Ava has been a pretty consistent napper, even if the naps were too short for my own good. When she was 9 months old, she stopped fussing or crying altogether at naps and bedtimes. It was also when she started napping a little longer. After her first birthday, she started napping a little more longer. Generally, she took two 1.5 hour naps. Lately though, she has been showing signs of dropping her morning nap. She started protesting and fussing a bit at naptime again. She would take one nap and skip the other. Or the morning nap would be really short. I noticed that she could stay awake longer in the mornings but not quite long enough to miss her morning nap. All these signs made me wonder if she was ready to drop her morning nap but since she's never been a spectacular napper, I was hesitant. The one thing that finally convinced me was how alert she was at bedtime. If she took her two naps for 1.5 hours each, she wouldn't fall asleep at bedtime until well after 8, almost 9. Her daytime sleep was starting to cut into her night sleep. I take that as a surefire sign of readiness to drop the morning nap. So, it's going to be a rough few weeks as Ava's body becomes acclimated to longer periods of wakefulness.
A part of me is sad because I do like having that morning time to myself. I have my quiet time and I shower. A part of me is happy because it means a great chunk of time to go out in the morning and a great chunk of time in the afternoon to myself. I can plan our activities a little easier.
We're getting ready to move to a duplex a few miles away from where we are currently living. This is the first move for Greg and I as a couple. When we finally decided on moving, I experienced a momentary sadness about leaving our apartment because it is our first home as a couple (3 years) and the home we brought Ava to from the hospital. Well, such is life and change is always inevitable so I got over that sadness and I'm looking forward to moving. This is probably the beginning of a transient life and it's about time Ava starts getting used to adapting. I'm glad she has her lovey (it's a plush pink corduroy cat), her "security blanket," so she has something constant to hold onto during transitions.
I'll update again after we've moved.
Ava and Darcy
I had similar reservations with McKinley dropping his morning nap. I wanted that time for myself, but it is so much easier doing things with that large chunk of time in the morning. I hope the transition isn't too hard on you both. It was definitely trial and error for us in discovering the best time in the afternoon for that one nap. Love you guys. See you soon.
ReplyDeleteDuring their first year of life there are so many changes that it is a little sad when you think of your baby growing up everytime they reach a new milestone. Just remember the old poem about "rocking my baby, cause babies don't keep. Enjoy every little stage of her development because it is fleeting. I remember thinking that you and Brook would be little for a long time with a three year old and a newborn but now I wonder where the time went now that you both have babies of your own. I love you my sweet darling.
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