Two babies

Thankfully, summer has returned to the Pacific Northwest. Since we don't really know if the sun is here to stay for more than a couple of weeks in this fickle corner of the country, we kicked off our "yay for summer" extravaganza with friends at a nearby park this morning. My hope was for Evie to fall asleep in the car on the way home so that I wouldn't have lay down with her in her bed for nap and leave little Henry on his own if he was awake. I am no supporter of leaving a newborn awake in a room all by himself while he cries-- it just doesn't serve any purpose and doesn't make sense to me. Ordinarily, when Henry and Evelyn both need me, I wear Henry is a wrap or in the Ergo carrier or I just nurse him in my arms while talking to Evie or engaging with her in some way. Nap time, however, is not an ordinary time. Evelyn gets really sleepy, and understandably so, and she just wants my full attention. Scratch that, she wants my full physical presence and my full attention. So, we tried to go down for a nap, but it was not going to happen peacefully so I took sweet Henry to my bedroom and let Evelyn play quietly with her dollhouse in her room for about ten minutes or so. Once Henry was asleep, I took Evie outside (ah, the great outdoors-- it cures even the worst mood!) to have a snack and color in the shade for a bit. Then, Evelyn and I rinsed out and refilled her water table.

The little blue water table represents probably the best thirty or so dollars we've spent in a while because it serves so many purposes-- though it's a means of getting wet, first and foremost. Today, the table was her stage. Oh the drama! One of the characters was "missing" (penguin, walrus, and polar bear) and the others had to call out for him to return. This game can last anywhere from one to ten minutes depending on the enthusiasm of the search party, but today she really enjoyed playing and it lasted for a little while-- until Evelyn noticed that my attention had shifted from her to something inside the house for a moment. She was quite overtired and so little things like this are pretty distracting.

I realized that with Henry asleep, I had a window of time to try for a nap, so we went into her room and went through our little routine again. She fell asleep, about two and a half hours after the point where she was so tired she was whining and melting down. Oh well. I'm just happy that she is asleep!