Natalie & Ryan: Three Steps Back

I thought Lilly being able to walk was the hardest to get used to. Turns out, getting her adjusted to the bed and dealing with her learning how to open doors is actually much worse. No progress on the nap front. She still won't nap. If I'm lucky, she'll fall asleep on her floor for all of about 20 minutes. This week's fun, new development was that she learned how to open doors. One morning, bright and early, as I rolled over and took note of the fact that Ryan was already up and in the shower, I noticed a cute baby head peeking into our room. When she saw me, she said "Lilly got out of bed...." Ever since then, no door can stand in her way. Yesterday she snuck in at 6:30, quietly took my glasses off my nightstand, put them on, got right up to my face and said "hi, mommy!" Her wake up times seem to be getting earlier and earlier, and this morning she was in our room before Ryan and I were even up. Suffice it to say, we've ordered LOTS of baby proofing door knobs. If I thought naps were hard, this has only made it worse. Today during nap time, I had only been sitting on the couch in silence for about ten minutes when I heard "Hi, Angel!" Lilly had been playing under our bed with Angel, and I hadn't even noticed. Early mornings and no naps is wearing me out. Sigh...

Now that I have all the free time in the world, where nap time should be, I've been trying to get Lilly out of the house more. Usually we go to the park, but yesterday I noticed that the pool was open. I braved leaving our house in my swimsuit, all for Lilly's sake. This was only the second time she's been in a pool, nearly a year after her first time, so it's safe to say she hated the new experience. The cold, shocking water didn't help us get off to a good start. She loved when other kids would go swimming by or when they jumped into the pool, but if I tried to get her to loosen her death grip on my hips, she'd scream. We played it safe on the first step entering the pool...the one with all of about 3 inches of water. By the time we left, she was braving going down to the second step by herself, and laying on her tummy on the first step. Mostly she spent all the time there running around the pool (no amount of scolding would make her stop, so I was hovering like crazy), and splashing in the small puddles of water that she tracked everywhere. I realized that my days of laying out and enjoying the sun are over, since I have to be on don't-let-Lilly-drown duty. Bummer.

To top things off, I think Lilly may be teething again. She had a runny nose all day today, was sneezing like crazy, and has a pretty severe diaper rash...and possibly a very low-grade fever. I canceled the gym and spent all day cuddled up on the couch with her. She was glued to me and wouldn't let me go anywhere unless I took her with me, making sure NOT to touch her sore bum.

Here's to hoping we get the nap routine down soon, before I die of sleep deprivation....

P.S. There are a few random pictures from Sunday and throughout the week, since I didn't want to make a whole post just for them.

Lilly's best friend Thomas. They sat in front of us at church, so Lilly joined them. He walked her to primary, and now all she can talk about is Thomas.

Sunday nap. Ryan couldn't find her on the camera, so he went in to check on her and found her asleep by the closet.

Playing with her new chalkboard easel.

I got her a little ladybug backpack and lunch box set. She insists on carrying them everywhere. She came wandering out of her room one day, and I think she was trying to run away.