We are going on 3 days without a nap. I refuse to believe the veteran mom warnings I've been hearing that our days of sleepy afternoon bliss are over. This transition to the big boy bed is wreaking havoc on our (my) beloved afternoon routine. Sam figured out this week that a bed works unlike a crib. It offers FREEDOM! and EXPLORATION! because he can GET OUT AT WILL! Once this discovery was made, we dealt with running around upstairs for the first day. Then, we put a gate up at his bedroom door in hopes he'd at least be contained and eventually he'd fall asleep. In preparing this new safe environment, we tried to imagine what hazards he might uncover in his room if left unaccompanied and we eliminated them. But he outsmarted us. This afternoon while he was not napping, I heard several loud thuds and headed upstairs curiously to see what the commotion was about. What I encountered was a mess of two year old proportions.
Note the goofy look of surprise on his face as he trots over to his bed. Note the toys, books and wipes scattered everywhere. Last, note the biggest offender, the open diaper cream on the windowsill with the last of the container carefully finger painted all over the top of my vintage cedar chest. Thankfully, it wasn't the industrial strength variety that surely would have left a coat of impermeable white on the surface for all eternity. Silly you, you say for leaving all those stimulating items in his room. Well, I hear you and this evening we removed all the toys and baby hygiene items from the room so he can only be lulled to sleep by the sounds of his own humming. Tomorrow at naptime, I'm putting the blinds down and we'll try again. Until then, rest well my love, it isn't bright enough to play by the light of the moon.