I am taking away C's nap. She is having more and more days where she does not nap of her own accord and then on days where she DOES nap, she's up till 10 pm or later. When we switched her from a crib to bed, we made the rule "You must stay in bed. You may get up to pee/get another book, but then back to bed with you." Now, for quiet time, she'll be given free reign of the bedroom (minus the ladder on the bunk beds - no need to tempt fate) and can play/read/color to her heart's content. I feel like two-and-three-quarters is too young to give up naps (my friend assures me it is not), but I'm going to see how it goes. Maybe she just needs to nap a couple times a week. No naps will make it a TON easier this summer when E an L are out of school. We shall see.
We gave C's crib away and rearranged the girls' room. They are all in the master bedroom and with our bunk beds, it's plenty big, but when we took out the crib and the room divider and then moved the dresser, I realized how much smaller it seemed with that extra furniture. I love it and I've lost the sense of "We need to move! Soon!" I mean, we'll still be moving, but I feel like 3-5 years is a good time frame instead of the NEXT SUMMER!!! feeling that I had.
Another reason I'm a nerd is that I am thrilled to be able to APPROPRIATELY CENTER the rug that is in that room. Before, I had to squish it between the end of the bed and the beginning of the dresser and it had to be a bit too close to one side because of the table with the doll house on it. NOW IT IS IN THE RIGHT PLACE. Whew. I know we'll all sleep better tonight.
So, our first official quiet time is occurring RIGHT NOW and I even left her undies on her instead of changing to a pull-up in order to signify Stay Awake Please. She's hit-or-miss on waking up dry (almost always dry after naps, 50/50 in the mornings), so I'm hoping it goes well. What do you want to bet that she falls asleep within MINUTES of us needing to leave for school? I'll forgive her, though, because she's so delightful. Yesterday, A said, "Every day C makes me want to have a forth child."* It's true. I'm waiting for the difficult age - every kid has one - but right now she is a total love muffin.
*We ARE NOT having another child. Just FYI. I'm merely illustrating how lovely C is. I felt a little guilty saying this, but I've always loved 2-year-olds and Emily mentioned how it's perfectly okay to prefer one child's current phase over the other(s).
P.S. I went up to get some laundry and check on C and look what I found:
So much for MY plans! I hope she doesn't pee the bed.
What a doll! I'm a firm believer in that they sleep when they need it, as they prepare to give up the nap. I can see with our 2 year old that some days she honestly doesn't need it, but I'm not ready for her to give it up. The other three napped for much longer (my twins napped until they were 5) and I have such a love of naptime.
Posted by: Michelle | June 03, 2010 at 02:30 PM
We did quiet time too, because honestly, he just needed downtime but he often refused to nap. When he was allowed to color or read quietly, he did so much better and would sometimes do what your little angel just did.
Posted by: liz | June 03, 2010 at 03:43 PM
New desktop background image at work!
Posted by: Husband | June 03, 2010 at 04:11 PM
I remember that age ... a couple days a week she would play, play, play ... a couple days I would go up and find her sprawled on the floor asleep wearing bits of dress-up clothes with a trumpet in one hand and a stuffed animal in the other. On days she stayed awake, about 1/2 the time she would then fall asleep JUST as I was pulling in to the parking lot at the Y for a late-afternoon step class. Sigh. But oh the cuteness!!
Posted by: TheLuckyGal | June 03, 2010 at 09:08 PM
C is so, so sweet!
Posted by: BeckyB | June 03, 2010 at 10:30 PM
What a sweet picture!
Leo fell asleep in the car on the way home from the hospital at 6:30. We'll see if he wakes up. It's 9:40 now. My guess is that he will, but at this point, it wouldn't be too painful.
As for ages, I'm in love with four. Babies are great and one year olds crack me up, but two and three wear me out with the whining and ignoring and still needing help with lots. But four and I are getting along fabulously. I feel like Leo's my little buddy who can handle shopping trips that would have exasperated both of us a year ago. He amuses employees with stories about their products. He likes to hold my hand. I'm a fan of four.
Posted by: Amy F | June 03, 2010 at 10:43 PM
yeah....sometimes z still naps during quiet time, so i'm glad they have the option of sleeping if they need it. if we didn't have quiet time, they would just be going all day long, and they wouldn't sit still long enough to THINK about resting. i wonder how long i can make my kids to quiet time???? Forever???? When they are 12? 16? 18? :)
Posted by: karla | June 04, 2010 at 12:36 AM
Is there anything cuter than a sleeping two-year-old? I think it's even cuter than a sleeping baby because Twos are so go-go-go all the time that it's especially adorable when they just crash.
Maggie was in the exact pattern C is now when she gave up her naps. It was close to the week between Christmas and New Year's Day, when we were both off, so we just sort of kept busy and that was that for the naps. Quiet time was a fail for her -- she does NOT like playing by herself. Now that she's in school and her weekdays are so busy, we'll often do quiet time with her on weekends when Will naps. We tuck her in on the couch and let her watch a movie, and about 50 percent of the time she nods off.
And Karla, I dropped naps at two, but would ahve love them as a teen! You can always try for a napping renaissance :-).
Posted by: AmyinMotown | June 04, 2010 at 09:44 AM
How precious.
Posted by: Pam | June 04, 2010 at 09:52 AM
When did she learn to keep the sheet/blanket on? My son turned 2 in Feb, but is still not keeping his blanket on.
Posted by: Mel | June 07, 2010 at 12:04 PM
Oh My Goodness. She is so completely gorgeous. Look at that hair!
And, look: There goes bedtime. ;-)
Posted by: Jody | June 07, 2010 at 01:26 PM
So sweet! I love her hair too!
Posted by: Heather | June 09, 2010 at 05:42 AM
Oh so sweet. We went through a long stretch of quiet time that often turned into a late nap and then a late bedtime. It made for many a cute sleeping child picture.
I loved two with my older son too and am looking forward to it with the younger. Two is so inquisitive with a few vestiges of babyhood for sweetness. Three...so far I would characterize that as, surly.
Posted by: Gina | June 10, 2010 at 07:17 PM