A Day in the Life – 3 Years 6 Months

Yesterday Cullen was officially 3.5 years old!

Cullen is obsessed with Paw Patrol, loves being outdoors, is good at independent play, he is starting to recognize the letters of the alphabet, dislikes changing out of his pajamas each morning, is not a daredevil or risk taker, is pretty meticulous and wants everything to be in its correct spot, and he thinks I’m the funniest person, which I am a-okay with.

Favorite foods: watermelon, La Croix sparkling water, peas, grapes, cereal, asparagus, apples, pretty much any fruit for that matter

Favorite shows: Paw Patrol, Dinosaur Train, Thomas and Friends

Favorite books: A Day at the Airport, Noah’s Ark look-and-find book, any book by Leslie Patricelli

Favorite places to go: Hawaii, Minnesota, the park, Cabela’s, the library

Here’s what our day looked like yesterday. While every day is different for us, I’d say this is a pretty typical day with our wake-up time, getting out of the house by later morning, having a late lunch, and the type of activities we do most days.

Monday, April 23, 2018

8:05 p.m. I walk out of Cullen’s room after our bedtime routine of pajamas, brush teeth, wash face/hands, read books, and prayers–crossing my fingers he will actually go to bed.

8:20 p.m. Nope, Cullen comes out of his room saying he needs water. I get some water for him, and tell him to go back to bed.

8:30 p.m. Cullen comes out of his room again this time saying he needs something to eat. We’ve picked up on his games and know he’s not actually hungry. I walk him back to his room.

8:45 p.m. Now he comes out of his bedroom saying he needs to go poop. This is a regular occurrence, and I know this prevents him from falling asleep. Craig takes him to the bathroom and then puts him back in his bed.

9:15 p.m. He comes out of his bedroom asking if someone can lay with him because he’s scared of the shadows. This is also a regular occurrence even though he has a nightlight, an essential oil diffuser that lights up, a flashlight, and we leave his door cracked open with the hall light on. Craig goes to lay with him, and he falls asleep quickly.

10:00 p.m. Lights out for Craig and I.

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

6:30 a.m. I wake up and get ready to go running.

7:00 a.m. Head out the door for an easy seven mile run. The run goes well even though it is windy, overcast, and I still don’t feel recovered from the race on Saturday, I am glad I no longer have to run on snow and ice and the temps are freezing cold.

8:00 a.m. I return home.

8:02 a.m. Craig leaves for work.

8:05 a.m. Cullen wakes up. He wakes up crying, so I go and check on him. He must have been having a bad dream because he is talking about something, but I have no idea what.

8:15 a.m. I clean up–make the beds, pick up things off the floor, put clean dishes away, start a load of laundry, etc. I am constantly picking up the house, but I would rather do it periodically throughout the day rather than all at once.

8:50 a.m. Cullen watches Dinosaur Train on the iPad while I get breakfast made.

9:05 a.m. We eat breakfast. I made Kodiak Cakes for us, and of course Cullen requests a Micky Mouse pancake. He also has some strawberries, and cereal with milk.

I top my pancakes with Greek yogurt, strawberries, and a drizzle of maple syrup. I also have decaf coffee with creamer along with water and Nuun after running. Ideally I refuel within 30 minutes of finishing my run, but as you can see that doesn’t always happen.

9:20 a.m. I clean up the kitchen.

9:30 a.m. I foam roll while playing with Cullen. I’m not always great with foam rolling right after running, but I do make a point of doing it before I go to bed each night.

9:50 a.m. Time to take a shower and get ready for the day. Cullen plays in his room with his toys.

10:30 a.m. We’re still hungry, so Cullen and I have another snack before we run some errands. I have a piece of toast with almond butter and banana slices. Cullen has a banana. Somehow it takes us another 30 minutes to get out of the house. I seriously have no idea where the time goes sometimes.

11:10 a.m. We finally leave and run some errands. We go to Skinny Raven, return books to the library, drop off some donation items at Salvation Army, and then go to Target, which takes entirely way too long.

2:15 p.m. We finally return home and eat some lunch. I also talk to my sister while getting food ready. I have some random things to eat: ham deli slices, bagel with cream cheese, trail mix, and carrots. Cullen has an apple, frozen corn, crackers, and some yogurt.

2:40 p.m. I start prepping the slow cooker for dinner. I make this Taco Soup recipe, which I have made more times than I can count. It is so good and super quick and easy.

3:00 p.m. I do some computer work while Cullen plays outside, and then comes inside after a bit to play in his play room. I regularly stop to take breaks to play with Cullen and help him with various things.

4:30 p.m. Cullen and I work on flashcards and practice recognizing the letters of the alphabet.

5:05 a.m. Craig gets home from work. We greet him and tell him about our day.

5:15 p.m. I start getting ready to coach the Raven Run Club training group.

5:45 p.m. I leave to go to training group, and Cullen and Craig leave to go to a friend’s house for dinner. (In hindsight, I wouldn’t have needed to make dinner since Craig had other plans, but it’s actually good I did because the couple hosting the get-together had their power go out, so I offered my Taco Soup since they weren’t able to make dinner.)

6:00 p.m. I coach the Raven Run Club at The Dome.

7:45 p.m. I get back home and respond to emails, texts, Facebook, and Instagram comments. I also pick up the house one more time before going to bed. (I feel ten times better if my house is in order when I go to bed and wake up in the morning.)

9:00 p.m. I climb into bed and start working on this blog post.

9:30 p.m. Craig and Cullen return home. Of course, Cullen is still hungry, so Craig fixes him a snack.

9:45 p.m. They come upstairs, say hi to me, and then get ready for bed.

10:00 p.m. Lights out for everyone! [I don’t love when Cullen goes to bed this late. He actually does okay with staying up this late. (He doesn’t even fall asleep in the car on the way home.) However, he can get pretty hysterical by this time, which I know is due to him being tired.]

The end!