A Day in the Life – 16 Months + A 6 Year Old

For the first year of Bjorn’s life, I shared our schedule each month as he grew and his schedule changed–probably more as a journal for myself than anything. It has now been 4 months since my last recap, so I thought it would be fun to check-in to see where we’re at these days because quite a bit has changed since the end of September.

Cullen is now back to school in-person kindergarten 4 days a week with one day still being virtual. He goes to school from 8:15 a.m. – 1:15 p.m., so I just have Bjorn for the morning. I usually have little bit of time to do work during the first half of his nap, and then I go and pick up Cullen.

Our days are still very busy and full, but I am starting to feel like my workload is a little more manageable now that Cullen’s in school because I was way too busy in 2020 trying to work part-time from home while stay at home full-time with two kids. I could have/should have cut back on work, but I love it all too much, so it was hard to let go of some things. (Although, ultimately, some things did go!)

Since our 12 month check-in, these things have changed for Bjorn:
– He started walking around 14 months, and it happened pretty quickly.
– Bjorn weaned on his own right before 14 months old.
– At his 15 month appointment, he was in the 97th percentile for height (over 33 inches), 98th percentile for weight (28lbs 10oz), and 99th percentile for his head circumference.
– He doesn’t say any words yet, but I know that’s common for a second-born and a boy.

Here’s how our day went down . . . .

Thursday, January 28th

6:15 a.m.
My alarm goes off. Time to get up and run. I get my clothes on to go running outside, and then eat half of this Over Easy Breakfast Bar.

6:40 a.m.
I head out for my run and run 9 miles. I am supposed to run the middle 3 miles a little bit faster, but the slippery snow caused loose footing and running into the wind the second half made my splits pretty dismal for a workout that shouldn’t have been that hard. Oh well, I’ve had a lot of workouts that went well recently, so it was only a matter of time before one didn’t go well.

7:15 a.m.
Craig tells me Bjorn woke up at 7:15 a.m., and he got Cullen up at 7:30 a.m.

8:00 a.m.
I return from my run and am immediately thrown into mom-mode.

8:05 a.m.
Craig takes Cullen to school. I stay back with Bjorn and make myself a cup of coffee and grab a Superhero Muffin to eat while I get ready. I also try to tidy up the kitchen a bit and change Bjorn’s diaper and clothes.

8:30 a.m.
Craig returns from taking Cullen to school, and he starts working from home.

8:35 a.m.
I take a shower because I’m freezing cold. Honestly, I am not always great about getting ready right after running because I get distracted by the dishes or picking up the house, but today I need a shower because I’m freezing.

8:45 a.m.
I get ready while Bjorn plays with as many things as possible from the cabinet. If it keeps him entertained for an hour, I will take it because it usually only takes about 5 minutes to pick up. (I promise there’s no medicine kept on my side, and I am constantly watching him it he does find anything small.)

9:30 a.m.
In between getting ready, I’m also picking up the upstairs–making beds, putting things back where they belong, and trying to keep everything organized because it makes me feel a whole lot less stressed when everything is put away.

10:05 a.m.
Finally I am ready and the upstairs is picked up. I read a couple books to Bjorn, and then we head downstairs.

10:15 a.m.
Time to pick up the kitchen from breakfast. I also eat breakfast number two for myself (2 frozen waffles) and empty the dishwasher. Bjorn plays with the plastic containers and gets into more stuff, per usual.

11:00 a.m.
Just as I finish cleaning up the kitchen, it is time for lunch. (This is literally how it goes every day.) I get some lunch for Bjorn, and start re-heating leftovers for myself. (We don’t have a microwave, so I have to use the oven, which means it takes a little longer.)

11:40 a.m.
I take Bjorn upstairs and get him ready for his nap: diaper changed, curtains drawn, sound machine on, sleep sack on, and two books read.

11:50 a.m.
I say goodnight to Bjorn, leave his room, and finish picking up the house. I make it my goal to have myself ready and the house picked up before his nap so that I can dedicate all of his nap time for my own work. Luckily it only takes me 10 more minutes to finish cleaning up the house, so I have most of Bjorn’s nap to get my work done (or as much work done as possible).

12:00 p.m.
I start my work: I check emails, read Slack messages, check in with athletes–all while eating my lunch: leftover 20-Minute Lemon Pesto Penne with two fried eggs on top.

1:15 p.m.
Time to go and pick up Cullen. This is where I am SO thankful Craig works from home because I can leave Bjorn napping. I would hate to wake him up every day to go and pick Cullen up!

1:20 p.m.
Bjorn wakes up from his nap. (Of course, right after I leave. Craig tells me when I get home.) This means he had a 90 minute nap. I usually count on 60-90 minutes, and anything over that feels like a treat.

After picking up Cullen, we go to the library to pick up a DVD we put on hold.

2:05 p.m.
We return home. Craig has lunch ready for Cullen since they only get two snacks at school.

2:15 p.m.
Cullen starts his last class via Zoom. I do some work while Bjorn plays with Craig.

2:45 p.m.
Cullen is done with class, so I allow him to watch Wild Kratts–his current TV obsession. Bjorn plays some by himself, but I often take breaks to interact with him.

3:30 p.m.
Cullen’s episode of Wild Kratts ends, and he and Bjorn play while I work on this blog post.

4:15 p.m.
This is usually the time of the day I do my second workout (run or weights) right as Craig is finishing up his work day, but today I only have one workout, so instead I have an ART (Active Release Technique)/chiropractic appointment, so I leave for my appointment, and get some ART on my high hamstring, Graston on my Achilles, and my back and neck adjusted. I love that I can get this all done in one shot!

5:15 p.m.
I return home. I left instructions with Craig for dinner, which was a matter of cooking up burgers that I had put together and then assembling the Burger Salad Bowls. I made the Bonk Burgers the previous night from the Run Fast Cook Fast Eat Slow Cookbook and then used the leftovers in these bowls.

5:30 p.m.
We sit down together and eat dinner. We have been doing much better about this as of recently. (You’ll be proud, Mom.) I used to coach once or twice a week and then sometimes we just scrounged for ourselves, but I have consistently been meal planning, which helps us to sit down together as a family.

We have also started a fun game at the dinner table where each person has to ask everyone else two questions. It has been a fun way to keep Cullen engaged at the dinner table.

6:15 p.m.
Bjorn’s been looking sleepy for about 30 minutes, so I take him upstairs to get ready for bed.

I draw his bath, and let him play for about 10 minutes in the tub. I then take him to his room, put a clean diaper on, fresh pajamas, and we go brush his teeth. (He’s had all of his teeth since he was a year old!) Then I turn his sound machine on, put his sleep sack on, give him his pacifier, and read two books before I finally sing to him and rock him before putting him in his crib for the night.

During this time, Cullen is responsible for clearing off the table, and Craig loads the dishwasher.

6:50 p.m.
I say good night and walk out of Bjorn’s room.

6:55 p.m.
I hear Bjorn start to cry. I give him a few minutes to settle down on his own, but he isn’t, so I go into his room, tell him it is time to go to sleep, and then leave his room again. We’ve had to do another round of sleep training the past few days, which is never easy but always worth it. I’m not sure why, but he started waking up in the middle of the night. Usually Craig could rock him to sleep, but he still wasn’t going to bed, so we had to re-sleep train him. Every time his crying gets a little shorter, and I think he’s finally getting it because within seconds after leaving his room tonight he was out.

7:00 p.m.
I spend the next hour doing some Instagram work, working on this blog post, and more computer work. Craig and Cullen play a game together during this time.

8:00 p.m.
Craig reads to Cullen, and I tidy up the house for the night–making sure everything is in its place. I start the dishwasher, hand wash the rest of the dishes, sweep the floors, and pick up all of the toys.

9:00 p.m.
I head upstairs and get ready for bed: wash my face and go through my skincare routine, brush my teeth, and get my pajamas on.

9:15 p.m.
I foam roll while checking my phone messages one last time for the night.

9:30 p.m.
Lights out for me, which is earlier than I’ve gone to bed in a long time! I lay my head on my pillow, thankful for everything in my life, and genuinely glad I get to do it all over again tomorrow.

The end.