Thunderstorm Wednesday

Some days I can't wait to get out of the house and run errands.  I will purposely go to Target for one silly thing like Q-tips just to go.  Then some days, like today, it is like what I saw my life like as a stay at home mom.  I have had nowhere I need to go, and I don't feel like leaving.  So the fact that it's pouring down rain makes it even more fun to stay put.

Maggie is still kind of cranky from her doctor's visit on Monday.  It was her one year appointment.  Once we got her weighed (19 lbs 11 oz, I think) the nurse sent us in for "lab work"...which sounds YIKES for a one year old.  Translation, just a routine lead test.  Routine or not, Maggie screamed her head off.  Thankfully, Dylan was there to hold us all together, because I always feel like crying when I see her flip out like that.  I never have, but I feel like it!  Dylan is a great dad and has been to every on of her doctor's appointments except one; he even went to almost every prenatal visit with me!  He has always been super involved, and it is such a blessing.  In those early weeks she was born I think he changed more diapers than me!  Such a great dad he is!  Okay, where was I going...?  Oh yeah!  Back to her doctor's appointment.  We are in the transition to switching her to whole milk.  I have nursed her this entire year, and now it is time to start weaning her off, one feeding at a time.  In correlation with that, I am seeing if she is ready to go to one nap a day.  Well, we are doing okay with cutting out the mid morning feeding.  But she usually naps at 10:00 and 2:00, for about an hour each time (some days more, some days much less).  She has NEVER never EVER been a stellar napper.  So when I hear stories from mom's who get their child to take a 3 hour nap in the afternoon, I am amazed.  Because now she is so cranky by noon that she falls asleep in her high chair.  I put her in her bed after lunch today, but she only slept for 45 minutes!  I left her in there, and she still didn't fall back asleep.  So now, she is asleep in her highchair after she ate her snack.  I just put it in recline position and left her in there.  Dr. E (her pediatrician) says that children all have their own sleep patterns, and she may not be a long napper.  She may not be ready for one big nap.  I have read recently to alternate days with one nap, then two naps, one nap, then two naps, etc. until they get adjusted.  Well, this is kind of crazy because she hasn't fallen asleep in her high chair like this since she was little, and she's done it almost every day for the past week or so, pretty much since we've tried the one nap thing.  We're going to keep trucking along and see what works best for this little girl!  Ultimately, I want her happy and well rested, and if that means two naps for now, then that is what we'll do!  Until we figure all this out, I am here enjoying watching her sleep soundly in her high chair, thunderstorm going on around her, T.V. on, rice cake in her hand....