Longer Days

Naps are no more.

About a week after the crib became a toddler bed, the novelty did wear off and Leah began napping again. Not every single day, and not always for the full two hours, but at least half the week (or more) she'd rest for awhile. Success!

However, by the end of last week, Leah started showing more signs that she really didn't need all this sleep. On the days she would nap, she wasn't very sleepy at bedtime (and we would hear her chatting away in her room) or she would wake extra early the next morning. Or sometimes both. :P Even when I tried shortening her nap to one hour versus two, it didn't matter.

So, this week, I did away with naps altogether. She seems fine with 10-11 hours of sleep. Bedtime is 8-8:30pm and she tends to wake between 6:30-7am. She goes strong all day, with the occasional ten minute snooze in the car if we've been out at the park or something similar. I suppose that's that! Since the clocks will be springing forward in another week, we'll probably be outside most evenings after dinner and her bedtime may get pushed back like it did last summer. In that case, we may find it necessary to try a short nap or rest time in the middle of the afternoon, if it seems as though she needs it. But as of right now, it looks like Leah has crossed another item off the "growing up" checklist. Now, if we could just get rid of these diapers...

Spring Fever!

Spring seems to have arrived early here in the South - or at the very least, we're having a very extended preview that is so welcome! Our highs have been in the 60s for a couple weeks now, with days here & there that climb into the 70s. It is refreshing and joyous!

About a week ago, a Friday, Leah told me she wanted to go to both a park and the Botanical Gardens. It was one of those 70 degree days, so I packed some snacks and juice and off we went! She and I were gone for nearly four hours. Leah loves running and exploring wherever she can.

We've also been spending a lot of time in the backyard, writing with sidewalk chalk, kicking her "Cars" dodgeball, and going down the slide.. The days are also getting longer so we're starting to be able to go outside to play after dinner, like we did every night last summer. It's wonderful, and a nice way to get more of that endless toddler energy out before bedtime. ;)

Also, you may notice a new look here on the blog. Thanks to Makin' Cute Blogs, I have discovered some free photo editing websites that are allowing me to create the header you see at the top of the page, and to overall have fun with photos and graphics. I enjoyed this hobby several years ago and it's been nice to get back into it with the help of these free resources... so if you see the blog style change here and there, it's just because I'm having fun. :) Hope you enjoy!

Jump, Jiggle, & Jive

I keep meaning to write about Leah's dance class! At the beginning of January, Leah began a toddler class titled, "Jump, Jiggle, & Jive". It's for ages 2-4 and parents must participate as well. There are about 10 kids or so enrolled in the class, mostly girls and one boy. We meet every Saturday morning for about 45 minutes, and it is so cute!

Our instructor, who owns the dance studio, is very upbeat, cheerful, and encouraging. She leads us all in some nursery rhymes that we perform motions to, adds props like shakers and scarves, teaches the children how to bow, blows bubbles while the parents take a breather, and stamps every child's hand at the end of class with a dance-related image. Mostly, it's a lot of jumping, swaying, and being as active as possible. Very age-appropriate and fun.

I think Leah & I were both excited at the first class when one of the songs that was played was "Shimmie Shake" by The Wiggles. ;)

One thing I've noticed is that other than the little boy in our class, Leah is the only other child not dressed in a leotard or tutu. It's not required; the kids are simply supposed to wear something that's easy to move in. So, we do leggings & long-sleeve t-shirts. While Leah does own a couple tutus, I think she finds them uncomfortable and doesn't ask to wear them. Our instructor even has a bin full of dress-up clothes for the kids to play with and Leah could care less. I love that she does her own thing regardless of what everyone else is doing, even if she's only 2. ;)

The class only runs for six weeks, and so our last class is a week from today. I have a feeling Leah will really miss it; she sometimes asks to go to dance during the week. There are more sessions in the summer and fall, and there are various gymnastics classes out there too that we might try at some point. This was definitely a successful beginning!

Puzzles and Pictures

One of Leah's new favorite activities is doing puzzles. We bought her a few for Christmas, two of which feature favorite movie characters from Toy Story and Cars. At first, when Dan & I tried to sit down and show her how to put together a puzzle, she grew very impatient and frustrated. She would pick up two random pieces and expect them to fit together; when they didn't, and we tried to explain how to try another one, she got mad. Eeek.

However, not one to be deterred by a new challenge, Leah again tried to wrap her brain around these puzzles. She began listening and paying attention when we shared how to match up a character's head with his body, or to look for a similar color, or to flip a piece around so it would lock into place.

Within the course of a week or so, she showed SO much improvement. And now, she loves the puzzles and is a pro at her two favorites. We tried a different puzzle a few nights ago - one that we hadn't touched too much since the holidays - and though she wasn't as quick at matching as she is with the character puzzles, her patience had improved and she was able to focus and work through it with me.

Another milestone Leah recently reached was drawing her first real picture! She was messing around with some markers and she showed me the paper and said, "It's a dolphin!" I looked and sure enough, I could see it. I was super impressed. After she moved on to another activity that day, I saved the picture, wrote the date and "Dolphin" above it, and hung it on the fridge. :)

Freedom!

Last weekend, Dan converted Leah's crib to a toddler bed. As you can see, that simply meant taking off the front side. In the week or two prior to this, Leah finally attempted to climb out of her crib a few mornings as I came to greet her. She managed to get one leg swung over the side but couldn't quite get the other. Still, that's close enough before we had any injuries. We had been prolonging this step for as long as we could. With the removal of that front side of the crib comes more freedom for Leah to test. And test it she has.

She loves being able to get up, walk around, and open her bedroom door. Or get up and play with her baby dolls. Or get up and look through some books. Noticing a trend here? Yeah, getting up. Not sleeping. At least not at naptime anyway.

On Tuesday, when she was sick with a cold, she did nap for an hour, thankfully. And on Wednesday, even though she never slept, she did stay in her room for an hour just playing quietly. It's only been a week so it's hard to tell if this newfound freedom is still just a novelty and will wear off... or if naps are truly being given up. Yeah, she looks a bit sleepier by early evening, but she hasn't been cranky or showing other signs that a nap is being missed. It's possible we needed naptime more than she did. ;)

For all the wakefulness in the afternoon, bedtime and overnight have been outstanding thus far. She doesn't get up or try to play; and she's even going to bed earlier. I suppose because at that point, she really IS tired from a whole day being up. Hey, if that's the trade-off, that's OK. Still, if she decides in a week or two that she's willing to rest in the middle of the day, Momma certainly won't fight that one.

Growing Up

Leah is blossoming into a little girl more and more everyday. This photo was taken yesterday when she let me pull her hair into pigtails - and actually left them in most of the day! (The trick was letting her choose what color bands she wanted. ;) ) She looked so much older and truly like an almost-three year old.

Just an hour ago, when I was getting ready to put her down for a nap, she started singing that Wiggles song, "Rock-a-bye Your Bear". It's always been one of her favorites and she's known the hand motions for about a year. But this time, with absolutely zero prompting from me, she sang the entire thing! I was extremely impressed. For the past two days, she's also been singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" (another favorite) and she's actually saying, or very much attempting to say, every true word in the song - not just adding babbles or skipping parts like she was doing just a month ago. It is so exciting to hear and observe.

Leah was a rock star at Storytime this past week as well. I've been letting her choose where she wants us to sit and for the past month or two, she always chooses front and center. In the past, she would choose the back corner, sit on my lap for much of Storytime, look through my purse for snacks, or gawk at other children. Every once in awhile, we'd get a week where Leah would really engage and try to do the nursery rhyme hand motions. But wow, a few months' time has REALLY made a difference. Perhaps a combination of her age and her familiarity with Storytime and our favorite librarian, Leah interacts and imitates nearly everything that the librarian does now. I am so thrilled watching her, seeing her grow into a confident little girl.

Wacky Weather!

Earlier this week, we had our second winter storm of the season. And it's only January. The past two years, when it snowed, it occurred in February and March. Yikes! Where did we move to?!

Snow began falling Sunday night and continued into Monday morning. Our local airport recorded 8.8 inches of snow. I would've guessed that our yard received about 6", but we didn't measure. Leah had a blast playing outside! She tasted the snow, threw snowballs at Momma, and enjoyed flopping down in it. :)

As predicted, the snow changed over to sleet and freezing drizzle for most of Monday. Ugh. Usually when it does snow here, it doesn't last too long because the temperatures rise back into the 50s and everything melts relatively quickly. Not so this time. We're stuck with arctic air, barely getting to the freezing mark during the day, and lows in the teens. Combine that with few plows and zero salt trucks down here, and it makes for a big icy mess. Schools have been closed all week and Leah & I have been staying in, not even attempting to go anywhere. We've watched several movies, played lots of Playdoh, made a batch of Auntie Anne's soft pretzels, and colored many pictures.

Unfortunately, two visits planned for this week were cancelled due to the storm. Grammy was supposed to arrive on Monday and stay until Thursday, but her flight was cancelled on Sunday in anticipation of the storm. While we've certainly missed her, we're glad she didn't have to experience the hassle of being snowed/iced in at the airport! Also, Popel & Grandma were planning to drive down this weekend for our delayed Christmas, but that has been postponed as well. Our area won't even begin to warm above freezing until tomorrow, and who knows how much road conditions would improve. Safer for them to stay home as well, though they will be missed!