The Jumbled Pretty

Hi Friends,

It's been a pretty crazy two weeks- ever since Isla started deciding to nap in the afternoons I have felt like a different Mom and she's been a different kiddo. My patience by 4pm have quadrupled and I am literally taking on the WORLD- I planned 3 birthday parties this week and already ordered gifts for all birthdays through October. I mean, can I get a very real round of applause?!!

Isla is literally a different kid with a two hour nap under her belt. She is more engaged, more creative, more well behaved and a lot more FUN. She now says, "Mama Isla do ART!" in the afternoons and will color, stamp, paint or draw for literally 45mins-1hour. It's such a miracle. I have noticed a lot more creative playtime - she sets up her little stuffed animals for meals, has little conversations with them, 'calls' people on her phone (yesterday in the middle of a 'conversation' she turned the phone around to take a selfie and turned it back around to keep chatting- OMG, are you kidding me?!) and has started making up little stories. Her imagination is starting to get really fun now that she can vocalize it more and use more detail ('not a dinosaur, a PURPLE dinosaur Mama!') She still has her moments and is really intense with her demands to be entertained all the time (thankfully she does entertain herself a lot more during the day) but napping is changing our lives. I mean- it's about time right?!

One of the other benefits of napping is the later bedtime....no more rushing around to get her to bed early (7pm) - we can now eat a meal together and relax before bedtime or take a little stroll. I have also discovered, there's nothing better than having the Hubby call at 6pm and say, "Babe, I'm on my way...will you put on Isla's Converse." That's always my cue that he's going to take her to the park for their "soccer time" which is really more of a menagerie of activities- made 1000x more intense by Isla's manic energy. They usually walk run across the street- each carrying a soccer ball. They kick it around a bit *for like 1 minute total* before Isla loses interest and runs to the toys, then sees the tennis courts where she plays 'tennis' (i.e.: kicking or throwing the soccer ball) and occasionally she demands a trip to QFC to look around or Starbucks to sit at the tables with the umbrellas. The park is literally her backyard- what a city kid! There is nothing cuter than seeing them hold hands across the street and when she comes back and tells me everything they did she looks up at him with a little smile that I swear is only his. I know all of her little grins and that one--she reserves just for Daddy and their sweet little moments. It literally melts my heart.

Tonight, I had one of those bittersweet moments when I realized just how much my girl is growing. At bedtime we usually do PJ's, books, milk if she wants it and then I sing 'you are my sunshine' and rock for a bit before putting her in her crib. Tonight she turned down the majority of her milk, wanted 2 books and requested that I pet her while she laid in her bed (without rocking) and then she went to sleep. She just burrowed under her big blanket and nodded off. It was just one of the many bittersweet times when I can literally feel my sweet baby growing up- literally right before my eyes. It's so good but so hard. Can time just stand still- please. Just for a moment.

I know this post is all over the place and it doesn't do the 'things it should' but it's where my brain is at and sometimes that's more real than making 'it pretty.' Happy Friday Eve Friends-

xo- 

S