musical beds

Last night felt like a game of musical chairs, er, beds. Luke went to sleep in his crib. In the middle of the night (~2:30 a.m.), he woke up, then woke me up, and asked to come to the big bed. Since Dada is traveling and Mama likes to sleep, rather than enforce "sleep in your own bed" rules, Luke came into the big bed. Several more hours of snuggle-time ensued. Then, at o'dark thirty, Mama had to get up and do a little early morning work before Luke officially woke up. So, the sleeping child went back to his own crib. Musical beds. We made up for it at naptime, which was a lovely 2.5 hours together in the big bed. No moving, no talking, just lovely sleep.

it's hard to say bye-bye to a wonderful long weekend

We had a marvelous holiday weekend. For the first time in I don't know how long, Dada didn't need to work. And, wow, did we three play this weekend. Saturday was full of yummy food -- a trip to the farmer's market, big family lunch, crepes in the afternoon with Luke as assistant chef and chief crepe eater. Sunday, we went to the Bay Area Discovery Museum and romped on lily pads, helped the fish "swim" upstream, and rang the bell on the shipwreck. Monday, we connected with Sandrine, Yuba (3 y.o.) and River (2 y.o.) at the Oakland Zoo to view the alligators, sheep, goats, tigers, giraffes, and ride the train and cars again! Luke wrangled his way into the big bed every morning for snuggle time, and he earned his new nickname, Snuggle Bunny.

The weekend was so marvelous that I forgot how difficult transitions are for our little guy. I was a bit sluggish getting ready for work, but I know It Must Be Done. Luke, though, had a mini-meltdown when it was time to say goodbye and start our "regular" week. No Mama go to work! No Nounou coming over! Dada no work! My poor little man.

separations and reunions

We've been having a tough time these last two weeks with the regular separations of the day -- saying goodbye when Mama goes to work, or when Dada goes out to get his coffee. Luke, who has never been even mildly perplexed at our leaving, has suddenly started having major separation anxiety. As soon as he notices that one of us is about to leave, he starts to cry, protest, even stomp his (adorable little) feet. He clings to us, and protests as loudly as he can -- no! no! no! Mama! Mama! Mama! He is fine 3-4 minutes after we leave, but I've been carrying around a mental picture of that sad little face, glued to the window. I know this is normal and developmental, but it's tough for Mama.

who's that monkey?

If you've been looking at Luke's pictures on Flickr, or have spent any time with him, you may have noticed his best friend: a lovely (and sometimes stinky) brown monkey blanket. It's a small square blankie in brown "cashwere", edged in blue, with a monkey head at one corner. His name is Momo.

Momo is Luke's best friend and constant companion. While Luke eats a meal or snack, Momo props himself up on an apple or pear (or whatever else Luke has chosen for Momo to eat). Momo snuggles with Luke at naptime and all through the night. And, whenever Luke needs some comfort, Momo is right there. Now, here's the stinky part. Luke likes to suck on a corner of Momo. Sometimes, it takes a little while of searching to find just the right corner, and then ... stuff, stuff, stuff, in the mouth. After a day of this, Momo gets pretty stinky. Sometimes, so stinky that I think Luke has a poopy diaper, but, no, it's just the stinky monkey. We have 3 Momos, and rotate them regularly so that one monkey is always in the bath.

Life without Momo is incomprehensible -- to Luke ('cause he loves Momo) and to Mama ('cause Momo ensures a good night's sleep for all).

luke's day

I loved reading about Cousin Claire's day, so I thought I'd share Luke's and my daily routine:

7:30 a.m. wake-up and breakfast

9:30 a.m. morning quiet time, reading, snuggles and bottle of milk

10:00 a.m. playtime outside (we love to visit the playground, the zoo, Bay Area Discovery Museum, etc., and on Saturday mornings, we go to music class)

12:00 p.m. lunch at home

1:00 p.m. nap (yep, we both nap! one of the loveliest pleasures)

3:00 p.m. playtime, usually around the house (we like to make music, play in the backyard, build towers and knock them down, play hide and seek, and read, read, read!)

3:30 p.m. afternoon snack and quick return to playtime

5:30 p.m. dinner and silly daddy games

6:00 p.m. bath

6:30 p.m. bedtime routine: pajamas, snuggles, bottle of milk, reading, and singing night-night songs

7:00 p.m. the little monkey is in his crib, usually asleep for the night