The Napping House

Be forewarned, this post was inspired after my darling Will decided naps are overrated the other day.  He is a notorious offender of napping for brief bursts of 20 minutes or so, a tease to get me thinking I can accomplish something!

Anyone out there with kids should be familiar with this little gem:

If you're not, you need to check it out, despite the tirade I'm about to unleash in reference to this work of literary FICTION. Your kiddos will love it, it's hilarious and the illustrations are perfect!

In this story, if you can imagine, there is a whole lot of napping going on at granny's house.  Granny, tired I'm sure from chasing around a child and all her various animal sidekicks, decides to take a nap.  Long story short, so does everyone else and Granny ends up at the bottom of the heap of the mother of all pig piles, all happily snoozing the rainy day away.  The child piles on top of her, then the dog, the cat, a mouse, and finally, a tiny little flea who later causes a whole lot of mayhem. Welcome to the Napping House, where everyone is sleeping.

Well, I'm hear to let you in on a little secret.  

Come closer...

a littler closer (indicating this with finger twitch)

Get ready for it...

I'm here to tell the world that The Napping House 

DOES NOT EXIST! 

Sorry Audrey Wood, 

but this whole "Napping House" nonsense is crap! 

It's a fairy tale, a unicorn, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! 

No one let me in on this little kernel of truth before I had William, so I had this beautiful, rose-colored, sun-drenched image in my mind's eye (accompanied by a soundtrack of acoustic guitar or perhaps a babbling brook) of a peaceful sleeping baby taking regular hour + long naps morning and afternoon, waking with a smile and a hug, ready to snuggle and listen to stories.  

Side note: In this fantasy, the laundry was washed & folded AND put away (gasp!), I could leisurely fit in a daily work-out, and dinner was served with a smile... getting the idea about just how fantastical this fantasy really is?

Well, I kinda want to scream at The Napping House for perpetuating a cruel and vicious myth that torments us stay-at-home moms who think they can just maybe fold some laundry, possibly shave their legs (hell it's winter, why bother anyway?) in a shower that doesn't consist of 5 quick minutes of shampoo/peek-a-boo with a baby growing restless fast in their baby glider, sidled right up next to the shower.  Make-up, ha! Try smearing on some lip gloss when the opportunity presents itself!  

Oh, what's that you say? Your baby sleeps for hours in the morning and afternoon... 

I would provide a witty come back or a very serious threat veiled in humor, but YAWN... I'm simply too tired from living in the Playing House, where everyone is playing and rarely, barely, sometimes although hardly-ever sleeping...

Yawn...

Lies, all lies!

6 Months with Willy~Boy

Weight: a bit over 25"

Length/Height: just shy of 17 lbs.

New Talents & Milestones: William has CRAWLED, yes, you read that right, our little 6 month old baby has moved of his own volition, and that is cause for worry in this mama!  He has yet to repeat this stunt (thank goodness) but it's only a matter of time!  He's also been super busy babbling away with words that sound an awful lot like "daddy", "doggie", "Maggie", and several which could probably best be translated into Pterodactyl... or what I assume winged dinosaurs would sound like.

Likes: tummy time and rocking back and forward trying to crawl, similar to the video of the dancing chameleon below.

Dislikes: napping for longer than 20 minutes, sitting still to read stories (that doesn't happen much anymore, instead I read to him while he plays)

Clothes: sporting 6-9 month clothes, but not for long I fear!

Special Events: Christmas was loads of fun, although it was a sure fire way to wreak havoc on a baby's schedule!!!  We traveled to my cousin's house in New Brunswick just before Christmas and have an amazing time with family and came home equipped with a family set of crocheted sock monkey hats and happy memories.  On Christmas day my sister & her husband, and mother, father and brother in law all came to celebrate the day and enjoy Christmas dinner together.  William got lots of love from his family and it was nice to wake up in our owns beds on Christmas morning.

Sleep: What a roller coaster since Christmas!  We decided to stick to a very strict routine for the past week and it seems to be working.  The last two nights have been the most restful nights in months.  William has slept form 7:30 until 3, nursed, then slept from 3:30 until 7 am.... thank God!!!  He has been majorly overtired and I think it was due to all the changes in routine, a growth spurt, being on the verge of crawling & a whole slew of other developmental milestones, eating his first solids~avocado... Wow, no wonder the little man is overwhelmed, I'm overwhelmed just typing that!  I hope trends continue and we have a great little sleeper once more! (Fingers crossed, knocking on wood, you name it, I'm doing it!)

Looking Forward to: snowshoeing trips, spring... although it's still very far away (sigh)

Nicknames: Nugget, Willy~Monster, Peanut, Monster~Man, etc... 

 

One of my favorite things... William & Clementine, the best of friends. :)

Heart Songs

Can I paint you a picture of my morning?  Although I am arguably better with a paintbrush, for today I'll give words a try.

Sweet baby boy and I shared conversations at the kitchen table this morning beside 

January gray sky sunshine filtered through the puppy nose print streaked window, beside which baby William & I sat enjoying each other's company.  During this post-avocado bliss, we were listening to some music and looking at board books.  My itunes playlist (which proved too short for my ridiculously long labor & thus repeated several times over) was playing.  Suddenly, music spoke right to my heart.  Don't you love it when that happens?  

Let me show you what I mean.  

Enter David Gray's "Be Mine"

From the very first moment I saw you 

That's when I knew 

All the dreams I held in my heart 

Had suddenly come true 

Knock me over stone cold sober 

Not a think I could say or do 

'cos baby when I'm walking with you now 

My eyes are so wide 

Like you reached right into my head 

And turned on the light inside 

Needless to say, it was a happy tears moment, which is still surreal to me, being someone unused to crying, especially due to happiness.  It's amazing when life stops, if only for a brief moment, and allows you the opportunity to slow down, pause, remember, reflect and really feel something.  I wish I could go back to that day six months ago and be in that moment again and meet my little boy for the very first time.  For now, I'll take a magical moment in the kitchen, complete with avocado in my hair (& William's nose) and yet another cup of coffee that went cold before drinking.  David Gray gave me the chance to relive the most profoundly powerful moment of my life, and for that I consider myself blessed.  Music is incredible in that a perfect stranger (with far more musical talent than I, just ask Kev about my whistling ability, or lack thereof!) can sing the song of your heart when you lack the ability to share it with the world.  

I love that.  

Just my thoughts for the morning. 

Go out and enjoy your day.  Hopefully you can find a moment amidst the routine of every day life to remember something, someone, and just maybe it'll make your heart sing too....

Oh and while you're at it, drink a WHOLE cup of coffee and think of me ;0)