Growing up

I love my little sweet pea to death, but I wish she would just lie down and go to sleep. I must say that since she has started walking she has gotten a lot better at napping. She has been taking two naps and just recently started napping longer - about an hour at a time instead of 30 minutes. For the last couple of days she has not wanted to go down for an afternoon nap. I am not sure if it is because I have been putting her down later or what. She has been sleeping until 8:30 or 9:00, getting an hour-long morning nap around 11:30 or 11:45 and then I have been trying to get her down around 2:30 or 3:00. I wonder if that is just too late for her. She is really fighting sleep. She acts sleepy, but then when I rock her she won't be still so I put her down in her crib and she cries for an hour. Next week is VBS from 9:00 - 12:00 so she won't get a morning nap at all next week. I will also have to wake her up early to get there. She should be good and ready for an afternoon nap after lunch. I hope she is not cranky.

After VBS is over we are taking a trip to Greensboro, NC to visit Daniel's dad and stepmom. I think I may have mentioned this in one of my earlier posts. Taylor did not sleep in the car at all on our last trip, so we are considering driving at night. I am not sure how that is going to work either. I am just praying that she will go to sleep. I hope she is not cranky the whole trip. Is it starting to sound like this post has a theme?

On a more positive note, Taylor has been doing so many cute things lately. Just the other day she brought her shoes in to me as if to say she wanted to go out. She sat down on the floor and tried to put them on herself. Daniel finally got down on the floor and put them on her and we went out in the backyard.

While outside, she decided that she was going to collect bark. She picked up every piece that she saw on the ground. She wanted to bring it back inside with her, but I handled that real quick.

Taylor has also taken a liking to her Bounce & Spin Zebra that Alicia and Darrin gave her for Christmas last year. She got on it by herself for the first time the other day. I think it is funny how children have the innate sense to want to rock on anything like that. She tried to make it rock, but it doesn't do that. She will eventually figure out how it works. It was fun watching her try though.

Are your children doing any quirky things? I was reading in a magazine that toddlers tend to start doing little quirky things. Taylor just started pulling at her eyelids when she is sleepy. At first I was worried that she was going to poke or scratch her eyes, but so far she hasn't. I think she is just discovering different body parts. She has discovered her belly button too. She will play with it until it turns red.

As you know, we have been teaching Taylor a few words in sign language. She has learned two more words: Mama and bath. I am hoping that by learning sign language she will be able to communicate with us before she learns to talk. She does say two words now: hi and chicken. It was so funny. Yesterday she was eating chicken nuggets and held one up and proclaimed,"Chicken!" I wish I had it on tape. It was so cute.