time for five.
And sometimes I just skip it altogether.
But I gotta admit, mornings are more sparkly
when I start them like this.
I see it like cleaning my brain.
You know, just like you'd brush your teeth,
you gotta brush and wash your brain too.
I find that this centers me
and it reminds me that I am not my thoughts.
I've also heard somewhere that the first three choices
you make in the morning determine the rest of your day.
So I like to keep that in mind
and complete tasks that will make my future self happy.
So now that I'm feeling perked up,
it's time to go downstairs and greet Ben,
who has also finished his self-care routine.
- Just finished doing my morning breath work
and I feel wonderful.
- [Jenn] Then we make Lennon's breakfast.
We like prepping Lennon's breakfast
before he's out of bed, ideally.
So that way, everything is just ready
for when he's downstairs.
(tray clicking)
(machine beeping)
- I'm gonna make buddy his first ever scrambled egg.
He was allergic,
but apparently that's very common for babies.
So now we're gonna introduce him
to a beautiful egg.
- This could either be the greatest moment
or perhaps a traumatic one.
- At least you guys are gonna be in here with us regardless.
(light music continues)
- [Ben] We're gonna add a touch of cheese.
(machine beeping)
Buddy's egg looks good.
- [Jenn] Now we're just missing the baby.
So let's go grab him.
(Lennon cooing)
(light music)
Hi.
He's in this really sweet in between period
where he's not a baby anymore,
but not yet a toddler.
And honestly, his moods come and go.
Like the giggles can quickly turn into grumps.
- [Ben] Good morning, little man,
I know. (Lennon crying)
- [Jenn] I don't think I know a single baby
that enjoys getting their diaper changed.
So yeah, Lennon's no exception.
But once he's got a fresh diaper,
his mood starts to turn around.
- [Ben] Hi, everybody, it's Lennon,
and welcome to my morning routine.
First I have a little cry
and then I just go explore.
(Lennon crying) I know.
- Are you okay, I know.
- [Ben] Look buddy, it's you.
Yeah. (Lennon laughing)
He's looking at himself in the viewfinder.
That'll cheer him up.
Looking at something so beautiful.
He is a bit grumpy in the morning,
but then he cheers up, don't you, buddy?
- His emotions are constantly ebbing and flowing.
But yeah, let's go downstairs and finish up breakfast.
I think one of the trippiest things about parenthood
is that you are really confronted with the fact
that everything is constantly changing.
Even mealtimes used to kinda stress me out
because there were so many things
that I didn't know that he could eat
or have an allergic reaction to.
But now, I don't worry about any of that.
It's just second nature.
I know what foods he likes, what he doesn't,
and also it's just really fun seeing him try new foods
for the first time.
I think we gave Lennon egg too early
because all the baby-led weaning information
was like, "Give him egg.
Give him high allergens."
So we gave him eggs at like six, seven months,
and he just would always break out in hives.
Even if and then we tried again at like seven months.
I just put it inside a like zucchini muffin
and he broke out in hives.
And now.
(Lennon screaming)
I think he's okay.
We also have a little thing of milk.
(playful music continues)
Okay, so we just got this little toddler stepstool.
How cute is this?
Now we can wash his hands.
Rub your hands together like that.
Can you rub your hands together?
Yeah, very good.
(water sloshing)
(Lennon cooing)
Now this hand.
(water sloshing)
(light music continues)
Ah.
Okay.
Once we wrap up breakfast,
we head upstairs to get ready for the day.
- [Ben] He likes to be over there.
Where you going, buddy?
You want a shower?
See you in a bit, buddy.
Have a good shower.
- [Jenn] Hi.
♪ Duh duh duh duh duh ♪
♪ Duh duh duh duh duh duh duh ♪
♪ We're going to brush our toofs ♪
- Come on, buddy. - There you go.
♪ Duh duh duh duh duh ♪
♪ Duh duh duh duh duh duh ♪
♪ We're going to brush our toofs ♪
- [Ben] Come on, buddy.
- It's time to brush Lennon's teeth.
We're gonna use this.
This is his toothbrush, his little Brush-Baby.
It's like an electric toothbrush.
For his toothpaste,
we're gonna go in with Tom's Wicked Cool.
This does have fluoride,
because we don't want him to get cavities.
I know there's like fluoride-free ones,
but we are a family that does a little bit of fluoride.
But we literally just put like a speck
of toothpaste on there.
Like, does this even count?
♪ Duh duh duh duh duh ♪
♪ Duh duh duh duh duh duh ♪
♪ We're going to brush our toofs ♪
- When I'm brushing his teeth,
I'm doing it very, very lightly.
I don't wanna like do too much impact on his gums.
But he does have a molar there.
Ah, say ah, Lennon.
- Ah. - Say ah, ah.
(light music) There you go.
Look at that.
All done.
- [Ben] He's straight to work.
- Straight to work.
(light music continues)
This is also when Ben swoops over
and watches Lennon while I can get ready for my day.
(Lennon crying)
- [Ben] Hey.
(light music continues)
Bye bye, buddy.
Let's get to the toilet, okay, mate.
We'll give you some privacy.
All right man, good luck, take a shower, bud.
(door clicking)
(Lennon coughing)
- [Jenn] Like honestly,
it really does take a village to raise a family.
And seeing Ben step into fatherhood
has brought us so much closer.
- Yay. (hands clapping)
(Ben growling)
- I feel like now that Lennon is 17 months,
we've been doing this for a year and a half,
I feel pretty comfortable and settled
with the roles that we have.
I think one thing that I kind of overplayed in my head
when I was pregnant and very afraid of the future
was that I thought I would just completely lose my routine
as a person.
I thought, like, being a mother
or being a parent would just make me
an entirely different person.
But if anything, I think being a parent
has just squeezed the essence out of me.
Like, it distills all of the qualities
that I find nonnegotiable,
and I just do them.
Now that our son's here,
it just forces you to really prioritize
what's important because there is not much time
to do much else.
I still make time for the activities
that are important to me.
Like I need to meditate still.
I need to exercise.
I think maybe like the order of the things
that I do are different.
Like I obviously don't have time
to like write in the morning
or you know, do like a 25-minute meditation.
But I do have time when he naps
or if I ask Ben to do it.
You still can prioritize the activities that you wanna do,
but you just have to kind of plan them out in advance.
You know, everyone was right when they said
things would change.
Because they did.
It has honestly been the biggest maturity experience for me,
and it shines all parts of me that needs work.
Like parenthood is the ultimate mirror.
Becoming a mother has also made me less of a perfectionist.
I mean, I still have type A roots,
but not everything needs to be orderly.
The chaos is beautiful too.
One of the many blessings about having a child
is that it transcends all the other stuff
and in such an exponential way.
It's like a beautiful re-prioritization of things.
And I am so excited to see what the next chapter holds.
(light music continues)