Growing Up

We had a fantastic long weekend with Z. We needed the time to catch up by slowing down with him for a few days.

Last week, Z did two notable things at school that were going to require further investigation at home. First, for two days in a row, he took a single (3 hour) nap at 11:30-ish. Z has been a great sleeper since he was about 3 months old. I never thought back then when he was taking 4 naps a day that we would ever get down to 1 a day! Thinking it was probably a fluke, I put him down earlier on Friday and Saturday, but he showed me, by sleeping for 3 hours then refusing to go down in the afternoon. I still would not give up, so I forced him to go to sleep at 9 on Sunday then again at 2. It worked! But, then he refused to go to bed at 7 or even 8... It was after 8:30 before he finally gave up. Now, I love some naptime, but I love his early bedtime even more, and I will not give that up, despite efforts by my dad who insists that 7 is too early, what does he know? Suffice it say, I'm a believer in early bedtime (for my child, anyway). So, I gave in to the one long nap on Monday and put him down around 12. We had to work to get him to sleep, but he did it, and slept for 3 hours (which I have come to appreciate). That night we had to work to get him down, and it wasn't until about 8. So, a lot of changes going on right now, and we'll see just have to see what sticks.

Now, in other news, his teacher told me she thinks he's ready for table food. When I asked what made her think that, she said, "Well, he ate a green bean off of the floor." Oh... I guess he is then. You might be thinking, why was there a green bean on the floor? But, it was during mealtime, so apparently another child had dropped it. I didn't really love hearing that my child is eating off of the floor, but what can you do? She also said he shoots her some looks when he sees her giving the other kids their table food. Sounds like Z. We decided we would work on table food this weekend, and I have to say he is "picking it up" pretty well. Much of it ends up in his chair or on the floor, and he is a slow eater, but I know that is just part of it. So far we have done green beans, noodles, shredded cheese, peas, and various types of crackers. We are still following it up with baby food, just to make sure he gets enough. But, I think table food is definitely in our near future. He's just growing up so darn fast!

We took a nice walk on Monday afternoon to one of the lakes in our neighborhood which happens to be right by one of the parks. Z loved it! If you look closely you can see his new addition in the tooth department.

Here are some cute pictures from last weekend of Z with my parents.