Where have I been?

Spending QT with Julia - that's where!

She decided to drop one of her naps. About two weeks ago, she refused one nap. Last week, she refused two. And this week, she suddenly decided she had had enough of this two-nap-a-day thing and would only take one. After a few days of me trying to force the issue, resulting in a morning nap only and a VERY cranky baby by bedtime, I capitulated.

It's only been a few days but she's adjusting well already. Today she slept from about 12:30-2:45, which is absolutely fabulous according to me. Her bedtime has moved up an hour (to 7:00) but she gets up at about the same time (6:30-ish) for an extra hour of nighttime sleep. Eventually I'd love to move everything back an hour - where's DST when you need it? - but for now I'm just working on getting her settled back into a routine and making sure she gets all the sleep she needs in a day.

For anyone wondering, she's 13.5 months, which is early to be dropping a nap but not developmentally inappropriate. She was never a great napper so I'm not shocked, but I am a little surprised because she's usually right in the middle of the pack on these types of things. Maybe we'll end up switching back for a little bit, but she adjusted so quickly to the schedule change that I'm not holding my breath.

Now, the key for me is dealing with less total naptime per day and the total upheaval in my daily routine. No longer can I count on getting a shower in during her morning nap, nor do I get a chance to check my email or blog until afternoon or evening. I also need to be more proactive in planning morning outings ahead of time. I used to regroup during her morning nap and plan our day during that time. Now I need to be on top of things so we can get out of the house and take advantage of her long awake stretch - we can do big things like go to the zoo, which we had never before been able to really squeeze in between her two naps. The schedule change can be a big plus for us if I play my cards right. I just need to make sure I have the energy and planning to do that.

And I need to consider myself lucky in the long run that she made this switch so quickly. I hear some kiddos take weeks to make this transition. It's been relatively painless, even with those crummy few days before I caught on. Sorry Julia, I guess Mama's slow.

I'm also trying to implement a "no tv around the baby" policy, at least when I'm home. Today was Day One. She wasn't watching more than a half-hour tv show a day, ever, but I found myself resorting to ten minutes of Curious George here and there when I was trying to kill a few minutes or distract her, mostly out of sheer laziness on my part. I'm trying to force both of us to come up with more creative things to do, because I don't want to convey to her that mindless, passive entertainment is a viable solution to boredom. So far so good, but like I said, today was only Day One.

So, without tv and without half of Julia's nap-time, I've been busy. And tired. And still spending a lot of my day eyeing my Christmas card pile warily...

Can you believe Christmas is next weekend?!?!?!