Nap routine

After finishing our current nap routine fiasco today I thought I'd write about what we do to prepare for nap. Matthew and I had lunch around noon. Sam was having a tantrum because I gave him a lid for his drink cup rather than a straw (I offered a straw initially, but he insisted upon a lid, then he changed his mind while I didn't change mine) so he wasn't eating. Matthew and I enjoyed our leftovers of last night's supper while Sam wailed and wailed. When we finished it was time for Sam's nap. Matthew had a morning nap, so he wasn't going to nap until later in the afternoon.

So at 12:40PM up the stairs we went. Sam wanted to be carried, so Matthew crawled up the stairs while I carried Sam. We went to Sam's room and I told Sam to pick out 2-3 books. He choose a Berenstein Bears book and the Cars, Trucks and Things that Go book. I sat on Sam's bed with him while Matthew crawled over to Sam's taggie blanket and smashed his face on it while it was on the floor and cried out in excitement. Sam and I started reading. Matthew was rolling around with the taggie blanket, still crying out, squealing, and having an otherwise good time on the floor. Sometimes he'd lay on his back with the blanket covering his face and lift up his legs/feet and slam them down over and over. I really need to get this on video sometime as Matthew's antics are quite a sight.

Sam and I continued reading. Sam didn't pay much attention to Matthew today due to his bad mood as usually he laughs, and says things like "Look at Matthew!" or runs over to Matthew and plays around with him. Instead, Sam was subdued and into his books. Matthew eventually came over to us and tried taking the book we were reading away. He then tried crawling into Sam's bed and cried out when he just couldn't quite make it. I handed him Mickey Mouse to make him happy and he hugged and drooled all over him. Matthew then grabbed Sam's water cup and started trying to drink out of it. Sam tried to take it away from him which resulted in unhappy shrieks and cries from both parties. I intervened, took the cup away and said it was Sam's cup, hid it under Sam's blanket and we continued reading.

Onto book two. Matthew crawled out of Sam's room. Generally Sam follows him, but not today. Seconds later he returns and continues his enjoyment of Sam's taggie blanket. Sam and I look for GoldBug in the Cars and trucks book. Matthew leaves the room again and shortly returns. All the while he is making excited shrieks, ahhhhs, gaaaaas, daaaas and other loud baby noises. He really raises a ruckus. Matthew then tries crawling onto my lap. Sam and I look for Gold Bug on about 10 pages, then it's time for songs. Sam lays down and I cover him up. I hold Matthew while singing to Sam and Matthew lays his head down as I sing our common "night night" songs, Jesus Loves Me and Away in a Manger. Finally, our routine is over. Sam seems relaxed, although I really don't know how it's possible and we turn on the fan, Sam's nap music and leave the room. Sam asks to have his door left open and I oblige. Matthew and I return downstairs while Matthew says "Da Da!!!!" all the way down the stairs as he points to the pictures in our stairwell. I heard from Sam at all since we left the room, so I guess the routine was successful.

Downstairs, I quickly clean up our lunch mess which includes sweeping, vacuuming and mopping the floor around the kids' chairs. I do it fast as otherwise Matthew will make his way over and eat the fallen food. If you want a place to eat off the floor in our house, try beside the kids' chairs as that gets cleaned most often. After that's finished, Matthew and I enjoy our afternoon reading time. He pulls books out of our book drawer and we read for 20-30 minutes, then it's his nap (hopefully...you just never know about this kid's naps...I do know that we rarely hear from him between the hours of 7PM and 7AM, but the rest of the day is anyone's guess). Sometimes we read a book in his room, sometimes not. He seemed tired today, so I just rocked him, sang a round of Jesus Loves Me and put him in his crib with his taggie blanket, of course. He covers his head and doesn't make a sound. It's 1:40PM.