The Transition Phase

We are in transition. Much like the stage of labor, it is painful. The transition we are enduring is that of taking dear, sweet baby Palmer from 2 naps a day to 1. Ah yes, sweet, sweet sleep scheduling. Currently Palmer naps at 9am and 1pm for about an hour and a half each time. Lately he has decided he does not need his afternoon nap. Instead choosing to chew on his sleep sack, whip around Mr. Giraffe like he's a ribbon dancer, catapult himself backward and forward from a seated position (sometimes making dome to crib contact), sit, stand, and roll around. Anything but sleep.  

Hey you, scary air purifier thing in the corner, could you quit glowing neon green?
You're freaking me out

It was entertaining at first  to watch the antics unfold, but after several days of him in isolation for 45 minutes to an hour with no sleep, I have decided to bite the bullet and make the switch.  I've been encouraged one nap is better than two.  I do see the pluses to one nap, for example, more freedom to do things before midday.  I am just hesitant to endure the crankiness of the baby enduring the transition.  With much hesitation I venture to say the staying awake part has been easy.  We have plenty of activities to do to stay awake hours past his normal nap time.  The tricky part is getting him to shut it down for at least 2 hours in the afternoon.  Without at least two hours there is no dice he makes it to bedtime without turning into one of those scary dolls whose head spins around.  I put him down at 1 o'clock this afternoon and am praying for at least a 3pm wake up.  My sister-in-law/baby whisperer assured me this is a regular hurdle when transitioning and to just hang in there.  The remedy for not getting a sufficient nap is to shut him down much earlier for bedtime.  So we will endure and wait for Mr. Palmer's internal clock to make the adjustment.  Until then you will find me staring at the monitor whispering chants of prayers to the nap gods from the hours of 1-3pm.  

Also in transition is our friend the master bathroom.  As September comes to a close, it appears mid-October is our likely end date.  Remember that silly, optimistic contractor who said 2-3 weeks?! Cue sinister laugh here "Hahahahahahaha...."  As one might venture a guess everything is taking much longer than expected.  We are scheduled for some major progress tomorrow.  The cabinetry will be installed.  Or at least the installation will begin.  That shall be a transformation.

Making great progress on the marble tile.  

In daily mom-ing news:

I captured a heartwarming photo of Pete and Palmer on their morning stroll 

Palmer played in a homemade ball pit because he was too sick for My Gym

He made his debut back into baby society at library story time.
His buddies were all happy to see he survived.

We got back in the swing of things at My Gym

We found out he won't forget his float and flip survival skills after a 2 week hiatus from swim lessons

And most importantly, we got our appetite back!!!

I'm that mom who feeds my child pizza too often.
Keep your kids away from me or I'll give them Michelin Man rolls, too. 

I also bought my first set of Baby Einstein DVD's.  They are a huge hit.

Pulling up to standing has finally peaked his interest.  He shall not be stopped.

We are scheduled to do our family photos next month.  Hopefully we snap the perfect pic to make our very first family Christmas card of Mr. Palmer.  We are using Monique Smith from Brown Eyed Girl Images who did my maternity and newborn photos.  She's having a ridiculous special for Fall that can be found on her Facebook page here.  We will be going to downtown Sanford to hopefully use the water and some cool buildings as our backdrop.  Let the outfit planning begin...as well as cheesy pose practice.