That is one thing that will always be certain in parenting. Expect changes. It's always when you start thinking, "Man, we're going so good. The kids are napping great, we've got such a great flow. Things are all working great." And the next day, things start changing.
That's what I'm going through with the gems, I think. Monkey is almost 1. That's when Moose changed from 2 naps to 1. Moose is 3 1/2. If he doesn't get enough energy out, he has a really hard time napping. Especially if Monkey isn't very quiet. (which happens quite frequently. Today she babbled and played for 1 hour before falling asleep. Although that is unheard of, it happened. You never know.)
So then we approach the, what-do-we-do-different-what-do-we-dare-change, game. Oh, if you haven't played it, it's a fun game. (can you feel the sarcasm there?) I think we're getting a bit better at it. We know now to only implement one new thing at a time. That way, we know what is making the difference. Like babies and new foods. You only introduce one at a time so if they have an allergic reaction, you know which one to blame. If you implement too many changes to a structure or routine, you never really know which change actually helped, if not all.
So we're contemplating changing the routines, changing our habits. First off, is letting Monkey go to bed when she's ready (about 7) and letting Moose stay up a little bit later. Not much, an hour at most. (Today's a Friday too, so that helps us feel flexible.) Next will be to help him get his energy out. This week wasn't very helpful since I was sick most of the week and trying to take it easy. Then with some rainy weather, hubs took the car to work. (He normally bikes, bless his healthy heart.) So we were house bound. But weather and health permitting, we'll try and use up more energy. Then maybe nap-time and bed-time will be a bit less stressful around here. Tune in to find out!
Silly kid stuff: Kids are pretty funny when they're around Monkey's age (1 year). She changes her parent-preference more than we change her diaper. (And we do change it very regularly.) In the morning, she will want the hubs, and only him. Then later on, she'll be only too happy with me. Then around dinner, it's back to the hubs. But when it's time for bed, if he does it she'll scream for 30 minutes. They are so fickle. I learned from my sister when she had her first baby (7 years ago) that you can't take it personally. It's just one of those things they do. Today, Monkey was doing her usual back and forth. She cries when hubs leaves for work, is so giddy when he gets back. Shortly after he came home today, he was holding her, and was standing near me. She looked at me, and put her arms as far around him as she could, and grabbed his shirt with her little fists, pulling herself as close as she could. It was the cutest thing I think I've ever seen.
I suppose we should enjoy it while we can, because when she's a teenager, she'll most likely be pushing us both away more often than not. Ahh, parenting.
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