Wear 'em Wednesday: A joint nap

Yesterday was another 12 hour day of just me and the kids. I'm trying seriously to establish some routines with Cole during the day because I see how effective our nighttime routines are in preventing negative behavior.

But it's not easy, as I'm sure you all know. Something almost always gets in the way, Bevin needs to nurse, or Keith is home and we've decided to do something as a family, or we really need to go food shopping.... You name it, it gets in the way of routines I've tried to put in place. I tell myself that it's good to be flexible and life might be pretty boring if we did the same thing every day. But the fact of the matter is that having even a few routines would go a long way, but we're just not there yet. All of our routines revolve around Bevin eating and Bevin sleeping. 

So yesterday I decided to establish the routine if resting. Keith had said on Sunday that Cole really needed to rest even if he didn't sleep and I thought Yeah, good luck with that. 

But then I realized he was right. And so I went about yesterday trying to establish that routine. I spent two hours trying to get Cole to rest. At first I suggested he lay in bed with Bevin and I, thinking wistfully that maybe all three of us could take a nap together. And wouldn't that be all kinds of awesome. Of course what ended up happening was two tired kids and a tired mama laying in bed. No sleeping whatsoever. Finally, I put Bevin in the Ergo and wore her down. Wearing her while she slept afforded me the chance to help Cole achieve my goal of an early afternoon rest (because I was not optimistic about an actual nap.)

Throughout the two hours that I had spent convincing him that he was tired and should rest, I turned all music off. The house was silent. I know that's how Bevin likes to go to sleep and it turns out that's what worked for Cole too. Because right after his fifth or sixth lunchtime snack (because this kid doesn't believe in eating full meals) he put his head down on the table. I gently suggested that maybe he could take this opportunity to get some rest. It was his idea to go to the couch and lay down. I stood next to the couch and held my breath literally for two minutes. I peeked over and sure enough, he was fast asleep. 

Two kids sleeping during the day at the same time is practically unheard of around here! 

Thanks to babywearing, I could walk freely around the house, blog a little, fold some laundry and just enjoy the silence. 

For two hours they both slept. 

Cole woke up and went back to sleep about six times, changing his position on the couch each time. 

This is what my afternoon looked like..,

Pile of cloth diaper prefolds:

Bevin snoring in the Ergo:

Cole's epic nap: