Freedom Rings

For about the past year Analayne's bedtime has been loosely formed at our house. She would go to bed anywhere between 9:30-10:00pm but would take a nap for almost 2 hours each afternoon. The schedule worked but we were pulling our hair out at night because the late night bedtime was about more than we could handle. Well, I knew that with baby #2 coming very soon her sleep schedule was about to get blown out of the water. In addition, I was keeping in mind that the preschool program we have her enrolled in for the fall does not schedule a nap time, so I should probably start letting her skip the nap and try to get her bedtime to a more REASONABLE hour!

So I talked to Russ about the situation and he agreed that more time at night would be a big blessing for us both and that we should try a new schedule. One of the downfalls to her going to bed early is that in the spring/summer/early fall months Analayne will have very limited time with her dad during his work week because he works late (which is really the reason we had the later bedtime to begin with).

Despite this we decided our no nap decision would be best. This is our first week with our "new schedule" and it is working for us. However, every day Analayne still falls asleep for a cat-nap sometime in the afternoon. Sometimes the nap occurs in the car and sometimes she just falls out on the floor wherever she is at the time. Today she climbed under the office desk! She usually sleep for 30-45 minutes and then wakes up ready to go but that's okay, its working and every night around 8:30 I can't help but think.... Freedom Rings!

Check out her sleeping arrangement from today.

The Trumpets

A week or so ago I got out the dreaded Medula pump in preparation for baby Leighton's arrival. It dawned on me that I probably needed to get it out and do a good cleaning of all the parts and accessories and make sure it worked perfectly.

Since I have a very observant and bright 3 and a half year old...she helped. She helped and when I say helped I am using that term loosely (very loosely). Nonetheless, as always she had me laughing hysterically almost the entire time we worked. She had no idea what the pump was or what it was used for, so of course I had to sit down with her and explain. She thought the cone shaped pieces were trumpets and began blowing into them make trumpet noises! While sitting at the kitchen table, I began telling her about "chesties" (she already knew all about her chesties) but I went on to tell her that when you area mommy your chesties make milk. Now that statement surely did get her attention (probably got your attention too!) Ever since that day a week or so ago she reminds me almost every day that when she is a mommy she will have chesties for the trumpets too. I can't wait till she is older to tell her of this story. In the meantime I think she will be a well prepared sister for the baby's arrival.

Big Words for a Big Girl

Analayne loves to use big words and her vocabulary is exploding. Here are some recent words she has incorporated into her daily language.

Mimi: Analayne where do you live?
A: Montana

Me: Analayne, I heard you played with Mrs. Ginger's dog yesterday. What was the dogs name?
A: Archeologist

Of course some of her other favorite topics to discuss include anything "stinky" or any sentence she can squeeze the word "poop" into.

Just last week I said, "I am pooped" (I accidently said this...not thinking anything of it and after I realized it caught her attention I quickly said, sometimes adults say this when they feel really tired). Now I have a 3 year old that goes around saying, "I'm pooped because I'm tired."

Oh the joys...more to come soon!