Double Naps!

When Cam was born, I was pretty sure I knew what I was doing since I had already been through things one time.  The truth was, my world was rocked from the top to the bottom with the new litle ball of madness.  Every single day I would think to myself, ‘If I can just make it the afternoon, both of them will take a nap and I can close my eyes, too.’  I was just so dag-on tired.  Every day I told myself this and every single day I was wrong. It made me a basket case. Even the days that it semi-worked for 10 minutes I sat down and just stared at the TV or the wall becaue the pain of going to sleep and being woken up was worse than the pain of knowing that you weren’t going to get any sleep.  Plus I didn’t want to miss the quiet and the still.  My nights were often ruled by this principle early on. It was awful and one of the strong reasons that I have no desire to go through it again.  I feel like I pushed on and I survived that period of time.

I am here to document, though, that the time has come when I have two children that nap in the afternoons every day.  This has been the case for a few months now, but in the off chance that we decide to add another child to the craziness, I want to be able to come back and read this and know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  Since Cam is down to one nap now and we help him get through the morning if he is a bit cranky and tired, he gives us a solid 2 – 3 hour nap in the afternoons (the vast majority of the time).  Even though Caroline is 4 1/2, she still takes a nap in the afternoon or at the very least has ‘rest time’ where she has to stay in her room or upstairs in the playroom until 3:00.  There are a lot of times we tell her it is ‘rest time’ and she will still lay down on her own and fall asleep. 

All of this is to say, that between 1:30 and 3:00/3:30, both kids are down and we can do what we want!  I can take a nap.  I can do some laundry (why would I do this?).  I can run to the store and get grocery shopping done.  I can get some work done.  I can catch up on TV.  I can take a shower if I haven’t gotten to that day.  I can catch up on Facebook or texts that I haven’t been able to respond to all morning.  I may even make a phone call. Those two hours are a crucial time for my patience.  It gives everyone a break from each other, most of us get some much needed rest we need, and allows us to charge our batteries so that we can handle what comes during the four hours between nap time and bed time.

Being a parent is the greatest, most rewarding thing that any human being can do.  But I’ll tell ya – amidst all of the craziness, there is nothing sweeter and more beautiful than a sleeping child.  And I am very glad I can say that for a couple of hours in the afternoon, I’ve got two of them!

Cam –16 Months!

We just took Cam for his 15 month appointment (1 month late), so I figured I would do a quick update on both of the kids!

Cam

• Cam weighed a little over 25 pounds and was 32 inches long.  He was right around the 70th percentile for both. 

• He is a wild man, but is just about the cutest thing I have ever seen.

• He is down to one nap.  He usually gives us a 2 – 3 hour nap in the afternoon.  Sometimes we have to help him get through the morning, but that one good nap in the afternoon is worth it.  He started taking good morning naps and then fighting the afternoon nap.  Since we had to choose one, we would much rather him sleep in the afternoon when Caroline naps.

• He goes to bed around 7 – 7:30 and gets up around 7 – 7:30.  He has nights every once in a while where that doesn’t work out, but that is definitely the majority of the time.  I’m not complaining!

• He has one of the most expressive faces I’ve ever seen.  He uses his eyebrows all of the time and will give the meanest look and then the next second be smiling and look like the sweetest thing in the world.

• He is frustrated that he can’t tell you all the things that he wants/needs, so his weapon of choice is an ear piercing scream that he has been using since he could make noise.  He will use it when he is angry or frustrated or to get your attention when he needs something.  Caroline gets it a lot when she tries to hug him or help him do something when he doesn’t want help!  I know once he starts talking I’m going to want him to be quiet, but I will be glad when he can use words!

• He can say a few words (that we can understand): mama, dada, sissy, what’s that, what say (what do they say), up, stuck, sish (fish)

• He LOVES animals. He asks what they are and then asks what they say.  He can make the sounds of a dog, lion, elephant, monkey, cow, and laughs every time I tell him a cat says meow instead of buff (woof).

• He is a sneaky little thing.  He loves to go behind Jason’s chair to get to the remotes and his phone and drink.  When we catch him and tell him to come out he falls to the floor and pretends to be asleep or he hides his face so that we can’t see him.  It is really hard not to laugh.

• He loves his sissy and his daddy, but he is a whole-hearted mama’s boy.  He fakes them out every once in a while and pretends like he wants them, but if I walk into a room he is all mine.  And I can’t say that I don’t love it!  He is my boy!

• We have already cut his hair once, but he has a head full of white-blond hair and the back is curly.  I think he is going to be like Caroline and I have straight on the top and curly in the back/on the bottom.  Sorry, guys!

• He is using utensils like a champ.  With Caroline I think we tried things too early and then they were frustrating with both of us, so we have paid a lot less attention to ‘when things are supposed to happen’.  So the other day Jason just handed Cam a fork to see what he could do and he stuck his food and put it right in his mouth like he has been doing it for years!

Now some pictures of my sweet 16 month old boy!

Digging a Frosty!

Crazy pants ‘helping’ with laundry!

When he gets bigger, this is how I will always remember his sweet face!

He is such a ham!  He got a new hat and mittens from Mimi and Papa and wore the mittens like socks for about half an hour!

Our boy is wide open, silly, crazy, smart, funny, and everything in between.  It is so much fun watching you grow and we are so proud to be your mommy and daddy!  We love you, Bubba!