Day in the Life With an Eight Month Old

And just like that, sweet baby Max is an eight month old! It feels like yesterday that I wrote Day in the Life With a Newborn, Day in the Life With a Four Month Old, and Day in the Life with an 18 Month Old!

This stage is definitely my favorite. It's a sweet spot of him getting a big personality and little teeth but not yet scooting around.

A lot has changed! First, I just weaned off seven months of exclusively pumping, which has been nothing short of amazing.

Second, we went from having a sitter three days a week to sending Max to daycare four days a week starting in October. I'll be with him Fridays. Daycare is super new to us and while it feels a little scary, I'm so excited for Max to meet friends and start a new routine.

Before daycare starts, our moms have been switching off coming down for the week so I can work. Insane gratitude for our stellar mamas!

This mama is working full time and still trying on finding a groove. Things feel chaotic and that's ok. My emotions feel like they've leveled out now that I've weaned; and I'm looking forward to keep feeling a little bit more like myself. Max is such a gift, and each day I stare into his precious face and remind myself how lucky we are to call him ours.

Although we follow a schedule, there are many times we stray from it---whether he takes a longer or shorter nap, we're out and about, etc. He doesn't always get solids three times a day. We find it hard on the weekends especially when we're not home. We just make it work, and know that life is all about adapting!

I hope you enjoy this little peek into our lives on days when I'm home with Max! Be sure to check out Six Month Baby Favorites in case you missed it.

6:15am

I wake up naturally these days around 6am or 6:30am and...I don't have to pump! Words can't describe the freedom I feel. We're going to Costa Rica for our belated honeymoon next week so I'd planned to start weaning a month before.

I usually spend this time making Max's bottle and getting his breakfast ready to go since I'm usually working out while he eats solids. We use use Bobbie formula, which is an organic European-style formula with great ingredients and sourcing transparency. Use code Alexis10 for 10% off!

I try to read a bit while I sip coffee. We grind the beans and get the coffee ready to go the night before so all I have to do is click "start." It's a miracle!

7am

I get sweetie man up! I worked with Kristen of Snooze Clues on schedules, feeding and sleeping starting when Max was 5 weeks old. She first helped me get him on a schedule then and we started sleep training very early on. Max was sleeping about 7pm-7am by 5 months.

It took a LOT of hard work and persistence on our end, but we're so glad to now have the tools for great sleep hygiene. He did his first 8 hour stretch at 6 weeks thanks to Kristen. She taught me SO MUCH. My best advice would be to start practicing good sleep habits early on (have a set bedtime and routine, not taking him out of crib when he cries, not doing night feeds for too long so he learns he needs to eat during the day, letting him cry starting with 3 minutes, etc).

Use code HUMMUSAPIEN10 for 10% off her packages! She also has gift cards, which would make an amazing gift.

Max is usually up around 6:30am but he just hangs in the crib til we get him around 7am. I change his diaper and then we head downstairs. Max chugs his 7oz bottle (we love these bottles). Then we hang on the couch or the floor and read some stories or play.

His current favorite toy is this light up musical fish bowl. He can't get enough!

8am

I head to Butcher Shop for a reformer pilates workout and Jeff (or our moms) feeds Max eats breakfast. Lately it's chia pudding made with yogurt, applesauce, peanut butter etc. or oatmeal with nut butter and banana. Some days he's into avocado toast, but the jury's still out on how gluten effects his skin.

I recently blended fresh blueberries with roasted sweet potato, flax, and quinoa and he was into that, too.

I try to always give him something to grab, like a hunk of a plum or banana. Most of the time we hand him the pre-loaded spoon and he feeds himself. We do baby led weaning sometimes and also lean into the purees/mashes. I's not perfect, and it isn't supposed to be!

Then it's more playtime till his next nap. I eat eggs, oatmeal and fruit and Jeff and I trade off getting ready and watching Max.

9am

Time for Max's morning nap. We love this sleep sack after transitioning him out of the sleep suit. He'll nap for a couple hours usually, so I take advantage and get work/laundry/eating/tidying done!

11am

Max is up and it's time for bottle number two. Then we'll go on a walk before it's time for solids again at noon.

12pm

Lunchtime! Today Max tried green beans for the first time, which he absolutely loved. There wasn't a ton of eating happening, but he had so much fun with them. He also had some plum with a thin smear of almond butter plus a blend of steamed carrots, apple, spinach and quinoa.

These EZPZ mats that stick to the high chair are perfect and this spoon is our fave. Max gets sooo excited when I give him sips of water out of the weighted cup!

I store blends in these 4oz glass jars and they're fab because they're freezer safe, too.

1pm

Nap time! Right now Max takes two long naps, but we'll see how that all changes with daycare. Sometimes he'll have a short snooze later in the afternoon in the stroller but we keep it to 30 minutes.

While Max sleeps, I eat a banh mi sandwich and tomato soup for lunch from Alchemy, clean up Max's high chair, throw in some laundry, work on a blog post, and order diapers, wipes, toilet paper, and some snacks from Costco online.

3pm

Max wakes up ahead up schedule and drinks his bottle closer to 2:45pm. Then Max play in his activity center while I get some more work done. This thing will occupy him for quite a while! Then we move on to play with some other toys.

I snack on snap pea crisps and hummus plus a matcha energy bite from the freezer.

5:30pm

Dad is off work and we go on a family walk to the park! My favorite time.

6pm

Get home and feed Max dinner, which is something easy and not terribly messy like leftover avocado mashed with roasted sweet potato, lemon juice, and garlic powder.

6:45pm

Start bedtime! There are times where we have to start bedtime an hour earlier if he didn't have good naps during the day. First we give Max a water bath (we don't use soap more than once a week because of his skin). Then we lotion him up, change him into a onesie, and feed him a bottle.

We give him lots of kisses and a little bouncing around in our arms and then it's time to sleep. We kiss him goodnight and don't see him until the next morning at 7am! Sweet dreams, little monkey man.