Only 1 nap a day stinks.
I am in mourning.
Amelia has officially given up her morning nap, and I miss it so much! I loved getting 2 breaks a day and I really liked our life on a 2 nap schedule. It seemed to leave just enough play time, errand time and ME time. I keep hoping her one and only nap will start to lengthen and she'll sleep the better part of the afternoon, but so far, no such luck. I don't know what to do with her for these extra hours and am kind of going crazy. Any ideas?
What am I going to do when she goes to no naps a day??? Preschool.
Here is what we did yesterday during some of our quality time together (about 10 minutes because that's all her attention span lasts...by the way, I am finding out there are lots and lots of 10 minute intervals in a day.) We finger painted using a mixture of flour and water. The directions said to add food coloring, but I didn't feel like changing my clothes for the activity and didn't think Amelia would mind (she didn't), so we just finger painted in white (but I gave her green paper to add to the fun).
Here is a video after her paper turned to mush and she used it to wipe the rest of the finger paint onto the floor. Don't worry, as you can see, Cash licked the floor clean for me.
Amelia also had her first haircut the other day. She had slowly but surely grown a mullet (exhibit A) and I felt bad for her, so I trimmed up the back (exhibit B). It's a little short (but better than a mullet) and I think it looks cute. The pictures aren't the best, but they were all I was getting that day, so here they are.
Exhibit A: Mullet
Exhibit B: no mullet
11 comments:
Way cute hair cut!
Isaac went to one nap a day around 14 months. I found that if I kept him awake until he was pretty tired and he had a full tummy when he went down, he took a longer nap. Errands, outings, or play group several mornings a week help me fill the time. Good Luck!
I would look into storytime at your local library. That always helps break up the day, and kids seem to love it. Good luck! It can be a rough transition ;)
When I get stir crazy at home and don't know what to do with the kids, it makes such a difference for me to get outside! Being outside makes me so much happier.
When my kids were little just going for walks was fun. They would look at everything we passed by and pick up everything from the ground.:) Playgrounds. Playgroups. If it's too cold, we would walk up and down the mall, have story time at the library, go to Wal-Mart and look at all the toys, or go to "free play" at a gymnastics' center. We also did Kindermusik once, more for me than the kids.
But the real secret for me has been having two kids:). At first it was really stressful because they were both so demanding, but now at almost 5 and almost 4, they entertain each other so well and often prefer each other's company over me. They do a lot of imaginary play.
For me, the time you are in right now was the hardest it got because the kids needed me so much and expected my attention/entertainment all the time.
Also, preschool has been great!:) I have time to exercise again, twice a week this year, that is, I'll have time until our new little boy comes in March!:)
Good luck, Michelle! You are doing great! and Amelia is such a beauty. Her haircut looks great!
I just thought of a few other things we used to do when we had time to burn:). Our apartment complex had a pool and a volleyball court. I went and bought a few plastic sand toys from the store and the kids loved digging in the sand and splashing in the baby pool. You could even do a mommy&me swim class at the Y, I imagine.
We also liked walking around nearby nature preserves.
Ha! A mullet! Remember that Romanian mullet you styled for like an hour in Iasi? Like mother like daughter I suppose. :)
I love her hair (and the length)! It's so cute! I love the finger painting video. I just might have to do that with Drew. I think he'd love it! (Although I'm sure he'd just eat it...)
It IS cute. Good luck with the naps...Dal's second nap DID get longer once the first nap was gone. Here's hoping for you!
I love her haircut! I love it when little kids get their first hair cuts! It makes it look like and actual hair do instead of just proud parents that it's gotten so long.
She didn't look like she had a Mullet but her hair cut is adorable!
You are brace for attempting the flour water painting project! I so wish we had a better place to paint and do messy projects, than our one and only kitchen table.
You are brace for attempting the flour water painting project! I so wish we had a better place to paint and do messy projects, than our one and only kitchen table.
And I actually love one nap a day. Maybe that's because that's all the others take, but 2 naps keep us at home and inside all morning!
Once I got used to it, I actually loved only one nap. We could do so much more in the morning. We'd go to the gym, play volleyball, go to the park or story time, visit the botanical garden, have play dates...so many options with the extra hours. You may notice that most of them were out of the house though! Good luck!!
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