the hardest week.

Whew. It's official: This was my hardest week yet being at home with Rowan. I'm not sure what the problem was, exactly. We had our usual activities - library story time, baby sign language class, playing at Gramma's house, using up our Groupon for My Urban Toddler, visiting my old work - but we were both so cranky with each other, especially in the afternoons. Maybe we're just sick of each other? It was probably a combination of boring winter weather, Daddy working more days than usual, and the continuation of her truncated naps and subsequent grouchiness. Whatever it was, Rowan and I both had to come up with some new ideas to keep ourselves entertained this week. 

Here's what we explored:

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MAMA'S IDEA: Science time in the kitchen using a water tub and some old bottles.

ROWAN'S RESPONSE: It was fun for a while...

...but let's be real: Everything's more fun when Baby is there. (And...some toy apples?)

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MAMA'S IDEA: Bake some baby-friendly cookies using this recipe that my friend Kim shared with us.

ROWAN'S RESPONSE: Yesssss! Rowan loved helping me bake. She did not, however, advise me on proper nonstick cookie sheet usage, resulting in about half of every cookie being stuck to the sheet. Whatever, the ones we salvaged were still delicious.

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ROWAN'S IDEA: Be adorable while Mama is gathering up the laundry, and then distract her after she brings the basket to the basement so she forgets that she put her Kindle on top of the pile.

MAMA'S RESPONSE: Put the whole load in the washer at once, about twenty minutes after the basket was initially brought downstairs. Then go to switch the load to the dryer aaand...cue all the sad faces. (Which turned into happy faces later when a friend donated her not-in-use Kindle to me. Hooray!)

The screen has about six different images on it at once, including the Kindle's
desperate attempt to save itself by posting a partial customer service number. Sorry, Kindle.

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ROWAN'S IDEA: Literally hang on Mama's leg while she's trying to make lunch quickly to soothe the savage beast.

MAMA'S RESPONSE: Fine! Make your own damn lunch!

She squirted the mustard and laid the cheese on her sandwich, and
she helped me cut up her grapes and tomatoes. And? She ate every bite.

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MAMA'S IDEA: Do the dishes after dinner while Rowan is FINALLY occupying herself and not whining to be up up up up up.

ROWAN'S IDEA: HAHAHA YEP THIS IS ME OCCUPYING MYSELF!

Toilet paper. Still attached in the bathroom adjacent to the kitchen.

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ROWAN'S IDEA: Spend six straight days basically just doing this:

Also, pantsless.

MAMA'S RESPONSE: It appears to be time you start earning your keep, spawn. (Kept her busy for a good half hour.)

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MAMA'S IDEA: Take a decent nap, child, so that you're not a hot mess for the rest of the day.

ROWAN'S RESPONSE: Or I could just wake up mega-early and fall back asleep in your arms and smell really delicious.

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Ugh. It was a long week, and I, for one, can't wait until spring. In the meantime, gearing up to try some new approaches to the too-short nap problem: going in and rubbing her back right before she usually wakes up (to reset her sleep cycle); trying (again) the cry-it-out approach when she wakes up too early; running away; taking up heavy drinking. I'll keep you posted on what works. AND SOMETHING BETTER WORK.