Nap time struggles

The weather during the few days before Christmas ranged from the low 50's to a high of 61 degrees. All the snow we had around Thanksgiving had melted and Will was disappointed that we wouldn't have a white Christmas. Well, it's the day before and the ground is covered with a dusting of snow. Unexpected and pretty-another reminder to be thankful for the little things.

Carter and Ainsley are both 10 1/2 months now and continue to be as playful and active as ever. Here they are wearing their 10 month stickers and the picture on the left is the best one we could get. The picture on the right is what the rest of the pictures we tried to take looked like. They would both try to remove each other's stickers or their own.

I continue to acknowledge how lucky I am with these two blessings but I have to admit that some days do get hard. Ainsley continues to be a very picky eater so feeding solids is always a challenge. Today, I wanted them to get vegetables so I gave a mix of broccoli puree mixed with bananas. Carter and Ainsley loved it yesterday but Ainsley would not eat any of it today. After a battle of the wills ensued in the kitchen, I decided that she would not get anything else before I laid her down for her nap. Will told me she gave me stank eye.

Will and I bring both of them to their room and I proceed to nurse them both before their nap. Carter ate well during lunch so he didn't nurse much and wanted to crawl around and play instead. Will cradles him to indicate nap time so Carter cries. Ainsley nurses hungrily and starts to get tired so Will takes Carter to an adjacent room to let him nap in the pack and play. After some time, Ainsley has fallen asleep so I move to leave and lay Ainsley down on her bed. She moves groggily but seems to stay asleep.

I go downstairs and Will asks me if I heard a thumping sound. Carter is sitting up and crying in the pack and play so I start to nurse him to sleep. Then I heard thumping which was actually coming from the nursery and realized that Ainsley was probably bumping her head into the wall. The twins have figured out that if they bang their heads on the wall, we will come running.

Now I'm torn. Do I risk stopping nursing Carter while he's finally starting to fall asleep to go stop Ainsley from banging her head into the wall? A few minutes go by and I get up to move Carter in the pack and play and he wakes up as I laid him down. He screams while staring at me with the saddest look on his face. I have to tear myself away and hurry over to Ainsley who is sitting up and bumping the back of her head into the wall. She sees me, grins and continues.

So I take her and try to nurse her to sleep but she remains awake. She needs her nap though so I finally leave the room while she starts to cry. Carter is quiet in his room so I don't open the door. Checked on Ainsley on the camera and she is shuffling along the dresser-not sleeping. I unloaded the dishwasher to give her some time and after what was maybe 20 minutes, she finally fell asleep on the floor and by the door. This time, I'm not moving her.

Pictures:

This is the first time we saw Carter pull himself up on the activity block. It was a struggle for the little guy and he wobbled the entire time but look at the joy on his face after pulling himself up.

 

At the aquarium in the zoo. Carter and Ainsley were amazed at all the fish swimming around. Will used to own a saltwater aquarium so it was cool to be able to nap the various fish and corals to the kids. Like that giant naso tang swimming up in the corner.

I really didn't know what to expect from this moment. Was it going to be tears and screaming like the Halloween pumpkin pictures? Or smiles of joy? I'd say this picture captured the moment perfectly. Mom and dad are around so the twins didn't cry but yet they're unsure of who this jolly stranger is. I love Ainsley's strong & secure grip on Will's sweater.

More pictures later...Carter just woke up.