Day in the Life at 20 Months

This was originally supposed to be a post with a recipe for a delicious spaghetti squash casserole that also included a brief “day in the life at 20 months” recap but then the day in the life got a little wordier than I originally planned. Oops! I’ll post the spaghetti squash recipe tomorrow.

Finn turned 20 months old on Saturday so it feels like a good time to talk day in the life. 🙂 Note, we don’t really have a set daily routine because each day is different due to preschool, Finn spending time with his dad and the fact that my work schedule includes mornings, evenings and weekends due to the nature of my industry. Some days I do a lot more momming than working (like this day), some days are a more equal split and some days are 100% work and no momming. It all seems to work out in the end but boy is it ever a crazy juggling act! Luckily, I thrive on having a lot of balls in the air so I just try to make the best of it and do the best I can. It’s imperfect but I am perfectly fine with that. <3

4:50a – Finn woke up crying but was able to settle himself back down without me going in. I was wide awake after that and my alarm was set for 5:30a anyway so I decided to go ahead and get up. I actually want to try a new schedule where I go to bed earlier and get up around 5a every day. I have just come to realize that I am SO much more focused and productive in the early morning hours and 99% of the time it feels like torture to make myself work after Finn goes down. I’m thinking of implementing a 9ish or so bedtime and getting up earlier to work/meditate/study/write/practice yoga/whatever.

5:15a – I made coffee and got settled in front of the computer. I worked on yesterday’s post and it took me about two hours to pull it together.

7:20a – Finn woke up and when I went in his room the first thing he asked for is Zoey, shortly followed by books and then milk. This is a very normal morning in the life of Finn.

7:30-9:45a – I made a big pot of banana oatmeal for me and Finn to share. He enthusiastically ate it but was more interested in eating out of my bowl instead of his….even though they were the same. Haha.

Here are the measurements:

1 teaspoon coconut oil
1 mashed banana
1/2 cup oats
1 tablespoon chia seeds
Dash cinnamon
Dash salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
Couple tablespoons raisins
Couple spoonfuls cottage cheese

I heat the coconut oil first and then add the mashed banana. I cook it until it breaks down into mush (it incorporates with the oatmeal better this way and naturally sweetens it) and then add the rest of the ingredients (minus the cottage cheese) and cook at low heat until thickened (except the cottage cheese). Stir cottage cheese in at the end.

I like to top my oatmeal with peanut butter. I also did a little pumpkin butter for this bowl.

It was in the 20s yesterday morning so a great day for oatmeal! Finn didn’t have preschool due to the MLK holiday so we got to enjoy a leisurely start to the day. I did a ton of food prep including baking sweet potatoes, baking a spaghetti squash, baking my maple carrot oat banana bread and making a big pot of lentil, cauliflower and kale soup. Not sure why my banana bread browned so much but it tasted great!

10:30a – after I got both of us dressed, we went to Greenapple Sports & Wellness because I had an appointment with Dr. Bradberry. I try very hard to schedule all of my appointments for when Finn is in school or with his dad but I totally forgot about the holiday. Thankfully, Dr. Bradberry has two of his own and was super accommodating of Finn.

If you’ve been reading for a while you know that Greenapple is my go to for everything from aches and pains to injuries to keeping myself in proper alignment. Dr. Bradberry has helped me with everything from calf strain to foot pain to upper back tightness due to breastfeeding to hip issues. I think we’ve been working together for 6-7 years now and I trust him so much.

Throwback to 2016 after the Rocktoberfest Half Marathon! 

Anyway, after a LONG hiatus from regular care, I’m going to see him 1-2x week to do some soft tissue and rehab work on my right hip and hamstring area. (I’m not acutely injured, this is just chronic stuff…I’ll go into detail more about it at some point in future but not important for today!)

11:30a – we swung into Whole Foods to get a few groceries for the week.

Noon – back at home I fed Finn lunch and then put him down for his nap. He had a grilled cheese on Dave’s Killer Sprouted thin-sliced bread, a mandarin and yogurt with a little bit of honey mixed in. He ate some of the grilled cheese and yogurt, none of the mandarin.

1p – once Finn was down for his nap, I had my lunch. A bowl of the lentil, cauliflower and kale soup that I had made earlier that morning. I ate it while I was on a call and also had a few bites of carrot cake.

1:40p – I heard Finn crying and checked the monitor. He was sitting up in his crib and I could just tell something was off. I decided to go into his room and discovered he’d thrown up in his crib. 🙁 🙁 🙁

I got him cleaned up and into some comfy PJs. He didn’t have a fever and as soon as he woke up and got going he was back to his normal self…running around with Zoey, playing and asking for a snack. I felt hopeful that it was an isolated event and so far (24+ hours since), it has been and he’s been fine. Knock on allllll the wood because I cannot hang with norovirus again over here and it’s going around Charlotte like wildfire.

2p – I spent the next couple of hours playing with Finn, cleaning, doing laundry and prepping this spaghetti squash casserole. How excited are you for the recipe tomorrow!?

4:30p – I considered skipping our daily walk but since Finn had been acting like nothing happened since his nap…and all the creatures were getting restless indoors…I bundled us up and we walked for about 45 minutes in the neighborhood. I am firmly in the camp that fresh air is good for everyone.

5:30p – back at home, I got Finn’s dinner ready and his sitter arrived. I ran out to go teach a class and was thrilled to get a text from her on the way to teach saying, “he’s a BIG fan of the spaghetti squash.” She said he ate his first serving and asked for more! He also ate some buttered sourdough toast but said no thank you to the single brussel sprout I put on his plate. No surprise there but I am counting it as a huge win that he likes the spaghetti squash casserole! It’s packed with spaghetti squash, mushrooms, onions, tomato sauce, etc. Lots of good veggies for him.

6p – taught a hot power yoga class at VIBE5. It’s always weird for me to teach after spending a weekend in training because I’m so in my head about everything but class was wonderful.

7:30p – arrived back at home and Finn was down for the night. I said goodbye to our sitter. I am so blessed to have three amazing ladies who regularly help me with Finn when I’m teaching or have trainings. They are a godsend since my family isn’t local. I couldn’t do it without them. <3

8p – I showered, got in PJs and heated up the spaghetti squash casserole along with some brussels sprouts that I had roasted earlier. I turned on The Bachelor and spent the next two hours intermittently watching it while answering/sending work emails and posting a video tour of the Asheville Airbnb on Instagram stories. I’m having a really hard time getting into this season. I am just not a fan of stupid drama and it feels like 100% unnecessary drama.

10p – Finn woke up crying and I did go in to check on him because I was on high alert from nap time. He was fine so I just rocked him back to sleep. We are in a bit of a sleep regression right now and he’s waking up multiple times a night. 75% of the time he self-soothes and I don’t have to go in so I cannot complain.

10:15p – I read a bit in bed and then went to sleep. I am still getting through Nine Perfect Strangers. I like it, I just keep falling asleep! Oh, related…I am listening to Ask Again, Yes on Audible when I’m in the car. It is dense and a bit heavy and I’m not certain what I think about it yet.

Check back tomorrow for the spaghetti squash recipe. It’s my variation of the INCREDIBLE PaleOMG spaghetti pizza pie but I make so many changes to it that I just need my own post with my version!

QUESTIONS

What time of day are you most productive?  

What’s your favorite spaghetti squash recipe? 

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