Ain't No Mountain High Enough

Kevin and Lewis took our recycling yesterday morning and stopped at a playground on the way home. I can't think of a time when Lew has attempted the climbing wall before, but he figured it out yesterday after watching a bigger boy go up it:

Like a pro.

And he seemed super proud of himself once he reached the top, too. :)

Happy Camper and Maybe Sleep Strides

As I mentioned, today was Lewis' first day of camp!

Our happy camper!

We've been talking it up for a few days, and he was super excited about it. For some reason, he got it in his head that camp=eating pizza, so I made sure to pack some pizza in his lunch. :) At drop-off this morning, we talked to one teacher while Lewis walked right on in with another--just like, 'See ya later, folks! I'm off to have some fun!'

I received a positive report at pick-up. The teacher said he did well with transitioning from one activity to another and with interacting with the other kids. She said he would shoot basketballs and proclaim 'I made it!' over and over, which the teacher found funny. :) He did not eat his lunch, however--I didn't think about it, but he isn't used to sitting in a chair without being strapped into it. He just took a few bites and walked around, so he had to eat when he got home. (I'm going to bring a booster seat tomorrow to see if he can use it.)

The theme this week is 'Jungle,' and I gathered that they talked about gorillas and alligators. Otherwise, he told me he rode on a fire truck, plane, big dump truck, and bikes. The church has a huge gym that they let the kids ride around in, so I'm guessing that's what he's referring to. He's excited to go back tomorrow (and Thursday)!

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Sleep update:

This morning I had to wake up at 5am to go to a park for a news segment for the place I volunteer, and, unfortunately, I must have woken up Lewis with the sound of the shower...which, of course, meant that Kevin had to wake up, too. Oopsy. (And the news thingy had a big turnout, and I wouldn't have even been missed, but whatever.)

By the time naptime rolled around today, I knew it was crucial that I do something different. Over the weekend I did some more reading and found a method that uses strict rules, rewards, and consequences (by Marc Weissbluth). Monday, Lewis and I made a Sleep Rules poster for his room with places for stickers (rewards), and we talked about the rules a lot.

1. Get in bed/stay in bed.
2. Close your eyes.
3. Be quiet.
4. Go to sleep.
5. Don't wake up until the alarm clock tells you it's okay to wake up. (We ordered a clock that is supposed to light up green when it's okay to get up...we'll see if it works--it isn't here yet.)

He seems really excited to decorate his poster with stickers, but Monday's nap situation was still bad (really bad) and the early morning wake-ups are getting worse (from being overtired). As much as he seems to understand the rules and wants to follow the rules to get his sticker, I realized today that he doesn't know how to shut himself down enough for a nap. He doesn't know how to stay in bed because he's never had to (he's always had the crib keeping him 'put'). 

He is so active (and so overtired at this point), so today I tried something different...I literally laid in bed with him in a bear hug while he thrashed and fought me (all gently, of course). I shushed and sang and told him I loved him, and he finally, finally, finally tired out after about 20 minutes and nap happened. Hooray! Since it was an early day for all of us, I stayed with him and napped, too. A poopy diaper woke him up about an hour later, and he wasn't able to go back to sleep after that. BUT, I really am hopeful that we'll be able to work on it every day until he gets it and eventually gets his sticker. :)

These are the faces of a non-napping Lewis:

 

Suckers! Rookies! You have no clue what you're doing, do you?! :)

And I'm not napping in the car!

 This was yesterday at dinner, which was a first:

Poor little buddy

To be continued...

A Weekend Around Town

I think it has been awhile since we have had a weekend at home with no real plans, so we took advantage and visited the zoo and science center. The zoo's train just reopened after a four year shutdown, so we though Lewis might like to check it out:

Watching it coming 'round the bend 

Toot Toot! 

Ready to roll!

:)

It was pretty neat--we went through tunnels and around the perimeter of the zoo to places I didn't know existed. (There are kangaroos?!) We'll definitely have to check out other areas next time we go around on foot. The line was kind of long, so we really only had time after our train ride to see the gorillas (Lewis' choice) and play at the playground--then we had to get back for lunch and an attempt to nap.

After yet another non-nap, we ran some errands Saturday afternoon and took a picnic to the park: 

Sunday, we were up bright and early (thanks again, Lewis) and headed out to the science center for a few hours of running around:

Water table fun, as usual:

He got totally soaking wet, but he had a blast. :)

Kevin and Lewis sat and did a news report, which Lewis loved. He loved seeing himself up on the screen, and he loved watching it playback even more:

Hi, there!

:)

(Their faces as they were being recorded.)

And then on playback:

Hi, Lewis Pete! (waving to himself)

Did you guys see that? Lewis Pete and Dada are on TV!!

Driving a Car

(Nevermind that it's a drunk driving simulator...)

Sitting in a Space Capsule

So that was our weekend around town! Lewis is heading to camp tomorrow through Thursday, so hopefully I can get some things done around the house while he is away.

I Hate Naptime and Attack of the Cabbage Worms

Once again, I've spoken too soon.

After two sort of successful days of naps (an hour one day, an hour and fifteen minutes the second day), we're now on our 2nd day without a nap. I'm trying to stay optimistic, but the end-of-the-day meltdowns from non-napping are killer. Especially when combined with dogs barking, phones ringing, dinner needing cooked, etc. My least favorite time of day.

Thank God for pie (and beer) in times like these:

Blueberry

Truth be told, I made this pie a few weeks ago now when the blueberries were fresh, and it was amazing. We didn't eat it fast enough, though, and it got soggy. Next time, pie consumption must increase to daily. Might need to double up some days. Kevin?

Now onto the garden...things aren't looking so hot. We've got worms. Not sure what kind they were, I did some Googling that just about made me sick. Anywho, I think they are cabbage worms. And you know how you walk by something every day and don't always look at it? Well, apparently I haven't looked at our Brussels sprouts or broccoli in a little while (either that, or the worms are very efficient creatures)...

Bye, bye Brussels sprouts 

Bye, bye Broccoli

I dug them out and carefully picked out every remaining worm I could find, so hopefully they're gone with the plants.

 

This morning, before removal 

And after

Lewis was super happy to have more dirt area to drive his trucks through. Like, thankyouverymuch, I'll take it from here, Ma. I have dirt to move and plants to destroy. :) (He's actually very good about not crushing the plants.)

I also pulled the peas last week because they were starting to look bad. It's hard to see, but the 2nd batch is coming up on both sides of the trellis in the lower left corner of the bed. I also added some more rows of green beans amongst the mass of green in the upper right corner--we've had a really good green bean harvest so far this year! They are very large and taste good. We've had them on the grill, sauteed/steamed, and in stir fry (with our peas, too). I was trying to include something from the garden every night, but now I'm shooting for 2 nights a week. It's kind fun and has made meals a little bit easier to come up with.

I had 2 tomatoes last week, but they both had black spots on the bottom of them. There are some fatties (and a bunch of cherry tomatoes) that should be ripening up soon, so hopefully they are edible. I made a double batch of pesto last week (2/3 of which went in the freezer), so I hacked the heck out of the basil to get enough leaves. It is finally recovering and will probably be ready to cut again by the beginning of next week.

Lewis is going to camp for 3 days next week, and I can't wait! Hopefully they run him to the ground (with fun, of course) so he'll take naps! :) One can hope.

Lewis is napping. I repeat, Lewis is napping.

I am happy to report that Lewis is napping today for the first time in 9 days. 

(I will pause for a moment of silent happy dancing in my chair.)

I wouldn't recommend it to those wanting to keep their blood pressure in check, but I could start to see improvements in his 'naptime' behavior the past few days and am glad we've stuck with it. He got out less books and messed with less stuff each day (we put most things up and out of the way, too, as we wised up to his ways), and, frankly, the non-napping was finally catching up to him. 

I did a lot of reading and tweaking and got lots of encouragement from my dearests, and I hope/think we have had a breakthrough. For today, at least, we have nappage. Who knows what tomorrow will bring. :)

Big Boy Bed: Mid-week Report

Last Friday evening at dinner, Kevin and I decided it was, at last, time to go forth with the crib removal process for Lewis. That day, he finally climbed over the side of his turned around crib (with the high side in front). He scratched and bruised his back on the bookshelf on the way down, so something finally needed/needs to be done. We got home, disassembled the crib, and took it to the basement, with Lewis' help. Our plan was to time it over a weekend so that Kevin could be here to help with the wrath of No Nap Lewis.

Well, today was Day 4 with No Nap Lewis, and this mama is about to lose her damn mind. With his lack of sleep and subsequent fussiness, on top of my lack of sleep (waking up at 5:22am or 'sleeping in' until 6am), I'm not winning any awards for patience. What keeps me going is the thought: 'He has to sleep eventually, right?' but I'm beginning to lose hope and my sanity. Maybe tomorrow will be the day...today was most certainly not the day.

His new room set-up:

His bed has a little bit of Mater, Thomas, and Bob the Builder

Bob!

He and I ran down to 50% day at The Unique on Sunday (Kevin had to go into work), and, lo and behold, there was a set of Bob the Builder sheets. It's like the thrift store gods knew we were coming. :)

:)

One happy buddy.

Haha, Lewis. Real freakin' funny.

He slays me when he pretends to lay down and/or yawns. It's like, 'Really?!?'

This was the result of yesterday's 'nap': 

 

At least the lined-up shampoo bottles made me laugh. :)

Funny Faces

Kevin and Lewis had fun taking pictures with Kev's phone over the weekend: 

 

 

 

My dad is just the funniest dad in the whole world!! 

 

Best buddies. :)

Or bubbies, if Lew is the one talking.