Keeping Busy

I am amazed at the rate Oscar is learning. He has started to really grasp inside/outside this week and has been stacking his cups and his favorite, Dada's CDs (which are conveniently located right at toddler eye level). He is playing with his toys differently too. I don't know if it's being around older kids from time to time or if something just clicked, but he is defiintely a little individual who knows what he wants.

His eating has drastically changed this month too. He isn't eating as much volume at each meal, but rather sometimes he eats a TON (like this mornings 2 waffles and a banana) and other times not much at all. He is heavy on the dairy and bread and light on the protein. He will still eat meat, but now shuns vegetables and beans. He loves peanut butter so I imagine we'll add more of that for now. I still offer a variety, but I am not going to worry, I know this to be normal and we'll just ride it out. We did try baby food veggies again to see if he would take to that, thinking it was a texture thing, but no go. One thing I am noticing is that he wants to eat the big pieces. If I let him take a bite of a big slice of something, he is more apt to try it. Go figure.

This week has been full of amazing weather so we've been outside as much as possible. Oscar has been back and forth with his napping, but being outside is a definite way to keep him happy. He LOVES running around in the grass and playing in the dirt. He's on the fast track to being all boy, that's for sure. And I am really enjoying the process! Today it's a little rainy, so we'll hopefully get some of our errands finished. It's been a good week. 

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Nap Update

I am happy to report that we are entering day 4 of Oscar taking only one nap. It has been shockingly smooth which has been nothing but confirmation that we are doing it at the right time. It's funny because I never thought he would switch as young as 13 months, but that is even more proof that every child is different. And that Oscar loves his sleep, for which I am eternally grateful.

Yesterday we had lunch with some friends and pushed the nap to 1pm. This is where I hope the new nap will fall on a regular basis. It was a 2 hour nap and he made it to his normal bedtime of 7pm! Today we are hoping to make it til 1pm again and this time we'll use Marbles Kid's Museum to pass the time. And as an added bonus, dada will be going with us! Yay! 4 hands are better than 2, I always say.

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Nap Shmap...

If you follow me on twitter (follow me on twitter!) you might have seen that today we are trying a little experiment. It's called, let the child take one nap instead of two.

For many of you, this is just another one of those things that just sort of happens naturally. But not me. For me, when it comes to sleep, I tend to get a little psycho susie. I need my sleep, my child needs his sleep. And I NEED my child to sleep to maintain my sanity and ability to mother appropriately.

I know it comes and goes and I can deal with the crazy day here and there. But I would be lying if I said we liked going with the flow. We have pretty structured days for the most part and that's how we thrive. That is, until this week.

For the past several days, Oscar has been super fighting his first nap. This is a child who used to go looking for his blanket and ask to be put in the crib. Once he finally slept for 30 or 40 minutes in the morning, we would go about our day as usual. Only then the afternoon nap got all wonky and then all bets were off. And again, if I am honest, I've been dreading the 2 to 1 nap transition as I don't really know how to entertain Oscar for more than 2 hours at a time.

But today we are taking the plunge.

I am sure this will be a process just like everything else up to this point. And maybe today will be an experiment where we'll learn that we aren't ready. But so far, it's gone really well and I think we are both happier. This morning we played at home for a while and then went to Marbles where it was CHAOTIC. Despite the craziness and the fact that we flat out skipped the morning nap, Oscar did great. We came home, had an early lunch and he went down for his nap without issue. I am sure I will have more to say about this on the other side. One mother I spoke to said it took a good 2 weeks for her daughter to make the switch, so I know it won't happen overnight. Others have said it was a really tough transition, while more still sing the praises of the super-nap. For us, only time will tell. What about you? How did the 2-1 nap transition go in your house?

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