Nap time

Nap time is a bit sacred in this house.  The walls bounce with noise all day and then for a brief time in the afternoon it is silent.  Kaylin plays quietly during this time, or we do an activity together, writing and drawing, but even these noises are soft.  Easy to listen to. 

And slowly I seem to be losing these quiet moments, or at least they are changing.  It is no longer a time when all the kids are napping, their needs are different.  Maddie sleeps in the morning and late afternoon, and once she's onto one nap Jacob will most likely be growing out of his.  So nap time has become quiet time.  Maddie crawls around, or plays in her playpen, the beds are stacked with books and games that can be quietly played with.  In this house quiet time is important.  For them, for me.  I have a bit of time to regroup and prepare myself for the noise that will come later.  We are a loud family.  And so quiet is not common around here.  And lately I find myself longing for something that is relatively unknown to me.  Quiet.  When I walk I no longer listen to my ipod, I find that I start with the earbuds in my ears and then somewhere along the way I pull them out.  To walk by oneself and enjoy the sounds of evening, its beautiful.  And funny to me how times have changed for this to be so important.

There has been many tea parties in our house.  And so imagine the surprise and joy of a little girl when a friend drops off a tiny set perfect for this little girl who has suddenly fallen in love with princesses.

This little girl, she has started to dance.  When the music is playing I find her plopped down by the radio and she lifts her little arms in the air and starts bouncing.  Her ear infection has lifted and her happy smiles are being enjoyed once again.

And Jacob.  He gets stuck everywhere.  In boxes, in exersauces, under cribs, in chairs.  The little boy who was potty trained for just over 2 weeks and then decided that he wanted nothing to do with it.  And after many tears and awful days we have decided to stop and go back to diapers and try again later.  That would be attempt number 4.  How different kids are, Kaylin was trained a year older than he is now.  At that time I thought I had parenting down pat, potty training figured out.  It only took the second child to make me realize that kids are so different and parenting has to adapt accordingly.

At dinner last night we read Noah and the Ark, and when Jacob was asked what animal Noah used to see if earth was appearing, he replied "Onoah sent a PEACOCK.....".

And when Kaylin informed me that they made up their own game, about a baby who got lost in the woods and wanted me to guess what they named this new game.  She leaned forward, dramatically raising her eyebrows and answered for me....its called.................

the baby who got lost in the woods!!! 

Happy nap time to you all!