Sunday, September 26, 2010

Busy day and Beach Fun

Last Thursday was a busy and fun day.  First thing in the morning we had a visit from our friends Kelli and her daughter Addison.  Kelli is due any day now with a baby boy, so we've been trying to get together often in the hopes that the kids will wear each other out and Addison will nap so Kelli can rest.  I put on a CD of kid songs and Adam and Addison proceeded to have a little dance party on the sofa


Shortly after they left, my neighbor stopped by for a visit with her new little man, he's so tiny and scrumptious, I just adore snuggling with him.  He always falls asleep on me, so she comes over when he's being particularly fussy, ha!  Isn't he precious?


And then my mom called...she and my dad had my three neices for a few days while my brother and sister in law were out of town - and they decided to hit up Avila Valley Barn and then the beach for the afternoon.  So, after I got my baby fix, we headed out to meet them at the barn.  Adam ran all over the place shouting "coo-coo's!" which is what he calls chickens.   (he calls chicken nuggets that too - which is kind of sick if you think about it...I wonder if he KNOWS) He always likes running from pen to pen and feeding all the critters out there.   And of course we had to get the requisite pumpkin and hay bale pictures





Finally, the beach!  I wasn't really prepared and didn't have swim trunks or anything for AJ, but I just doused him in sunscreen and called it good.  He had a BLAST.  He loves the water, so that's where we spent most of our time...
 and then the girls were able to drag him away to help build sand castles and play in Abby's "hot tub".




By the end of the day, he was stripped nekkid and running around on the beach with a sandy butt, and my mom trying desperately to get him to sit still long enough to snap a bare booty picture. (which I don't have copies of yet).  I threw him in the car with nothing but a diaper and we both jumped in the shower when we got home.  I think I washed about 5 lbs of sand from his ears and his butt crack! 
It was a great day - there is something to be said about that sun-sapped kind of tired you feel after a few hours at the beach...makes for some good cuddle time on the couch with my boy :)

Saturday, September 25, 2010

For Kelly...

Ms. Kelly asked about naps.  WELL.  I have to say the boy is currently sleeping in his bed as I type and it's 3pm in the afternoon.  But I cheated.
I ran errands and drove around until the drunk eyes became closed eyes.  Then I transferred him to his bed and he let out a big sigh and rolled over and went right back to napping.  This is the first nap he's taken in the last 5 days.  I honestly don't see me putting him in bed during the day and him actually falling asleep, but Lord knows I'm still gonna try!   These days I will at the very least give him a stack of books and tell him it's "quiet time" - and he'll usually be good for an hour or so.
So yeah, it's all a big crapshoot for us napwise.  I always HOPE for a nap - but 9 times out of 10, he doesn't do it.  And with this whole bed thing?  ShYEAH, so not happening.  Unless I want to drive around for an hour everyday and pray that I can get him from the car to the house without the dog barking, the cat meowing, the phone ringing, the screen door banging, or me tripping over the 832 toys on my living room floor.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Another day, another change...

So, despite the fact that Adam will be turning 2 1/2 in October...he has still been in a crib all this time.  For two reasons:
#1 - He doesn't climb out....I've applied the "georgia" theory to this one.  See, Georgia could easily jump the white picket fence keeping her in the yard - but she doesn't KNOW that she could, so she doesn't.   Adam could probably have climbed out of his crib long ago...but didn't KNOW that he could...so he didn't.  Yay.

#2 - I believe in total containment.  I think I did a post once about playpens and the whole controversy there...well, I think small areas where the kid is safe and contained - are totally awesome.  I can leave him in there during naptime despite him running around in circles, and screaming "MOMMA!" at the top of his lungs 4927 times in a row.  But he's contained, so his ability to get into trouble or get hurt, is minimal.  Yay.

Hubs has been wanting to transition him to a toddler bed like a "Big Boy" for a while now - but knowing that naps are probably hopeless once that happens, and see the above two reasons, I've been putting him off.  We agreed to visit the discussion again once he hit 2 1/2...
Until yesterday.

Yesterday, he was doing his normal laps in the crib and screaming and generally trying to NOT sleep as per usual..when I heard some grunting and commotion and decided to glance into the video monitor to see what he was up to.  Aaaaand, discovered he was in the process of climbing out.  Dammit.
So I ran in there and actually caught him just as he was going over.  I put him back in and he proceeded to sling one leg over and do it again.  I hung my head and had to admit defeat.  There would be no nap, and there would be a crib turned into a toddler bed that evening.  SIGH


It was kind of a sad thing actually.  My baby will never again sleep in a crib.  This growing up thing is so bittersweet.  I'm so excited to see the little man he's becoming (he now says "no thank you" - how crazy is THAT??) and yet, I'm kinda bummed at the babyness going away.
Adam was SOOOO excited that he could climb in and out of his bed - he ran around like a mad man while we were putting the little rails up.

Anyhow...I had myself prepared for an awful night of transition.   We did our normal routine, story...song...kisses, etc - and then we both started to walk out of the room and he hopped right out of that bed and tried to follow us out of the room.   I decided to stay in there and try and calm him and keep him in bed, hoping he would go to sleep.  So back to bed he went, and I sat and sang some songs and he flipped and flopped and tossed and turned and eventually I had to pee, so I got up and walked out of the room and closed the door behind me.  A quick peek in the monitor told me that he was still in bed, and shortly after that - fast asleep.  WHEW - that way too easy.   We kept checking and he was still in his bed...and then right before we went to bed ourselves, I checked again and found him like this:

(we didn't turn on the light, but that flash made it look like we did!)
Hilarious - we laughed and chuckled and carefully put him back in his bed, where he slept ALL NIGHT LONG.  Never got up - never fell out of bed - totally amazing.  In the morning, I got up before him and I was making coffee at just after 8am when I noticed he was awake.  He lolled around in bed for a while and then sat up and said "Momma?"  hahahaha.  I went in there and hugged and kissed him and thanked him for sleeping through the night so well in his Big Boy bed.  He just beamed and kissed me back....so proud. 

Tonight, we did the same routine - story, song, night-night kisses....and we both left the room and closed the door.  He stayed in bed and 10 minutes later is FAST ASLEEP.  
Sometimes I think the things I worry about the most are the things I shouldn't be worried about.  HA.  Although I haven't attempted a nap yet.  Hmmmmm