Water Babies

When it comes to pre-naptime activities I am all for doing anything that involves the kiddie pool and running wild around the back yard. Seriously, naptime is starting to get more and more difficult as summer days pass by. We cannot seem, no matter how hard I beg and plead and cry, to get ourselves back on any type of schedule. 

We are out and about with errands. We dash out on an adventure with G.G. We need to go and grab something for lunch. Then, while we are out, things take longer and longer and naptime is shrunken down to a little catnap in the car seat. We get home and the boy is simply too rested from his little nap, but at the same time too tired to go back down again later in the afternoon. Luckily I have developed the perfect equation of fun and sun to wear us out just enough to get in a long afternoon nap. We play! 

From 2-4 pm we play, and play, and play. We are the lost boys. We are Tom and Huck. We are Oliver and Dodger. We scamper and run. We spray the mutt. We get dirty, we get sweaty, and we make mud pies. Over the last few weeks I have noticed our skin getting darker, our hair getting lighter, and our summertime naps getting longer. Yes, we pretty much do the same old thing every afternoon. Mommy fills the kiddie pool. Mommy puts the bath toys in the kiddie pool. K.B. gets in his trunks. K.B. tugs on his hat. Out the door we go. That is all we need to wear us out.

However, despite the repetitive nature of this pre-nap ritual, it is still new and fresh every time we step out into the back yard. It is fun to see this kid become more and more accepting of water splashing on his hair and face. It is elating to watch him scamper around, bonding with the dog and ceaselessly teasing her. It is especially exciting when Superman can join us. 

Then, when we are all funned out, we go inside to dry off and snuggle on the couch. Within two minutes the boy's head is lolling to one side and his binky is barely hanging from his slackened lips. It is heaven; blissful, summertime exhaustion.