Naps, Nugglin' and No Thank You

Naps are back!! Jacob took a bit of a hiatus from naps, but the past week he has taken a nap with no fussing. Well, little fussing, anyway. Whew! I thought for a while there that he was done with naps and I wasn't quite ready for him to give them up yet. He would get cranky in the evening or we would find this in the late afternoon:

We wouldn't let him sleep too long because he would be up until 10:00 pm (not an exaggeration - it happened one night) but then he would be a BEAR because he was still tired.

So for now napping is going well with Jacob. Isaac does pretty well, but some days aren't so great. Ah well. Sleep is going to be an issue for a while yet, so I might as well just get used to it, right?? If one kid naps well, the other doesn't. That's just life, huh?

Jacob has been wanting lots and lots of nugglin' (snuggling) lately. Sometimes he wakes in the middle of the night and asks to nuggle. 'I wanna nuggle Mommy'. How can you say no to that?? So I sit and hold him for a while and then when he's had enough he says, 'I go night-night'. He loves to read a couple books before naptime and bedtime while snuggled up under a blanket. We usually read two and then he says, 'night-night!' Gotta love that he practically ASKS to go to bed! Last night we sat for the longest time after dinner sitting in the semi-dark playroom just cuddling on his couch talking about our day. Love those times!

We've been trying to teach Jacob some manners and that screaming at us is not an appropriate way to answer. If we ask him a question and he screams NO at us, we tell him that a polite 'No thank you, Mommy (or Daddy)' is how he should answer us. He gets it. Now all we have to say after he screams at us is, 'How should you answer me?' and he calms down and says, 'No thank you, Mommy'. Sometimes all I have to do is give him a look. He uses it in the funniest ways sometimes, though, and we just laugh and laugh. If I tell him he needs a diaper change, he'll respond with, 'No thank you, Mommy'. If I tell him to lay still while I try to get him dressed 'No thank you, Mommy'. If he sees Isaac heading for some of his toys or books he screams, 'NO THANK YOU ISAAC! NO THANK YOU ISAAC!' Those are the times when Alan and I just look at each other and try so hard not to laugh. So he doesn't completely understand the concept, but its a start.

Jacob can be quite a terror sometimes and I just want to tear my hair out in frustration, but he is also a sweet, hilarious little guy that I just love to pieces!