Auntie L and the No Nap Day

Auntie L came to visit Saturday afternoon and to hang with me - okay, Alex - while Tim went to the Hogs game with his friend Nick. She had this ridiculous theory that she might get a little more one-on-one time with Alex if Grammy wasn't around. Alex missed his Grammy but had a great time bonding with Auntie L.

I needed to make a Walmart run so Leah and I decided to take Alex on a field trip.

We were thinking of auditioning Alex for What Not to Wear so he could win 5000 bucks to buy a winter wardrobe. Problem is, his fashion sense never falters. So we had to fake it. These shoes should seal the deal:

(BTW, Alex apologizes if he's offended any Sesame Street lovers out there. He has no problem with the television show, he just thinks wearing Elmo on his shoes doesn't reflect the depth of his personal style.)

Auntie L lucked out cuz Seth and Joy also had tickets to the game and needed someone to hang with Oliver while they were gone. She and I had quite the challenge on our hands with A and O - you get those two rabble-rousing boys together and you got nothin' but trouble.

Okay, so they didn't cause any trouble. But it was tons of fun to watch them interact - Alex couldn't keep his eyes off of O, who spent much of the night pointing out Alex's hair, eyes, nose, and mouth and showing him how to properly operate all of the toys on his jumperoo. I think Alex really appreciated the mentorship and was glad to have someone closer to his age to play with.

According to Alex, I'm not quite as much fun to play with as Oliver is. And I'm okay with that...

Sunday morning started out normal enough. A was up at six, which is a little earlier than I generally prefer, but he was cute and chipper as usual so I forgave him. He took a short nap around eight, then we all got up and ready for church.

He slept a little on the way to church and then we dropped him off at the nursery. After we picked him up, we ended up hanging out with the Primms and enjoying the gorgeous weather for a bit before heading back to Fayetteville.

Alex fell asleep on the way home, so we decided to sneak in a quick lunch at the chinese buffet. Not quick enough, I guess, cuz he woke up while we were eating. But he was in a good mood so we took advantage and figured he'd catch up on his napping later in the day. Boy, were we wrong...

We got home and some friends from Eldo came to pick Leah up and take her back home. Alex was pretty sociable and quite the little flirt.

Finally, it came time to kiss Auntie L goodbye. Alex took that responsibility very seriously, as you can see...

By this time, Alex was wiped out and in great need of a "real nap" - those catnaps in the car just don't cut it. When I put him down in his crib around 2:30, I realized that we probably weren't going to make it to community group at 4 o'clock and called the host to let her know. Whew, I gotta thank mommy instincts for that one cuz instead of napping, dude spent all afternoon screaming in his crib. We tried rocking, bouncing, shushing - you name it. When Timothy finally relented after about two hours and got him up, he was totally wired. Tim would say something to him and he would smile and screech at the top of his lungs, then we'd crack up and he'd do it again. He was totally hamming it up, and although his energy level made it seem like sleep was the last thing he needed, I'm pretty sure his hyperactive behavior was a consequence of being overtired. When he finally got fussy around 5:15, I figured what the heck, gave him a bath and bottle, and put him to bed.

Of course he got up hungry at four this morning cuz he had missed a feeding by going to bed so early. But hopefully he'll make up for yesterday's lost naps with fuss-free napping today. A girl can dream, can't she?