Don't even mention "naps" to me...

I would love to write that we have now pretty much conquered napping. I put them down, they may fuss for a minute or two, and then they fall asleep. They usually sleep for an hour and a half or so. Sometimes longer, occasionally shorter. I would be thrilled to write that the babies go to sleep easily every night around 7, no real fussing, and sleep easily until 6 ish every morning. They no longer wake up at 4:30 and want to play. How fabulous would it be to write that we no longer have any sleep issues.

But as I type this Jackson is crying, well screaming really, in his crib in protest to what I'm sure he would call "this RIDICULOUS napping!" He cried for 20 minutes, quit for 10 (I foolishly thought he had fallen asleep), and has now resumed his protest. He's not hungry, cold, dirty, or wet. He is, on the other hand, VERY TIRED.

Oh well. I guess I'll order another book. Amazon.com must make a fortune off moms like me.

In non-nap related news, Lola and Jackson are eating like big kids in high chairs now. They have really taken to it and enjoy their peas, sweet potatoes, apples, etc. We eat fruit with oatmeal in the morning and a vegetable with rice cereal for dinner with fruit for desert. After they eat I give the a Gerber Graduates "puff," which is basically an apples flavored dissolveable Cheerio. They don't seem to love it or hate it. But they do make some pretty hilarious faces. Jackson likes to talk and squeal through most of the meal, breaking occasionally to stare out the side doors when a train comes by. Lola, on the other hand, seems to take eating far more seriously. I have to work to get a laugh out of this child who is usually overflowing with huge smiles. She just sits there are stares at the spoon until it's her turn. Pretty cute.

Nap Drama, day 4

Well, we seem to have made a SMALL amount of progress in our napping. The morning nap is going fairly well, with less than 15 minutes of crying and at least 45 minutes of sleeping. The afternoon is harder, though. Yesterday Lola cried for an hour and took no nap at all. Today, on the other hand, Lola has taken 2 naps and Jackson is currently taking his third. But none except the first had any overlap. And they don't last much more than an hour, if that long. So that means I have been putting kids down for and getting kids up from naps pretty much all day. And the only time I have had both down and some time for myself is the 30 minutes of overlap I had at 7:45 this morning.

I haven't gotten any more used to hearing my babies cry. As I started this post Jackson was screaming and I really think I could hear "mama" among the wails. I stand at the door and try and peek through the small crack in the doorway, silent tears welling up in my eyes. It really stinks. I hate it. Thankfully they both usually fall asleep right about the time I think I'm going to loose my will.

We have not yet achieved the 2 2-hour naps per day that I am hoping for. But we press on. The better we nap the more energy we have for play!

As I type my children are in there cribs trying to go down for a morning nap. Those of you who know our regular routine realize that this is the time when I would be taking my cherished "morning drive," usually either around the lakefront looking at dream houses or to Laplace and back. I would be returning phone calls, daydreaming about Christmas outfits and preschool choices, and enjoying some grown up music. Instead, I am sitting on the deck listening to my children scream in protest to being left to fall asleep alone.

They had gotten so used to our morning ritual that many mornings as soon as I put them in their carseats on the porch their eyes would begin to get heavy. Just knowing the order of operations(car seats, front porch, car, morning drive) was enough to coax them into sleep. This is when I first started to accept that times were changing.

If simply beginning our morning routine was enough to induce sleep, I was missing the opportunity to establish long lasting healthy sleep habits. Why not a diaper change and story rather than the car seat on the porch? Why not, really? Because I don't want to give up MY ritual. I like the freedom of loading them in the car and driving wherever I choose. Looking at neighborhoods and houses I could never afford. Getting anything I could possibly get in a drive through. I don't want to stay at home all day because of nap schedules. And when I dig a little deeper, giving up my morning drive meant one more way in which my babies were getting older. No more, "any way you can get them to sleep." Now "They are able to sleep if you let them." So who was the one really going down kicking and screaming?

This morning we all three are growing up a bit. And since they have now fallen asleep while I have been writing this post, and I am now sitting here in tears, I guess it's evident who is having a harder time with it.

Sometimes the joy is in the small accidental things...

Every day in the Freedman house is different. Some days we are a little bit cranky, some days we're a little bit sassy, and this morning, we were a little bit rock and rolll!

Aaron and I had nothing to do with this hairdo. This is how Jackson looked when we got him out of bed this morning. Pretty awesome!

Recent Adventures

Some fun pics from recent days:
Those of you who know about my gymnastics background can appreciate this one; Lola in her very first split!Naked babies are sooooo cute! It doesn't even matter what they're doing. Just hanging out on the blanket, and they're absolutely adorable!The whole family enjoys it when Aaron gets a rare day off. Recently Dad has been working 6 very long days a week to make up for out of town managers, and so on his last day off Jackson didn't miss the opportunity to snooze on his chest like he did in the beginning. Lola and Jackson chatting and laughing about how much they enjoy sweet potatoes. It wasn't until I was looking at these pics that I noticed pink poodle bib on Jackson and the blue striped bib on Lola. Ah well, what mother hasn't sleepwalked through a day or two :)