{Back in the NH Groove}
Despite not having left the state of New Hampshire for vacation and with respect to Ace Frehley, our first week post-TLV felt like we were all just trying to get back, back in the NH groove. From out of whack sleep schedules to children now faced without having 24/7 playtime concierges and parents without the same, coming down from the highs of vacation and back to reality can be difficult terrain to navigate.
This picture just about sums up the post-vacation hangover around the house, 7/14/2010
Vacation did serve as a nice schedule transition week for the kids. Upon returning this week, Ryan started her first week of summer camp at the local Montessori school Ryan attends during the school year. Camp kicks off every morning at 9:00 AM and lasts until 12:30 PM* after the kids eat their packed lunches together. Each week of camp features a different theme of activities for the kids with week one being “Travel the World”.
*Of course changes to Ryan’s schedule that involve me having to cart Julia around with me to pick Ryan up result in shifting nap schedules. At 6 1/2 months, Julia should be starting to hit consistent morning and afternoon nap windows and the pressure of forcing them into specific pockets of the day around Ryan’s schedule has me a little nervous. I would venture to guess that second children are by nature more adaptable than the first — they have to figure out how very early in life. To Julia’s credit, stretching her awake time in between naps has resulted in her sliding into a 9:30 AM and then 1 PM nap routine with a cat nap at either the very beginning of the day or in the early evening depending on what time she woke up and/or is going to bed — bedtime is 5:30 PM to 6 PM.
“Travel the World” week took Ryan from making a pizza-like substance on a popsicle stick in Italy to maracas in Mexico and through China. On the day I picked Ryan up after her class “visited China”, having forgotten which country they were experiencing that day myself, I had the following exchange:
Me: What country did you learn about today?
Ryan: I forget (she loves to pretend that she doesn’t remember to avoid any conversation on the ride home).
Me: Can you try and remember?
Ryan: You guess which country.
Me: Can I have a clue?
Ryan: OK.
Me: What food do they eat in this country?
Ryan: Chinese food.
It turns out, after further probing, that they did in fact learn about rice and rice paddies and a great assortment of other facts about China. One reason that I love Montessori philosophy for young children is that there is never a moment that a child won’t soak in new things to learn about if given the opportunity.
Getting back in the groove proves especially hard after nights away from home with respect to sleep. Ryan’s night time anxiety seems to ratchet up after vacations where she’s slept in new and different surroundings. At Twin Lake Village, Ryan was in her glory as she shared a room with Mom and Dad. From her twin bed across the room an opening of the eyes would prove Mommy and Daddy sleeping peacefully in the glow of her nightlight and ease any potential discomfort.
Back at home, the anxiety preparing for bed, clearly noted by stalling tactics and the occasional break down, returns and the 2:00 AM “Daddy” chant has the tendency to creep back into the kids’ repertoire of ways to keep their parents half asleep the next morning when they awoke ensuring an extra episode of Kai Lan or Olivia in their bed while they slept an extra half hour.
Add that to Julia’s consistent Midnight and 4:00 AM feedings and new-found 5:30 AM waking for the morning and you’ve got one cranky Daddy until the 24 ounces of hot Dunkin’ Donuts coffee hits my bloodstream after dropping Ryan off at camp.
One thing that made the week easier to ease back into was a visit from my Mom — better known to the girls and ironically now most anyone under the age of 20 as Zaza. Ryan was feeling the brunt of a sudden lack of people outside of boring old Mom and Dad to attend to her cravings for constant companionship and attention — the family was gone, specifically Gavin and Lolo, and the neighborhood was as quiet as a mouse with most every kid on the block on some sort of family vacation somewhere. Just in the knick of time, like Mary Poppins in a gold Volvo station wagon with Connecticut plates, Zaza came to town with a spoonful of sugar and a whole lot of fun.
Watching my Mom with Ryan is entertaining in and of itself. From dancing with silks to Broadway shows in the bedroom to erecting umbrella villages in the woods with a few art projects and adventures in gardening thrown in, Ryan and Zaza fall right into step each time they see each other.
{Sitting Up}
Having been three and a half years removed from Ryan’s developmental milestones as she grew from baby to toddler, so much blurs together. I tend to focus on the later milestones like walking and talking. I had forgotten how monumental a change would occur in both Julia and our lives as parents when Julia learned something as simple as sitting up.
Julia's new found talent of sitting changes how we are able to interact with her in so many ways, 7/16/2010
Not only has Julia moved to her big girl rear facing car seat, she now has access to a whole new world of toys that require sitting to be able to get the most out of them. We can interact with her on the ground without having to hold her — and we can place her down without buckling her into something. She’s graduated strollers, can ride in the wagon with Ryan and even sit in the child seat of a grocery cart. These little things dramatically change how we see Julia and how she sees her world.
Julia's ability to sit opens up experiences like the "wagon", 7/18/2010
{Stats and Facts}
- Longest block of continuous sleep all week: 6 hours
- Next longest: 3 hours
- Minutes of non-Zaza time Ryan had during Zaza’s visit: 14
- Umbrellas used in “Umbrella Village” in the woods in the backyard: 3
- Countries Ryan visited in camp this week: Italy, Mexico, China, and the good old USA
- Ryan voluntarily went completely underwater for the first time this week at the lake
{Photo of the Week}
Julia has turned from baby to pre-toddler in no less than two weeks, 7/17/2010
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