Quiet Time Boxes

A few weeks ago I posted a plea for help on transitioning Spencer from one nap to none.  Only one person commented (thanks NaDell!)  So what do you do when you're in need of advice?  Google, of course.  I found this idea on another blog and thought it was a great idea.  Quiet time boxes. One for each day of the week.  Spencer loves them, I love them, and they (mostly) keep him occupied in the afternoon while Jordan naps, giving me time to work, read, fold laundry, whatever.  It's my "quiet time" too!

My mom found the containers at Costco, and they've been perfect.  Granted, there's a few things that don't fit in the containers, like a big wooden train, but that stays in a special place until it's that day's quiet time (and a sticky note goes in the container that says "train").  I got some new things to fill the boxes, raided my mom's old toys and some fav's of Spencer's.  Puzzles, coloring rolls, etch-a-sketch, finger-paint, shapes, playdoh... just a few of the things that are stashed in the boxes.  Now every afternoon he asks me if it's time for "quiet time" because he loves the boxes.  Wahoo!

Tell me how... to phase out a nap

Alright friends, I could use some advice.  My struggles with Jordan being a terrible sleeper are well documented, thanks to me ranting on facebook.  But... now we've got another problem.  Spencer turned 3 in April and he's decided he's done with naptime.  It really depresses me, but at 3, I guess he's lasted longer than some.  But... he's turned into an afternoon NIGHTMARE.  He throws tantrums (which is unusual for him).  Cries like a diva (also unusual).  Turns into a bully with Jordan and is intentionally mean to him (and he's normally so sweet with Jordan).  By 4:00-5:00, I'm so done and ready to put him in his bed and leave him there.

Now... I'm sure I'm not the only parent to have gone thru this.  I remember the transition from 2 naps to 1 was fairly rough for a while.  So it only makes sense the transition from 1 to 0 would be rough too... but jeez.  Did I mention he's a nightmare?  By 7:00, he's usually thrown into bed 'cause I can't take it anymore.  And neither can Jordan.  There's only so many times Jordan can take golf ball thrown at his forehead from only 1 foot away before he's gonna have problems.

So... how do I transition Spencer from 1 nap to none?  Keep putting him to bed earlier than normal until he levels out a bit?  Keep early bedtime forever?  (ha, part of me would love kids bedtime at 7:00, but it's kind of impractical if you ever want to do anything)  Make bedtime early for a few weeks and then slowly move the time back to normal bedtime (which was 8:00-8:30)?  Maybe just sell him?  (I'm kidding... kinda)

And what do I do with him now that he doesn't nap?  I need that time in the afternoon when they were both asleep to accomplish stuff.  Household stuff.  Work from home stuff.  Sometimes just catch up on a 45 minute show (pretty soon my DVR is gonna stop recording stuff cause it's so full).  I know it may sound selfish to some, but I miss that small break I used to have in the afternoons.  It *almost* kept me sane.  Now Spencer's always there.  And before you suggest that I make him play quietly in his room... he and Jordan share a room, so he can't play quietly in there since Jordan is in there napping.  So he's in the living room with me, begging me to play with him (even though I spent all morning when Jordan was napping playing with him).

If you've got any advice, anything that worked for you, please share.  I'm desperate :)  

Looks Who's 1

Yep, my "baby" is now 1!  We really should stop calling him a baby, since he's been walking for months, he's taken up running and climbing onto anything he can reach, eats food like we're gonna have a famine any day now, and wants to do everything that big brother Spencer is doing.  Having 2 boys often stresses me out but I wouldn't have it any other way.  I love my Jordan!

A Much Needed Update

As Cory reminds me almost weekly, I'm very behind on blogging (and I tell him he can do a post, and he conveniently seems to go deaf :)  I'm just gonna throw up some recent pics, and not even attempt to catch up on everything that's happened in the last 4 months.  It seems blogging is on it's way out, with Facebook and Instagram (am I wrong?  do people still read blogs?)

Typical breakfast at our house

Family tradition- sledding for New Years Day

So precious

Playdoh- so fun

Yep, 10 months.  He's walking.  Time flies!

Another attempt at a "craft" to ward off winter boredom.  I hate winter.

I love when they play together.  It usually only lasts for mere minutes before one is crying... but still, it does happen :)  I try to remind myself of this when one is crying for the millionth time...

6 Months

I'm wondering how we got from this:

to this:

(he likes to eat paper)

Yep, how did 6 months go by so quickly?!  He's sitting up by himself and crawling.  I leave him for 10 seconds, and when I get back to the room, he's disappeared.  Now he's got the freedom to get to all those toys on the floor (much to Spencer's dismay).  Spencer likes to watch Jordan crawl around, so long as he doesn't touch Spencer's toys.  Yeah, "sharing" is a work in progress.

And some other random pictures- 

In the bath (Jordan loves to suck on his washcloth so then Spencer does the same)

Already best buds

  

At the zoo 

Zoo 

Brigham City Temple Open House- he loved the booties

Yep, he's got his father's climbing genes

We spend almost every morning, outside in the sandbox

Olympic Park

On the Alpine Slide, with grandpa

Schedules... (please help!)

It seems to me that commenting on blog posts has become a thing of the past.  We're all so used to clicking "like" on facebook, that commenting takes way too much time (hello, I am so guilty of this!)  But... for all you experienced moms out there... I could use some suggestions.

I'm having a really hard time getting Jordan onto any kind of schedule.  And for someone (me!) who loves schedules and routines, it's driving me CRAZY.  Seriously.  He's 5 months (will be 6 in 2 weeks).  He's sleeping through the night, which is fabulous.  But... he never wakes up in the morning at the same time.  Therefore he doesn't have his morning nap at the same time.  He never sleeps for a consistent amount of time.  Usually he sleeps for 40-45 minutes (sometimes in the morning, it's longer). But then afternoon nap isn't at the same time.  And that nap is always 40 minutes.  He wakes up crying, rubbing his eyes and oh so ornery.  But will he go back to sleep?  Oh no...

So my dilemma is basically that he doesn't do anything at the same time, day in and day out.  Spencer was a short napper, too (40 minutes) until about 4-5 months... then he just sort of fell into his own schedule.  He got up at the same time every day.  Went down for naps at the same time every day.  Slept for exactly 1.5 hours every nap.  Oh it was wonderful.  So easy to plan stuff, since he was on such a good routine.

So... am I being unrealistic in hoping that Jordan would do the same?  I'm no so naive to believe that kids are all exactly the same... but I was hoping for some sort of schedule.  Doesn't have to be exactly like Spencer's was... just some sort of regularity.  Maybe he's just going to take his sweet time?

I dunno.  Anyone else had this experience and have some advice to share?  Please :)

Jordan 4 Months

Jordan's 4 months old today.  I can't believe how fast it's gone by.  Stop growing Jordan!  I want you to stay a baby forever :)