surviving the first month, part II

As smooth as my transition to two kids has been, there have been a couple of rough spots.  The first was how to keep my toddler occupied whilst not watching too much PBS during the times when I was tending to the baby.  For the most part, I would say I failed at this on my own.  The second challenge was napping.  David Jr.'s ritual was washed away when Judah came.  I was successful getting David down for a nap a few times but it was just too difficult and it sort of felt like the moons had to align in order for that to really work.  He would either miss his nap and be a big crank the rest of the afternoon or take a late one and be up late at night.  The only place that I had some guarantee was the car.  So, toward the end of the month I loaded up the car daily and David would fall asleep.  I would either drive around or come home and sit in the driveway with a book to read or nurse Judah.  I didn't even want to risk transferring him to his bed at that point.  One time,  I attempted an at-home nap and failed.   I just went about the day as usual.  At 4pm, I noticed that my son was awfully still at my feet.  I was sitting in my beige rocker in the corner.  I saw that he fell asleep on the floor.  That has never ever EVER happened.  My high-needs child fell asleep on the floor without help.  Well, I thought it was adorable.  It will likely not happen again for awhile but it was so sweet.  He was too tuckered out to fight the nap.

Napping is still hard but for different reasons.  David is home for the summer which had me thinking this would get easier, however, Jr. threw us a curveball, as most children do.  We are in the midst of figuring out what is going on with him that this change is occuring, what he needs, and what we can do about it.  He isn't wanting to go to sleep yet he is very sleepy some days.  So, I don't think he is doing away with his naps altogether.  Some days, like yesterday, he rested with his daddy on the bed and then was up-and-at-'em like he had a full nap.  We tried to put him to bed at his regular time but he didn't go to sleep until 3 hours later.  We are baffled.  Hopefully we'll start to see some sort of cause-n-effect pattern and respond accordingly. 

We are highly motivated.  He isn't the only one needing a nap...