Yesterday I took Luke to the park.
You know, the cool one with all the water features.
It was the first time I saw Luke trying to make friends with kids he didn’t know.
It was too funny.
There were 3 kids running around chasing each other.
Luke never turns down an opportunity to chase so he decided to join in the fun.
When they realized someone had joined their group they all stopped.
Luke looked at me then at them and then walked and stood really close to the girl.
I am talking uncomfortable, in your face, invading personal space, close and just stared.
I am not sure what the girl said (because he was too close for me to read her lips), but she must has said, do you want to play, because he nodded and they started off on a chase again.
Every once in awhile he would come and talk to me making sure his one and only permanent friend wasn’t feeling left out and then he would run back over to his newly found friends announcing he was back.
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Today I took him over to the rec center where they had a couple bounce houses set up in the AIR CONDITIONED gym for kids ages 2-5 to jump in.
I thought it would be the perfect way to wear Luke out.
You see, he has been refusing to nap this week which means we arrive at meltdown city around dinnertime.
The other day he didn’t nap. Around 4pm I had to run to the grocery store.
As I pulled into the parking lot Luke was out, for the count.
I decided to let him sleep and turned around to go home.
As I carried him inside and went to lay him in his bed he opened his eyes just briefly to realize we weren’t at the store.
He popped his eyes wide open and yelled, STORE, STORE!
I tried to get him to go back to sleep, but he was adamant about going to the store, so back we went.
Luke: 1 Nap: 0
Yesterday I wore him out by taking him to the park mentioned above and so he crashed again in the car, but this time stayed asleep on the transfer.
Luke: 1 Nap: 1
As I was driving over to the rec center around 11am, Luke’s eyes started to get droopy and next thing I know his head is nestle on the side of the car seat snoozing.
I was little shocked it was only 11am and he was asleep, but I guess a week of no naps and it is bound to catch up with him no matter what time of day.
As I pulled into the parking lot I had a big dilemma on my hands.
Do I wake him and let him play since we are already here and paid in hopes he will go back to sleep later?
Or do I drive all the way back home only to have him do the above where I transfer him and he notices we aren’t at the bounce house and he stands up and yells, BOUNCE HOUSE!?
And then it would just be all out the window, the nap, the bounce house fun, everything.
So I decided to wake him.
This is always a tough decision because my number one rule with Luke from day one has always been, never, NEVER wake him.
He is one tough boy to get to sleep.
Anyway, I thought it was going to be a bust in the beginning.
He was so tired that all he did was sit in the bounce house.
Then he started to perk up and starting having lots of fun, especially with the other kids.
After a half hour he got bored with the bounce house and just wanted to play soccer with a basketball.
He had a lot of fun, but I was still questioning the decision I made to wake him.
Not so sure the bounce house was worth the waking.
On the way home he talked my ear off, no signs of sleepiness.
When we got home I had him go lay on his bed which only lasted for 20 minutes.
Luke: 2 Nap: 1 Mom: tired
I am hopeful that nap will come out strong tomorrow and take another win.
Man, I feel ya. When my son was Luke's age he totally stopped napping. It was not pretty because he still needed the extra sleep and was a zombie-nightmare-tantrum machine from the hours of 5-bedtime. But if he did nap, he was up so much later!! Arg! Hope it works better for you than it did for me! :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I love watching my son start to play with other kids! It's so hilarious how when you see a herd of kiddos running, they naturally fall in line like it's some secret pack! Adorable!
It is so fun when they start making friends. It warms my heart whenever I see Ryan make a buddy at the park or McDonalds. I miss those days when it was that easy to make best friends. :) And the whole sleep thing... ugh. Ryan got to the point where if he fell asleep and woke up he would be super cranky for almost an hour. So we had to let him sleep and he would sleep for like three hours. Sometimes though I would make him sleep so I could take a nap and then give Jared the bad news that he wasn't going to go to bed until 11 that night. I think every human being needs to take a nap every day from 2-4. The world would be a happier place.
ReplyDeleteHey Kristin came across your blog through Brandi sanders. Not sure if you remember me from chambery - heather hamberger. Anyways, I see you are living in Vegas. I was wondering if you had any park recommendations for the winter. My family and I are headed there for Christmas and would love to know some good parks for 4 kids 5 and under.
ReplyDeleteAlso my two sense on napping - my oldest quit around 3 but we do and still have quiet time everyday for 2-3 hours (she's almost 5). She has special quiet time toys she can choose from. She can look at books and a big hit has been books on CD. Anyways I found the time alone let her rest enough to not be a total crab by 5. She did need an earlier bed time around 7. That was a good trade off, in my opinion. And to get them to stay in their room...that can be an exhausting undertaking but totally well worth it.
Hey Heather! I sent you a facebook message with questions about the quiet time you do. Also, I included places you can visit at Christmastime in Vegas. Thanks for your comment!
DeleteTess is doing the same thing to me. We have to go out to take ike to school right at nap time so she has started falling asleep again. Luckily I can keep her that way. This is a struggle. All my kids did this.
ReplyDeleteWe are in the same boat! Not fun. I say if you don't nap quiet/room time still has to happen. Brigs is way too intense for a whole day with no break! haha
ReplyDeleteHe is so stinking cute! I love that he is making friends. Good luck on the nap thing. Its hard with out a nappie :)
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