see my small yawny baby? she's not so small or yawny anymore. gone are the days when she would sleep in her stroller or carrier whenever she needed to nap. now my days revolve around her two daytime sleeps that each last for1.5-2 hrs. lucky me right? a baby that sleeps regularly and for reasonable lengths of time, i should be thanking the gods or whomever you would thank in a situation like that for the quiet that those naps bring and the happy baby that they result in. and i really do appreciate how easy her day naps are (her nights are a different story, but i'll tell that one later) but i do miss that tiny thing that could go everywhere (parties, gigs, demos, cafes, restaurants, roller derby, supermarket shopping, other places that sound cool and interesting) at any hour and just sleep through it. jay was pretty portable in this way. he would sleep in his stroller pretty much anywhere. edie? not so much.
you're right; i am a selfish person who wants everything to work in my favour and be exactly how i want it. i am. and i want a baby who sleeps in places other than her cot at home but maybe it is too much to ask.
today we spent the afternoon at the beach. it was lovely, i swam while a friend played with edie and i got to jump around in the waves with jay which was super fun. we sat around and i breastfed edie when she got a little grumpy (it was naptime) and we decided to go for a walk. i wore her for the walk and she fed more and grumbled her way through it. jay found some exciting cave action in a clay wall down the beach and he had fun playing while i tried to keep the once-was-yawny baby happy in her carrier. eventually it got too much and we turned around for home. we were about 3 minutes walk from the car and she finally fell asleep. not. fair.
so of course i was unable to transfer her into her car seat without waking her so she was a bit grumpy on the drive home too. we thought about heading to a cafe for hot beverages and a little more sunshine but the bebe was too moody for that so we just headed home where she proceeded to be unhappyish for the rest of the evening until bed time.
don't get me wrong. i felt awful for her, poor little sunshine-face. it was my fault she wasn't her usual self. i could have stayed home this afternoon and let her nap. but then my big kid wouldn't had adventures exploring the beach. he wouldn't have had one-on-one time with his manda in the waves and i wouldn't have gotten the very valuable and much appreciated time in the water, the very first this summer without edie. before i gave birth to edie i wrote about my fears associated with parenting two kids. 9 months in and i struggle to find the balance between older sibling and baby every day. i know that we don't have to leave the house to have quality time together but there is only so much lego play i can stand before it becomes soul-destroyingly boring.
ok, whinging over. i need solutions. do any of you have amazing ideas to help babies nap when out and about? or would you like to babysit my small child so i can spend time with my big one? or perhaps you can tell me how you balance your time and energy between your kids, your work, your partner and somehow yourself too?
p.s. the baby edie picture was taken by me and altered by russell. he's good like that.
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