Naps and Other Baby Stuff

I love being a Mom, but it is honestly one of the most confusing things I have ever done. It is so confusing because it is never the same. My most recent trying-to-figure-out thing is naps. Little One wants one in the morning and sleeps for like 2 hours, which is awesome, but then she wont take an afternoon nap until like 4 which is bad. So, we end up with a cranky baby at the end of the day when this Mom is cranky, and when Dad is trying to relax. Well I thought that should be easy to fix, we will just do one nap and move it to the afternoon. It works great in the afternoon. I get what I need to done, she is happy in the afternoon, and she is ready to go to bed on time. It is great every time except the morning. OH MY WORD. She is so grouchy sometimes. I am hoping that it wears off as she become more accustom to only one nap. However, I am only giving it like two maybe three days after this weekend, and if it doesn't improve I don't know what I will try, but probably going back to whatever will work.

Somethings that I have tried that have worked reasonably well are...

• Babysitting a 6 monthish baby boy. It kept me distracted from Little One's crying and gave us something to play with instead of worrying about being tired. However, I learned Little One does not like to share this Mama very much. Every time I would hold Jensen she would see that he was in my lap and start crying and trying to climb into my lap. If I set him on the floor and her on the floor too, it was all good, but when I picked him up, Little One did not like having my attention diverted. This development should make life interested when child 2 comes (whenever that will be).
• Going for a run about nap time. This morning I couldn't handle it anymore, so we bundled up and went for a run. She probably wouldn't have ended up falling asleep, but the run was kind of long because I was talking on the phone to Gaupo's mom which means I was walking. Then Little One dropped her chew toys, so we had to go find those, and then finish the run. By the end she had probably had a little power nap, but you know what it worked because I wasn't waking her up from a nap nap, just one where she had fallen asleep on accident.
• Go outside and wait for dad. For Little One this almost always works. She loves being outside. She likes playing with her outside toys, climbing on the steps, going off the steps, seeing exactly how far she can reach, playing in the grass, and just enjoying being outside. So, we went outside and waited for dad to come home. We were having a glorious time outside and what do you know Dad came home and we went inside, and Little One was an angel. I don't know what I do different, but she is way better for him recently than for me. Oh well, I work on figuring that out too.

It is true that being a Mom is the most frustrating thing I have ever done but it is also one of the best things I have ever done. I don't know of anything else greater than getting my little girl to laugh because she thinks I am silly. Or having spontaneous dance parties to the demo music on our piano. Or when you can even after a super long day, want to hold on to and love something that made you almost lose it. Seriously, at the end of everyday when I get to rock her to sleep, it is the best. I sing her songs, and she cuddles close and she makes me so happy and so full of love. I remember when I was first a mom and I didn't know if I could love my baby and Jason, because I already loved Jason more than I could think, but that is the crazy thing about love it grows, and now I both love them more than when I was thinking about whether or not there would be enough. Okay, rambling sorry. I get the reward of watching her learn new things, that is a great reward. There is also the reward of having someone call me Mom. Someone who when asked, "Where is Mommy?" knows exactly where I am. Yep my kid rocks. I love being a mom even though it is frustrating. But, then again I think that is what I love the very most--frustration and then the rewards and love. That package makes Motherhood, one of the best things ever.

Sorry for the rambling, but thanks for reading. Here are some pics of this cute girl.

First Oreo. This picture does not do this mess justice. She had re fried bean before and it was everywhere, in her hair , ears, nose, everywhere.

Jensen and Little One. Both very upset in  this picture. You can't really tell, but they are. Oh well, that is what happens when babies feed of of each other.

Showing how super flexible she is by sucking on her shoes. Gross.

Swinging, we love going to the park.

My first Angel Food cake. It was delicious.

The amount of snow that got us our first snow day. Pitiful, but I will take the snow day.