Morning Naps

Continuing my poor me post from yesterday, I want to say that I miss the morning nap. B gave this joyous event up just a few weeks ago and I have looked back longingly ever since. Now, I didn't really notice it on the week days, but this weekend when I was on my own, I MISSED IT! God bless the nanny for making it this far without it.

I realized how many things I crammed into the time. Showers, laundry, cleaning...it was a wonderful time when I could recover from the morning destruction. My son has become a tornado, ripping his way from one area to another. Meal time can be described as nothing other than a disaster. It includes dog feedings, food throwing and general smearing. Play time tends to consist of throwing toys, ripping paper, and general devastation. Needless to say, the few moments in the morning I had to clean were precious. I could turn the tide in the house back in my favor. No more.

This weekend I was on the run for 8 solid hours behind my boy. From 6 am to 2 pm. Pick up, take away, redirect, repeat. He never slowed down. It was unbelievable. Graciously, this no morning nap has led to an extra long afternoon nap, usually about 2 hours. But, by the time this nap hit, I needed one. The last thing I wanted to do was clean up. However, I mustered all my energy and I cleaned. I cleaned because I knew there was no way it would get done later in the day after the dinner time fiasco that always occurs (think dogs, cats, and babies conspiring to drive me insane).

There are times when I am running behind this child wondering how something so tiny could defeat me. Nothing defeats me. I am an officer in the world's most powerful navy. I have driven a warship, shot missiles, and done a million other things that are awesome. And then this little 20 odd pound crawling monster can exhaust me in a way that none of these other things have. I will certainly be interesting to see what happens when he starts walking (which I feel we are on the verge of any day).

B has never been a good napper. Since day 1, naps have been a battle. I would put him down when he looked and acted tired, rubbing eyes, yawning, falling asleep sitting up, the boy would sit in his crib and scream. So I tried another tactic of putting him down BEFORE reaching this point. Maybe he was overtired and that's why he couldn't get to sleep. Wrong. The boy hates naps.

Now I really can't complain, we put him in the crib between 6:30 and 7 and we don't see him again until 7 in the morning. We have never had issues with nighttime wakings. Even when he was a little baby, he would wake up, eat, and go right back to sleep. Heck, I even had to wake him up every now and again.

This whole nap issue has really came to a head this weekend. We had just gotten back from vacation and there was really a lot of stuff that needed to be done around the house. I needed to have some time where I could accomplish things without worrying about where he was and what he was into. So, after an acceptable amount of time awake, I put him in the crib. Screamfest. I go in, calm him down, leave again. Continue screamfest. Finally after over an hour, I went and got him up. I know that he's tired, he knows that he's tired, but he just can't handle being in the crib during the day.

Honestly, I don't care what he does during his nap time, he can play in the crib all he wants, just as long as he is quiet (ish, can a 9 month old really play quietly?), but I really feel that he needs the opportunity to take at least one nap a day. I am willing to give in and allow him to take only one, but we still really need that one, even if it's only for an hour. I am truly at a loss for what to do next, everyone involved still needs naptime to occur, but I just am not sure how to make that happen.