Bjorn, you are now 9 months old!
It is true that when they say time goes by faster with each kid. I didn’t think time went by all that quickly with Cullen. I’m not sure if it was because he was our first baby and we didn’t have as many other things going on, or if he was up so many times throughout the night, but time is going by much faster this time around.
Notables at 9 months for Bjorn:
– He is crawling everywhere! Most of the time he crawls on his hands and knees unless he wants to go fast, then he army crawls.
– He has 7 teeth! The 7th tooth just popped through yesterday.
– The best part is that he is finally taking longer naps. Just within the past couple of weeks the 30 minutes naps seems to be a thing of the past! The 75-90 minute breaks are so much nicer, and I feel so much more accomplished and energized.
– While he typically wears 12 month clothing, a lot of his outfits are 12-18 month or 18 month size clothing.
– He loves solid food and eats nearly everything we put in front of him: bananas, avocado, sweet potato, shrimp, corn, peas, applesauce, bread, nectarines, pears, turkey burger, and the list goes on. We rarely do purees and just make sure to give him small pieces of soft foods from whatever we are eating.
– He loves being outdoors and any time he is fussy, we take him outside, and he immediately calms down.
– Getting him to nap in the car is nearly impossible. We took a trip out of town at (what should have been) the start of his nap, but it took him over an hour before he fell asleep.
– Bjorn loves music–always has since the day he was born.
– Just within the last couple of days, he has started pulling himself up to standing.
– He is obsessed with his brother and lights up whenever he’s around. Cullen is about the only one who can get him to belly laugh.
This is typically how our days look:
6:00 a.m. I get up to run or cross-train since my Achilles is still bugging me. Sometimes I will nurse Bjorn before working out, other times I don’t.
6:30/6:45 a.m. I start my workout. Craig gets Bjorn when he wakes up and starts feeding him breakfast.
7:45 a.m. I get back home from working out in time for Craig to start work at 8:00 a.m.
9:00/9:30 a.m. Depending upon when Bjorn woke up determines when he goes down for his first nap, but it is almost always between 9:00 and 9:30 a.m. During this time is often when I take a shower and get ready for the day.
10:00/11:00 a.m. The length of Bjorn’s nap varies, but he usually naps for 60-90 minutes.
Next we’ll play or Cullen will play with Bjorn a bit before lunch.
1:00/2:00 p.m. Once Bjorn wakes up from his morning nap determines when he will go down for his afternoon nap. Once again he will take a 60-90 minute nap. I’ve noticed if he naps shorter in the morning, he will take a longer nap in the afternoon and vice versa.
After Bjorn’s second nap, we might go for a walk or run a couple of errands before dinner.
5:00/5:30 p.m. Usually right around the time I am prepping dinner is when Bjorn starts getting fussy and to his witching hour as it is getting close to bedtime.
6:15 p.m. I promptly start the bedtime routine for Bjorn: bath, clean diaper and pajamas, possibly one last nursing session if he didn’t have one within the last hour or so, a book, and then I lay him down awake in his crib.
6:45/7:00 p.m. Bjorn almost always falls asleep within just a few minutes of being put down and then sleeps through the night until the next morning. This was entirely different than Cullen’s multiple wake-ups every night at this age.
7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. This is my time to get a bunch of work done. Craig almost always clean up the kitchen while I am putting Bjorn down, which leaves me time to do my work during this time.
I documented our day yesterday–Friday, June 26–hour by hour. This was a pretty typical Friday for us as I try to do a ‘Field Trip Friday’ for Cullen. Our schedule did get a little off since we didn’t leave the house right after Bjorn’s morning nap and were out longer than I would have liked, so Bjorn’s afternoon nap occurred later than usual.
Friday, June 26
6:00 a.m.
I wake up 15 minutes before my alarm is set to go off. I have been doing this for a while, which does help with the wake-up process as I am waking up on my own, but it would be nice to sleep those extra 15-30 minutes.
6:10 a.m.
I finally get out of bed and start getting ready for my run.
6:30 a.m.
I check the monitor and see Bjorn is still sleeping, so I forego nursing or pumping because frankly I don’t like pumping and would rather deal with full boobs. Ha! I use this sports bra or this one if I don’t nurse or pump in the morning and both provide enough support.
6:40 a.m.
I start my run. It is a cool, overcast morning–perfect for running, and I hardly break a sweat. Ha! (That’s probably the opposite of most of you right now. The one perk of living in Alaska.) The 6 mile run goes well. My Achilles feels 98% good, so I’m happy with it.
7:35 a.m.
I return back home from my run, and as soon as Bjorn sees me, he starts fussing. That’s his way of telling me he’s ready to eat. I nurse him and check messages on my phone at the same time.
7:45 a.m.
Craig made me breakfast (Kodiak Cakes), so I eat breakfast and feed Bjorn some of my pancakes as well. Craig tells me that Bjorn woke up at 7:00 a.m., which seems to be the new norm as well. He used to wake up around 6a.m., but I will happily take 7a.m. instead. Craig and I chat for a bit before he starts his work day.
8:00 a.m.
I clean up the kitchen, put clean dishes away, and then go upstairs to change Bjorn’s diaper.
8:30 a.m.
Cullen isn’t up yet, so I wake him up. He is our night owl–often staying up until 9:30/10:00 p.m. despite being put to bed at 8:30 p.m.
8:35 a.m.
I hang out with the boys, playing, and talking to Cullen and telling him our plans for the day.
8:50 a.m.
I straighten up the bedrooms, making the beds, picking things up, and tidying up.
9:10 a.m.
Bjorn is starting to get fussy, and I can tell it is time for a nap. I usually wait closer to 2.5 or sometimes 3 hours until I put him down for his first nap, but I’m wondering if Bjorn was up earlier than Craig thought.
9:15 a.m.
I go through Bjorn’s pre-nap routine which takes about 5 minutes, put him down in his crib awake, and he’s out within a minute or so.
9:30 a.m.
I go into our garage with Cullen to lift weights. He hangs out with me playing, “lifting” weights, and talking to me.
10:15 a.m.
I have an oil change appointment, so I take the car into have the oil changed. Cullen stays with Craig while he is working. Cullen is good at keeping himself occupied so that Craig can still get work done.
10:30 a.m.
I have the oil changed and get a little bit of work done while I wait for the car. I also run one other errand before heading back home.
11:20 a.m.
I arrive back home, and Craig tells me that Bjorn just woke up, which means he took a 2 hour nap!
11:30 a.m.
Craig has been making more meals than I have lately and has lunch ready for me as well! What a guy! I eat lunch and the boys have their meals at the same time. Cullen has plain yogurt with honey, an apple, and some chips and salsa. Bjorn has plain yogurt, applesauce, and shredded cheese. I have this sandwich plus an apple, chips and salsa, and some chocolate chips for dessert.
12:00 p.m.
I finally take a shower and get ready to go hiking. I get the boys ready, our things together, snacks packed, and gear out which always takes entirely way too long.
12:45 p.m.
We finally drive to the trailhead. It is starting to sprinkle as we were leaving, and I second guess our decision to hike, but I figure I put in all this effort to go, we should at least try. Luckily it wasn’t raining when we got to the trailhead, and it holds off until the very tail end of our hike.
1:10 p.m.
We get to the Prospect Heights Trailhead and start hiking. Bjorn wasn’t happy going into the pack, but once he’s in, he’s content.
2:40 p.m.
We finally make it back to the car. I attempt to nurse Bjorn, but he is too distracted, so we head home as it is quite a bit past Bjorn’s nap. I usually only keep him up for 3 hours in between naps, so this is definitely not the norm. Most babies would just fall asleep in the car, but I think I’ve trained him only to sleep in his crib he never falls asleep during our 20 minute drive back home.
3:10 p.m.
We arrive back home, and I immediately put Bjorn down for his second nap of the day. Now that his naps have been longer, he has been consistently taking two naps. When they were short, I often had to do three days during the day otherwise he would go too long in between naps.
3:15 p.m.
Bjorn naps, and I do some computer work: replying to emails, texts from athletes, catching up on work messages, etc. Craig takes Sadie and Cullen for a walk.
4:00 p.m.
Bjorn wakes up from his nap. I wasn’t going to let him sleep longer than an hour, so I’m glad he woke up on his own. We hang out for a bit, I try to wrap up some more work, and Craig and I figure out what we want to have for dinner.
5:00 p.m.
I nurse Bjorn and then get started on dinner. I make pizza dough and Craig gets the pizza toppings ready. I end up wearing Bjorn in the Ergo since he is getting fussy.
5:45 p.m.
I set Bjorn in his high chair and give him some solid foods. We almost always eat dinner as a family, but the pizza isn’t ready, so Bjorn eats before us because come 6:15/6:30 p.m. he turns into a pumpkin.
6:30 p.m.
Bjorn is quickly fading, so I take him upstairs to do his pre-bedtime routine: bath, diaper and pajamas, a book, and then put down in his crib.
7:00 p.m.
I walk downstairs, turn on the monitor, and Bjorn is already sleeping.
7:10 p.m.
Craig starts a movie for Cullen, and we eat our pizza while watching the movie Onward. (Sometimes we rarely do!) I work on this blog post during the movie.
8:45 p.m.
Bedtime routine for Cullen: pajamas, go potty, brush teeth, book, and prayers.
9:15 p.m.
I get ready for bed, lay out my clothes for my run the next morning, and tidy up the house. Cullen proceeds to come out of his room about 5 times during the next 30 minutes.
10:00 p.m.
Lights out for Craig and I. And I think Cullen falls asleep by this time as well. Ha!
The end.
