Thursday, August 11, 2011

In Need of Sleep

At around 10:30 this morning Grace started melting down. Random bouts of tears after seemingly innocent things. "Gracie, do you want to give your baby some kisses?" "(Tears) It's (sob) my (cry) baby!" We snuggled on the couch, but not the way she wanted. We read the pages of her books, but not in the order she was hoping. I went back to the basics of early parenting. Is she fed? Yes. Is she dry? Yes. Is she tired? I'm not sure. I figured she might be tired and knew that my chances were basically slim to none of her actually falling asleep, but I took the plunge anyway. As I shut the door to her room and walked away I rolled my eyes at myself "Why did you even try? It's an hour and a half before her naptime. You know you're going to have to just go back in and get her." After thirty minutes of silence I knew that the little lass was sleeping. I was in shock.

About an hour into her uncharacteristically early nap it finally dawned on me why what was happening, was actually happening. Here is some background. When Jillian and Lucas were here, Grace had a constant playmate. She and Lucas would run around with each other, leading them to be exhausted during naps and at night. Once they left, Grace and I got sick and were stuck inside, at home, all weekend. With no outlet for her ever growing energy levels Grace woke up early, strongly rebelled against naps, and had a few (cough...3...cough) diaper removal incidents. And yes, the diapers were duct taped. I mentally couldn't handle the lack of sleeping and boredom leading to Houdini like skills of duct taped diaper removal during naptime. 

On Monday, I devised a plan. This plan: Operation Wear Grace Out. 

After a long play-date with cousins. I packed our "Outing" bag with the essentials and we ventured out. 
The fountains were our first stop.



It was a hit. She ran and played to her hearts content.
That night, Aaron got off early and we headed to the mall for some window shopping and carousel riding. G was ecstatic about the horses, but after saddling up she lost her nerve and opted for the seat thingy. No less thrilling, however.

The next day, we headed to the water park with my sister and her kids.


And my water loving baby was in heaven

After multiple trips down the lazy river, hours in the splash area, and many rounds in the wave pool (in which Grace insisted that we both lay on our tummies whilst getting splashed in the face), Grace was completely spent.
She took a later nap and woke up around the time that Aaron got home and we headed off to Chick-Fil-A for some dinner and Play-Place action.

Her sleep schedule seemed to be back on track but her energy levels must not have caught up. Our plans fell through this morning which allowed for some down-time and a much needed early nap for this wee babe.

Operation Wear Grace Out was a success. I must start planning for OWGO part 2 for next week. Anyone in?

3 comments:

Alicia said...

I've totally been to that water park. You must live pretty close to my parents. I think my cousin lives even closer to you. Hope you guys get some cooler weather soon!

Jack's Mama said...

I feel ya! We just had "down time" watching Cars, aka "watch bars peas mama"some days we have down time instead of naptime because bedtime has become a nightmare if he naps too late/long during the day. Makes mama tired but happy when bedtime goes well :)

Unknown said...

I love the pictures of Grace at the water park and fountain! She is adorable.
Yikes about the 3 poop incidents! That can not be fun. You guys should set up a video camera in her room to watch how she gets out of her diaper.