I have awesome days because I am awesome

This is how I like to think of all the 'good days' I have as a mum: I have awesome days because I am awesome. This does not, conversely, mean that I have crap days because I am crap. I have crap days...because life. Because, that's just how some days turn out. Because, not all circumstances are within my control, but one that is is the ability to choose to feel like crap. But out of false dichotomy of crap days and awesome days, I'm currently experiencing the latter.

Why is that? Well, first: E decided to sleep through the night. The whole night. IN HIS COT! (Thank you for letting me internet shout that last part. It's kind of a big deal.) I'm not sure what tipped it, though the apparent growth spurt he's in does seem to make him more inclined to go to sleep nicely. I also put him in his cot awake and (parenting confession moment in 3..2...1...) I got in with him. Yup, imagine my feet awkwardly sticking through the bars and the long, long length of me S-bending around E and all his stuffed animals to fit into his cot. I let him have his binky and cuddle with me: no singing, no breastfeeding (though he did keep his hand on my exposed tummy): just a quiet cuddle. After that point, he was out in a few minutes, stayed out when I clambered out to close the door, and never woke either of us in the night. The Husband got up with him at 5:00 and then from 8:00 to 10:00 he had another nap in our bed. No complaints here! If Mama can get a full night's rest, it's a wonderful world!

Everything else, really, has been icing on the cake. I got the chance to nap with E this morning to catch up on some of the sleep I've gone without earlier in the week. (Bonus!) When the valuation guy came to inspect our flat I could rest easy knowing the place was already tidy and entirely not embarassing. So that went well even when you consider the following equation: phone off = didn't get the reminder I set = woke up as he knocked on the door. So says the transitive property of maths. Thankfully, I could throw on some jeans and a hoodie and answer the door without looking like I'd just rolled out of bed.

E then woke up very happy and enjoyed some time playing all over the house while I got us ready to run a quick errand. (Didn't you just know there'd be things at Sainsbury's we needed?) While we were out getting a new binky & clip (E has squirreled his away somewhere along with my BBT thermometer and other odds and ends. Perhaps they're in Narnia...) I managed to find some vacuum storage bags!

Now, this is not me coming late to the game: I've known about vacuum pack storage bags for years, but I never really needed them until now. Once we came home and had a healthy lunch (most of which I tried to let E feed himself), I packed most of his old baby clothes away, sucked the air out of the bag, and stored everything back under his cot: now taking up much less space.

Nominal tidying done, we read a few books before heading out on a brief 2-mile run. It's not a real day in our house unless someone has read some Oliver Jeffers.

both via, Oliver Jeffers.com

The run was great, as well. Not that we should expect anything less from what I've dubbed an 'awesome' day. It helps that the weather was just cold enough with lots of sun and no wind. I did some new warm ups just before leaving as well: definitely a good call. Thank's Runner's World emails. Well done. And thanks to RunKeeper, I now know that this is the fastest I've run with E in the jogger in a while:

My splits are looking pretty good, and my overall pacing looks like it's getting more and more consistent as I keep training for the half. Of course, I have yet to do more than that first long run this year, but hopefully I can remedy that on Sunday and get in another good 9 miles or so.

So what is going on now in my awesome day? Well, E fell asleep on our run (what is this witchcraft?) so he's having a second nap today. This means I get to read more of my feeds, update the blog, do some exercises, and relax. We're experimenting with a TV-free day today: no Alphablocks, no Small Potatoes. After 2 days where E kept insisting that something was playing on the computer, I've decided to put my foot down for a while. He's read, played, run around outside, and napped, and I've played with him; but I haven't put any videos on the computer...just some music in the background. So far, so good. He hasn't even noticed that the 'TV' - such as it is in this house - is gone.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go raise a glass and toast myself for a day of successful parenting.