It's never boring

or at least...if it starts to get boring, it won't be for long. Life always changes. I guess that's a good thing. It's fluid, constantly moving. It's never the same for very long. And, one of the best ways to see and be a part of the fluidity (is that a word?) of life is when you have small children. Just when you think you have a routine or a schedule, it changes.

It seems change is in the air for us. For the past week, Hannah has been screaming at her morning nap time, not the norm for her. She usually submits to her morning nap quite well,
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in fact, into her crib with her blankie and stuffed dog. However, lately, she has been rebelling and will literally scream the entire nap if I let her. Now I'm not a mom who's afraid to let my babies cry. But, clearly, this screaming is signal that morning naps are quickly coming to an end.

So...why is this such a big deal? Why would I be writing a blog post about it. Well, it is a big deal to me for a few reasons...

1. Generally I can't go anywhere or do anything unless it's of great importance before 10 or 10:30 am (the usual time for Hannah to be awaking from her morning nap). So now...with no nap coming soon, this greatly frees up my schedule and morning routine. This is a positive I believe.

2. However the, sort of, negative...Hannah's morning nap has become a special time between Nicole and I. I truly look forward to it every day. We usually spend a few minutes cleaning up breakfast, making my bed and getting dressed. Then, this is when our "learning time" takes place. We spend 30 minutes or so practicing sounds, coloring, gluing, cutting and any other sort of fun activities that Hannah can't really participate in yet. I am jealous of this time and try to let very few things stand in the way of my short time with Nicole all by herself each day. We usually pick out the longer books to read and play games and put together puzzles. Obviously I can do those things when Hannah is awake, but my attention is split (and generally Hannah destroys our puzzle or games, which of course upsets Nicole). So...I'm a little bummed that Hannah will not be sleeping anymore in the morning to give Nicole and I some quiet time together.

3. I'm a little nervous about entertaining both of them through lunch time. It'll be a transition that may not always be easy, but I think it's time. I need to remember what sort of activites I did with Nicole when she was Hannah's age. I sure wish I would have kept better notes.

On a different note, here are a few pictures from today.


Hannah, looking cute

Nicole wrapped her doggies all up and cuddled up with them in the bean bag chair. Notice the bruise on her right cheek? She fell down going up the wrong side of the slide at church on Saturday night. She likes to tell the story and reinact it. She's fine though...she hasn't complained one time about it. I bet she won't do that again! haha

Today we did our (or at least my) favorite outdoor activity. I put up a cheap towel on our fence and filled three water bottles with paint and water. Then Nicole can "spray paint" the towel.

Hannah got in on the action too (this was after she screamed for 20 minutes in her crib). We cut up some sponges and she sponge painted the towel (or her face) since she can't do the spray bottles yet.

We had to run in and out of little rain showers. Finally, we gave in, and just stayed and tried to play during a 5 minutes shower. Nicole was freaked out at first, then had fun, the freaked out again. I was hoping to spend all morning outside, but we were back inside by 10:45 :-( maybe next time.