It’s been a while since I’ve recapped one of our days. The last time I did a ‘day in the life’ post was when Cullen was 2 years 10 months old, which was back in August. Cullen is now 3 years 3 months old, and while much of our schedule has remained the same, he continues to change in many ways. One thing that still remains constant is how much he dislikes sleeping (which we’ve battled since the day he was born). He sleeps through the night on a pretty regular basis (hallelujah!), but man does he procrastinate on going to bed.
I was hoping to have this blog post up much sooner, but things are BUSY these days. I’ve added a couple new athletes, and I am now coaching the a couple of training groups through the store, so life is full–but good!
Tuesday January 23, 2018
5:15 a.m. My alarm goes off. I get up and get ready to go running.
5:45 a.m. I leave the house and run to The Dome, which is our indoor 400 meter track. It collapsed last year around this time with all the snow we had, and we really missed it, so it is nice to have it back again. I ran 1.5 miles to The Dome, so I do a couple more laps for a 2 mile warm-up before starting some drills, stretches, and striders before my workout.
6:20 a.m. I do my workout of 12 x 200 meter intervals. I had no time expectations going into this workout, but I do remember that at my peak, I was just under 40 seconds for each one. I surprise myself by hitting some pretty even splits – :40, :41, :38, :37, :38, :38, :37, :38, :38, :38, :37, :36
7:30 a.m. After a few cool-down laps, I get dressed to run back home. I tack on a little bit more distance to make it an even 9 miles for the day. I was hoping to run 10 miles, but it was getting late, and I was tired of running through the freshly fallen snow.
8:00 a.m. I arrive back home. Cullen is already up, so I’m guessing he woke up at his normal time of 7:30/8:00 a.m. Craig heads off to work.
8:15 a.m. I make myself a breakfast of sprouted grain English muffin with an egg and avocado on top. I also have a protein smoothie and some nuts. I’m hungry after that workout! Cullen has some cereal, several cutie oranges, and yogurt.
9:00 a.m. After cleaning up the kitchen, I take a shower and get ready to go to the gym.
9:30 a.m. I pick up the bedrooms and get Cullen ready, which takes a lot of convincing to get him changed out of his pajamas and into regular clothes. One of my least favorite things about this stage is how long it takes him to do things because either he doesn’t want to do them (change his clothes), or he has to do them himself. It is hard to get him to understand that things need to be done in a timely manner.
10:10 a.m. We are finally ready and drive to the gym.
10:20 a.m. I drop Cullen off at the child care at the gym. I lift weights, do a lot of stretching, and core work. I have my typical weight lifts I usually do, but today I try to mix it up and do things I haven’t done in a while: hamstring curls with the exercise ball, use the TRX straps for an incline row, heavier squats, and single-leg deadlifts on the Bosu ball.
12:15 a.m. We arrive back home from the gym, and I get lunch together for the two of us.
12:40 a.m. For Cullen I put together a plate of cucumbers, olives, corn chips, and an apple. My lunch includes a turkey burger, spinach salad, and I have some other random things that went unpictured (crackers + goat cheese and chips + guacamole).
1:00 p.m. I do a little computer work while Cullen watches Paw Patrol.
1:30 p.m. I attempt to give Cullen some quiet time. To be honest, I’ve gotten out of the habit of giving him quiet time most days, as I find our day flows a little better if we run our errands or get outside the house in the afternoon instead of rushing to get out in the morning and rushing to get back for lunch and quiet time. Cullen gave up naps a long time ago, so I know he won’t fall asleep, and since he’s so good at independent play, I often don’t feel like I need a break. I do lay down with him today though because I am tired! Of course he doesn’t fall asleep.
2:00 p.m. We get up and play with his fishing game for a bit, and I help him put a puzzle together.
2:30 p.m. Cullen continues to play by himself, while I prep food that we are going to bring to a friend who just had a baby.
3:15 p.m. We head to my friend’s house to deliver the meal to them. We talk about our labor and delivery stories (naturally) and catch up on life.
5:00 p.m. Cullen and I head back home.
5:15 p.m. We arrive home, and I grab a quick bite to eat before coaching.
5:40 p.m. I head back to The Dome (This time I drive.) to coach the evening Raven Run Club training group. Cullen hangs out with Craig at home.
6:00 p.m. Coach the Raven Run Club training group.
7:30 p.m. I drive back home, and straighten up the house because it blew up over the last 24 hours.
8:00 p.m. I get Cullen ready for bed: pajamas on, brush teeth, and then read a couple of books.
8:30 p.m. I say good night and walk out of his room. I finish cleaning up the house because it is still a disaster and wash way too many dishes.
9:00 p.m. Cullen still isn’t sleeping, so I go and check on him. He now says his “belly is mushy” and he needs some food. I remind him that we ate dinner, and that was his opportunity to eat. I offer him is sippy cup of water and leave his room.
9:30 p.m. Once again Cullen still isn’t sleeping, and he has gotten off his bed and brought a few toys onto his bed to play with. I put all of his toys back in his toy basket, which results in a lot of “no’s” and “I just have to do something.” I am about ready to leave his room when he tells me he has a poopy diaper. (This is a regular nightly occurrence.) I change his diaper, and I know he will fall asleep now.
10:00 p.m. I get ready for bed, and then it’s lights out for me!
Things Cullen likes:
- being outdoors
- doing things himself
- talking
- going for stroller runs
- eating
- watching things on the iPad or TV
- playing with his toys
Things Cullen dislikes:
- going to bed
- having his hair washed
- having me help him with things
- transitions
- changing out of his pajamas
Other notables:
- Cullen is really good at independent play these days.
- Cullen now initiates going to the bathroom himself. It has been a few weeks since he had a potty accident. I still ask him often if he has to go, but for the most part he remembers himself. I potty-trained him about a year ago, but we had a lot of accidents between then and now.
- He still wears a diaper at night, and I know I need to cut him off the beverages at night before that changes.
Thing that are difficult about this age for me:
- The fact it takes him a long time to do certain things: get changed, get ready for bed, transitions aren’t always smooth.
- When something upsets him it is the.end.of.the.world! He goes from happy to crying in two seconds.
I’m hopeful (and think) these are things that just come with the territory of being three. I know every stage has their own struggles, and I know I could be battling so many worse things, so while I lose my patience from time to time, it helps that he is now sleeping through the night (which wasn’t the case for a couple of years), and this means I am more well-rested and better able to deal with the roller-coaster of emotions.
Other “A Day in the Life” posts I’ve written:
it’s fun for me to read these sort of posts…feels like a preview of the future! i’m glad to know cullen still likes stroller runs. my son does too, at 20 months. i know so many people who say their kids hate the stroller but i want to keep him in there as long as possible for running purposes, haha. glad to know that’s a possibility!
We’ve come up with some pretty silly games to keep him entertained if he does get antsy.