A Day in the Life – 8 Months

Happy 8 month birthday to this guy!

We are currently in Minnesota visiting friends and family, but I still wanted to recap our daily schedule this month. Like before, my goal is to ‘a day in the life’ post each month for Cullen’s first year since a lot changes within that first year. This is actually our schedule from Monday as I wanted our typical schedule at home. (However, I have quickly learned there is no typical schedule with a baby.)

4:30 a.m. Cullen wakes up. I feed him and he goes right back to sleep.

7:00 a.m. Craig’s alarm goes off. We snooze a bit more and then get up. (I got to sleep in today because I had an easy run, which I planned on doing with the jogging stroller.)

7:10 a.m. I check my e-mail, read a couple blog posts, and catch up on the news.

7:30 a.m. Cullen wakes up. We play with him for a while, and then I feed him.

7:45 a.m. We head downstairs for some breakfast. I have a bowl of cereal and a piece of toast with peanut butter.

8:00 a.m. Craig has left for work, so Cullen and I head back upstairs where I change his diaper and then we read a few of our favorite books.

8:20 a.m. Cullen plays in his room while I start packing for our trip.

8:45 a.m. Cullen is fussy again, so I feed him. (He didn’t eat much the first time.) He then plays in his room some more. I start some laundry and pick up the bedroom a bit. I periodically check on him, play with him, and get a lot of smiles and giggles out of him.

9:15 a.m. It’s been almost two hours since he’s been up and like clockwork he’s rubbing his eyes and appears tired, so I lay him in his crib. He plays for a while with his pacifier, and I have an inkling he won’t fall asleep. (I still have the hardest time getting him to fall asleep on his own.)

9:30 a.m. I rub his back and sing to him. It looks like he might drift off, but then he suddenly pops his head up and appears bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

9:45 a.m. Finally I lay down with him and after about 10 minutes of tossing, turning, and stirring he finally falls asleep.

10:00 a.m. I start this post, check the weather for Minnesota (upper 70s/low80s–> perfect!), and read a few Facebook updates.

10:30 a.m. I do a slough of different things: pack, do some more laundry, take my nail polish off, send a few e-mails, massage my legs with The Stick, and get ready to go running.

11:30 a.m. Craig comes home for lunch. We chat, catch up on things that are going on, and I work on my race recap from Saturday’s half-marathon. I also snack on some Wheat Thins and Siracha cashews Craig made. I don’t even like spicy foods, but these Siracha cashews are addicting!

12:30 p.m. Cullen finally wakes up! A 2.5 hour nap–woohoo!! I change him and feed him. (Lately he has been doing one long nap and one shorter nap each day. It seems the days of 3 naps per day are gone.)

12:50 p.m. We get ready to go for a stroller run.

1:00 p.m. Run 5 miles with the stroller. We first drop off a package that was supposed to be delivered to our neighbor. The run goes well. Cullen happily hangs out in the stroller the whole time talking or just looking around and taking everything in. That’s the penny I found while running. (I’ve been collecting all the money I’ve found since I moved to Alaska. I’d like to think there is enough to buy a new pair of running shoes, but I’m sure it’s not even close to that!)

1:45 p.m. Return home from the run. Time to make lunch!

2:20 p.m. Lunch is served. Open-faced turkey burger sandwich because there’s only one piece of bread left with broccoli, hummus, and cherries. Cullen’s lunch includes avocado and some small pieces of cherries.

2:45 p.m. Back upstairs for another change of clothes. Eating is messy!

3:30 p.m. Cullen is hungry again. (I can tell milk is still his primary source of calories and nutrients.)

3:50 p.m. We drive to the gym so I can lift weights. I do some light weight lifting as I am still sore from racing on Saturday. I also do some core work and stretching. Unfortunately I am not as productive as I used to be since Cullen can now crawl! I snack on this Kind bar while driving there.

5:00 p.m. Return home. Cullen fell asleep in his carseat, so I leave him in there and take him upstairs to his room. I work on my race recap post and eat some plain Greek yogurt with jam.

5:30 p.m. Cullen wakes up. I feed him and change his clothes because they are wet again.

5:45 p.m. I hand Cullen off to Craig and leave for my nail appointment.

6:00 p.m. I get an awesome gel polish (Shellac) manicure at OMG Nails. I would highly recommend this place to any locals. They do awesome work, their prices are reasonable, and their service is fast!

6:40 p.m. Return home. Time to get some dinner.

7:15 p.m. Eat dinner. Really random, but it is what we had and what sounded good: Dr. Praegar’s Spinach Cake, refried beans with tortilla chips leftover from our fajiatas the previous night, and a nectarine.

7:45 p.m. I get Cullen ready for bed and hope he goes down for the night. Nope–still awake. I clean up the kitchen, fold laundry, pack some more, and finish my race recap blog post.

8:45 p.m. Attempt number two–Cullen finally goes down for the night. (This is actually kind of early for him. as lately he’s been going to bed at 9:30, 10:00, 10:30 p.m.)

9:00 p.m. I get ready for bed.

9:30 p.m. Lights out for me.

10:00 p.m. Cullen wakes up. . . .Ah! It’s always the worst when he wakes up right after I’ve fallen asleep.

And here’s a picture of Sadie since she hasn’t been on the blog recently. She still very jealous of Cullen. (She doesn’t like that he is taking our attention away from her.) I think she starting to warm up to him that she now gets to eat any food he drops and he is now interested in petting her. Oh Sadie. . . .those eyes tell it all. . . .you are still well loved, enjoy multiple trips to the dog park, and will be bffs with Cullen some day.