I know. I know. It's Valentine's Day. And I haven't posted here since just after Christmas. I promise I have lots of great pictures of Widget to share (okay, I have two) and I'll get to them soon. I even managed to get them off my camera and onto the computer the other day!
In the mean time I'm going to share a fun Widget Story that I emailed to myself over the weekend (since I really have NO time to log in here these days)
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As you all probably know, Widget's never been much of a sleeper. Between food allergies, reflux, night terrors and potty training I think she's had a grand total of five nights with zero wake-ups in her almost-thirty-months of existence (of course I'm counting!). So nap time, whether it was ten minutes or a blessed three hours, has always been sacred. It's quiet. It's calm. And sometimes I can even get some things done.
Until now. Autumn is trying to GET RID OF HER NAP. She refuses to sleep when at home. The horror! Someone please save me from impending preschooler-dom!
I have decided that, rather than bend to the will of a 3-foot-tall blondie, I am going to fight this tooth and nail. Or, rather, car ride + pumped up heat + NPR. It's a Nap Recipe if I've ever heard one. I even have a preferred route...straight up the road past school, right turn on the Long Road, then another right on the Twisty Road. Ninety-nine percent of the time she's out within feet of that second right turn.
The high success rate of this has made me feel pretty darn awesome. I am a mom who has thwarted a toddler - and I even get a nice ride out of it. Sometimes with "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!", too.
Do you see where this is going? Perhaps to a time when I can't wrangle her into the car?
Enter yesterday. We had already been out and about in below-freezing temperatures so when Nap Time came around I wasn't quite up to bundling up the kidlet only to use up the meager supply of gasoline in my car. So I decided to go about the nap Old School. With her bed. I read her a story, cuddled her a bit and then put her in her bed with some covers. I thought I'd avoid the "I'm not sleepy!" cries by telling her that she could read quietly in bed for a little while. I even let her pick two paperback books to take to bed.
Once I had Widget settled I went downstairs to start baking Valentine's Day cookies for her school. Five minutes into baking I hadn't heard a peep out of the baby monitor, which was highly unusual for a child who talks and sings non-stop. I decided to believe that meant she had gone to sleep after all.
Ha.
Ten minutes in I hear a decidedly loud THUMP above me (Widget's room is directly above the kitchen).
Me: Scott, did you hear that?
Scott: Yeah. But she's not talking. Maybe it was a cat?
A couple more minutes...BA-DUMP. THUMP.
Me: Maybe we should check on her?
Scott: Give it a minute. I'm not positive that was upstairs.
Two more minutes...thump. WHACK.
Me: Now is when I wish we had a video baby monitor.
Scott: Maybe I'll go check on her.
Me: Good idea.
Scott went upstairs and I continued baking. A minute passed...
Scott: Hey babe? Do you have a second? I think you need to see this.
I wiped off my hands and quickly made my way up the stairs. I had absolutely no idea what to expect. Scott didn't sound worried, so Widget probably wasn't hurt. And there isn't that much in her room that she could get into.
I rounded the corner and peeked into Autumn's room. There she was, sitting in her bed, surrounded by piles and piles of books. She had systematically emptied her bookshelf onto her bed and then climbed back in to be with all the books.
Me: Well, I did say you could read in your bed. I guess next time I need to specify how many books you can have.
