Blurry Eyed and Bushy Tailed

One hour.

That is the total amount of time that Hannah napped this weekend.

30 minutes on Saturday. 30 minutes on Sunday.

One nap just isn't working for us.

We kept her up the entire morning, being sure to do stimulating activities around her usual 10:30am nap time. And though we could see the fatigue in her eyes we pushed on to the noon hour when we knew she was completely exhausted. Of course, she fell asleep right away. But the minute the clock struck the 30-minute mark she was up.

My husband patiently let her cry for upwards of 40 minutes hoping she would fall back asleep, but it never happened.

Both Saturday and Sunday, she was a bit of a zombie come 4pm. And we put her to bed both nights at 7pm. Not fun.

An overtired baby is an unhappy baby. So why push her when she is perfectly happy having two naps a day? If she was refusing a nap, I'd say we have a problem but it seems as though she needs and, more importantly, WANTS those two naps a day.

I went back to the book that got us napping in the first place. Happy Child Healthy Sleep Habits and it seems as though at 18 months 77% of children take only one nap a day. So who is to say that we don't fit into that 23% of children who need more frequent naps, especially in the case of our cat napper?

And going totally against what I said on Friday, maybe seeing all of the other kids take longer naps at daycare will inspire her to sleep longer. Now that we know she can make it from 7:30-noon, we can rest assured that she won't be a nightmare for her new teachers.

All that to say, we have 7 weeks until daycare starts. As most of you moms know, expect the unexpected. Who knows what will happen in that time? But what I know for now is that my sleepy little sweetheart needs to catch up on some sleep and she'll stay a double napper, at least for now.

Drum Roll Please...

I am so happy to announce the winner of Midnight Mom's first ever giveaway.

The lucky winner of a $40 gift certificate to CSN Stores is: Lisa

Lisa, please be in touch with me by email so that I can get your coordinates to have your prize sent to you.

You can email me at lauren dot cracower at gmail dot com.

And for all of my new and old followers, stay tuned because there will be another giveaway just days away!

Cutting down

In the past week, I have been getting surprised reactions when I tell other moms that Hannah is still taking two naps a day.

Yesterday, she turned 16 months old. So, ya, I guess I am stretching it. But by 10:30am she starts to slow down and she is asleep within minutes. Granted the nap usually only lasts about 30 minutes...

So tomorrow is the big day. One nap Saturday. We will give it a try. That is, try to keep her up until noon and hope that she can break the 30-minute cycle.

In all honesty, I do enjoy the two naps. Albeit short, they give me a chance, twice a day, to catch up on emails and get some quick work done. The temptation to not be on my iphone all morning until my 12 o'clock break seems like a stretch. But I guess it will be an adjustment for the two of us.

But an adjustment that needs to be made seeing as she is going to daycare in less than 2 months. And better for me to break her in than 3 new teachers who she is just getting acquainted with.

Wish me luck. Hopefully I'll have a positive update come Monday morning.

Giving Back to my Readers

I am so happy to announce Midnight Mom's first ever giveaway.

All current readers will be entered in the draw. If you are not a current follower, you have until this Friday July 10, 2010 at 5pm to sign up and automatically be entered to win.

So what's at stake?

One lucky reader will win a $40USD gift certificate to use on any ofwww.csnstores.com 's 200+ websites. CSN offers every product imaginable: from baby gear to home furnishings to cookware. I especially love their All Modern website!

Just in time for summer, this giveaway can get you almost anything you need to make the most of the warm weather and to have some fun in the sun!

Good luck!

Catching up on Zzzs

After last week's napping hiatus turned into 30 minute nap + crying combos, Hannah is catching up on her sleep.

In fact, she is still sleeping now at 8:37 am.

This weekend in Vermont, she slept until 9am both mornings. No complaints here. That was the longest I have slept in since her arrival almost 16 months ago.

I figured the late mornings were due to late nights and an action packed weekend of fun in the pool and stream. So is this morning just an extension of the weekend fun? Or do we have a new schedule with noon-time naps to look forward to.

How will we ever be at daycare at 8:30am come September? We're usually finishing up with breakfast around that time. Guess it means earlier to bed, and less time to spend together in the evenings post-work.

Well, we have a few months to worry about that I guess. In the meantime, guess I should be enjoying these late sleep-ins to catch up on my own sleep.

Counting down to Vacation!

Kayak, Priceline, Expedia, Orbitz...after searching every travel search engine imaginable I think I may have found the perfect vacation spot.

Perfect except for the fact that it might mean not being able to vacation with friends, as we are available Monday-Sunday and they can only hit the road on Thursday, with the flocks of other summer tourists.

That aside, all searches pointed in the direction of Rockport Inn & Suites. This year-old hotel is located in Cape Ann, Massachusetts, a town I know well as it was the site of my summer holidays as a kid.

This hotel has all of my must-haves crossed off of the list:

Suite - a 2 bedroom suite featuring a master upstairs with cathedral ceilings

In-room fridge/microwave

Clean, simple bedspreads

Pet friendly

Pool (albeit indoors)

Proximity to the beach

And some added bonuses including:

Right outside the front door is a trolley to downtown Rockport

Situated in a super cute town, with yummy lobster

Just a short drive to Boston, which if it happens to rain (but hopefully it won't) features an amazing Children's Museum

The hotel was a tad bit pricier than we wanted to spend (coming in at $200US/night) but it includes breakfast each morning and free wireless internet.

And best of all, after weeks of searching, I can put the search engines to rest and look forward to a vacation, and a hotel that seems to have everything we've been looking for.

Now, where is the closest Target?

Oh Canada!

Happy Canada Day!

The first day of July is upon us but this summer's weather seems to be a bit more reminiscent of spring. One minute its raining, the next its sunny.

So hoping to find some warmer skies, we're planning a family vacation.

Possible destinations: Lake Placid, Cape Cod, Maine, Gloucester.

Anywhere that is a quick drive away and that has beach side accommodations. Seems like an easy task, right? Wrong! I've been crawling into bed late each night after trying to find a great deal online but with little luck.

The challenge? Finding a hotel that offers pet-friendly suites for under $200. Three tough factors in there:

1. A separate area where Hannah can sleep (so we don't have to tiptoe around past 8pm)

2. A place that Winston our dog can enjoy too, he loves the water

3. A reasonably priced vacation

But judging a hotel by its bedspreads won't get me too far on a tight budget.

So I ask you for any suggestions.

And if you're feeling a bit shy to comment, here's a little teaser that might encourage you to help me out. Next week I'll be featuring a special giveaway. The first of hopefully many more freebies for my loyal readers. Stay tuned for the details.