Reasons to Celebrate!

We have celebrated several moments in our house recently... 

Connor taking bottles!! 

(His big sister did not want any part of taking a bottle so we are very excited! Should have known then she was going to be a strong-willed little stinker). Thank you Connor for allowing me a little more freedom! He has already taken about 4 bottles. :)

We also celebrated my 31st birthday last Monday. Ava, Connor, and I picked up lunch at one of my favorite bakeries and we met Amy and Brinley at the park for a picnic and playtime. We ordered Olive Garden take-out that evening and Daddy brought home cupcakes. Nothin' fancy but a day with my loves is all I needed!

Another huge thing that we are celebrating is Ava taking naps again! We are on day 4 of taking naps again and I could not be more excited. All my fellow moms know what I am talking about! Ever since Connor was born she has been having a harder time napping and falling to sleep in the evenings. She would tear her room apart, bang on the door, and sometimes even come out of her room and wander down the hallway. All things she had NEVER done before. Did I also mention she was waking up crying in the middle of the night more than her newborn brother??!! Disciplining her for banging on her door and coming out of her room was doing nothing. I realize now that I should have been consistent with one discipline technique and stuck with it even when it failed over and over again. In hindsight I also think that all of it was a way of getting our attention, even though it was negative. I have been so conscious of giving her attention but I guess having a little brother was more of an adjustment for her than we thought. After weeks of being so stressed around naptime and battling with her to stay in her room and sleep I decided to introduce "quiet time". Last week was the first week. I told her she didn't have to nap but she had to stay in her room and read books or play with her toys till I came to get her. I figured if napping isn't forced and it becomes more of her idea then she might actually nap. We were right! (at least for now). What has worked for her is we give  her some books and a few toys to play with and I tell her that if she stays in her bed and plays quietly then I will come and check on her every few minutes and give her a kiss. She has done awesome with this! She loves the attention and there is no longer this dark cloud over bedtime anymore. It is much more peaceful and she is able to relax a little bit more and let herself fall asleep after playing for a little bit (when before she would fight it with everything she had). 

I took these sweet pictures during storytime the other night. Now she will sit in Mikey's lap and let him read her a story before bed. She was so resistant to bedtime before she wouldn't even sit or look at the books as we were reading them to her. 

Daddy does funny voices during storytime which we always laugh at.

Thank you God for answering our prayers and helping Ava to nap again! She is a much happier little girl and so much more pleasant to be around. :)