Sometimes You Just Need a Nap

Yesterday began pretty well.

I've been trying to figure out how to help Grig get more sleep. After praying about it, I realized that the best way for me to help Grig get to bed on time, is to get up with him in the morning. If I have to get up early to, it's easier to remember to go to bed.

So, Monday I didn't do very well, because Kevin got sick and kept me up a lot of the night.

However, Tuesday, I was able to get up. Unfortunately, so was Kevin. After struggling to get him to go back to sleep from 5:30 a.m. until 7:30 a.m., we finally just got up. Kevin and I were both pretty tired by nighttime.

Yesterday, went a lot better. I got up, Kevin kept sleeping, and Grig got out the door on time. I was able to work on my story, and Kevin slept until 8:30 a.m. It seemed like it was going to be a great day.

Then, after a little while, Kevin spilled his potty all over the bathroom floor (one of my least favorite things). Then, after I picked that up, I found out I had made a mistake on my taxes that I had to fix. That took a while, so, I was tired and grumpy and poor Kevin wasn't getting the attention that he needed.

Finally, after lunch, while Kevin was watching Winnie the Pooh, I decided to take a nap.

Sometimes you just need a nap.

Afterward, I felt a million times better, and today is going better too.

We're not doing that much better at going to bed on time, but we are doing better at getting up.

We just have to try harder every day.

Meanwhile, I'm much happier when I'm giving Kevin the attention he needs, and not being a grumpy mom. He was a good sport about it, even though he's had a cold, and I apologized later to him. He is a pretty awesome kid. 

I sure am grateful for the many wonderful things in my life. 

Why Won't my Baby Take his Naps!?

Kevin playing in the dog's bed

Yesterday was so frustrating!  Kevin just wouldn't take his naps!

Normally, Kevin and I have a pretty good schedule.  Usually, I get up at 4:00 a.m. with Grig, help him get off to work, and then I have a couple of hours to blog, work on books I'm writing, and work on video editing.  Then, around 7:30 a.m., Kevin wakes up.  We play together for a few hours and I usually get some household things done, and a couple hours after he wakes up he takes his first nap.  He usually sleeps between an hour and a half and two hours.

After he wakes up, we usually go on a walk outside, check the mail, and enjoy the warmth (though it is getting colder).  Then, we come back inside and I usually try to get a few more things done.

Around 2:00, he takes a second nap, and I spend that time writing, reading, or sometimes just relaxing.  Then, Grig gets home around 4:00, which is when Kevin usually wakes up, and we do various things for the rest of the night.

It's a great schedule!  I love it, and Kevin is so happy when he gets his naps.

However, the last two days, Kevin has absolutely refused to take a nap. Kevin would tell me that he was tired like he normally would, and we went in the bedroom to lay down.  He would almost close his eyes numerous times, and then he would sit up or start singing.  It was very cute at first, but then he started getting grumpy.  I'd try to help him lay down and he'd fight with me. I'm not very good at holding still when there is nothing to do, so yesterday, after laying down with Kevin for over two hours, I was starting to get a little cranky.  Which is totally not something I would normally do.

So, eventually I said, "If you don't want to sleep on the bed, let's try your crib again."  (We've been trying to gradually help him be crib-trained recently.) I put him in his crib, and he was happy for about five minutes.  Then, he began to scream.  I waited as long as I could to see if he would calm down and go to sleep.  I even took the shower I'd been needing all day.  When I finished, he was still standing up and screaming, so I took him out of his crib.

He was so tired, but he absolutely refused to go to bed. 

After he recovered from the traumatic crib experience, he was happy to play for a little while, and eventually, he fell asleep on my chest around 12:30 p.m.  Happy, I put him in his crib and sat down to unwind.

An hour later, he woke up screaming.

He didn't sleep for the rest of the afternoon.  His eyes were all red from exhaustion and I couldn't figure out what was going on.

Finally, it hit me.  He was in pain from teething!  His nose had been running the last few days, and so Grig and I decided to try some baby Tylenol before bed.  Half an hour after we gave it to him, my happy little boy was back!  An hour later, we went to bed and he slept well the whole night.

If only I had realized that he was in pain hours before, our day may have been far less stressful.

You live and learn, I guess.

Poor guy.  Teething is hard.