Naps - The Missing Link

Charlie stopped taking naps right after Christmas.

I'm devastated.

I had such a great system. Play with Charlie. Put him down for his nap while I worked on the Asian edition. Get him up when I was done. Play more. Put him down for sleep right before I worked on the European edition.

Now he's awake while I work and it has been quite an adjustment. More so for me than him.

The problem with this - well, one of the many problems - is that he is still really tired. He needs to nap. He just won't. So he's not only awake for 3 extra hours, but he's cranky.

We're settling into a new routine - QT or Quiet Time. Charlie and I go to my room, he watches a video on his little dvd player, or his "computer" as he calls it (well, more like con-poo-ter) and I work on my con-poo-ter.

When we are totally sick of each other, we go over to Bubbe's and spend the afternoon with her and Zadie. Man, that's nice. He just hangs with her and all I have to do is work! No getting crackers or milk. No uncapping of markers or opening the play-doh.

I love not having to multitask.

Other than the naps, things have been good. Charlie and I had a great trip to Michigan. It was our first trip without Jason and it went off without a hitch. We sat in first class - lemme tell you those people were NOT happy to see a toddler sitting with them. But he didn't cry once. He watched videos and ate crackers and played with trains, his newest obsession. He was the perfect child.

He was also the perfect child in Michigan. He was cute, loving, fun. All of his cousins adored him, especially 4 year old Jenna, who wasn't used to having a younger kid around to boss around. She loved it. He loved hanging with Nonnie and playing hide and seek with Tommy and Heather. Anne made him some pj's that are so cute. It was probably the best visit ever.

But once we got home, he became a no nap-taking, backtalking 3 year old who's favorite word is "No!" He says no even when I'm not asking a question. "The sun's out, Charlie." "NO!"

We've started using Love and Logic, a discipline technique that my sister has used with her kids. Let me tell you, it's extremely effective. Basically, I give Charlie a bunch of choices all day long that really mean nothing. This way, he feels he's in control of his life. When I want him to go upstairs and take a bath, I don't ask him, "Do you want to take a bath?" because he would quickly snap that off with a "No!" So I say, "Time for your bath. Do you want to walk upstairs like a duck, or do you want to walk like a dog?" He thinks about it, says, "Dog, mommy!" and so we walk upstairs barking like dogs.

Do I look like an idiot? Probably. But I have a kid who is now going to take a bath without argument. I can't tell you how happy that makes me.

He still has his moments. When he does, he has to have either a time-out or bedroom time. He's not a fan of either. Right when he does something wrong, I always say, "Uh oh!" Now, he's learning when I say "Uh oh!" he better stop whatever he's doing or else he's gonna get a time out or bedroom time.

It felt really weird at first but let me tell you, when I got him to change his clothes without an argument the first time, I was sold.

I have tons of pics but they haven't been working lately so I'll have to investigate that. We got our yearly pictures taken and they turned out really good. I'll get that up soon.