The great transition

I've quickly learned over the past 13 months that raising a child is all about transitions. They (or you) are always moving from one stage to the next: Eating every two hours to spacing it out. Sleeping on and off through the whole day/night to consolidating their sleep to the evening. Laying around like a sack of potatoes to crawling to walking.

Right now, our big transition is from 2 naps to 1 nap and from bottles to sippy cups. The nap transition is a big deal, more so for me, I think, than Sophia. She has been showing signs for the past month or so that she's kind of done with her morning nap. This used to be my precious down time to get things done - email, check the football pool, cook, for at least 45 minutes if not a full 90.
But it is really nice to have a full chunk of time in the morning with her to get out and play, do errands and not feel like we're racing against the clock to get home or can't leave until 11.

Sophia is also in a very mommy-centric mode (despite the fact that she only says "Da Da" - you can ask her - where's MaMa and she looks at you with this big smile and says "DaDa!"). This focus, though, makes me putting her down for naps really difficult. She just wants to stay and snuggle and not have me leave her. It's really tough, as I know she is exhausted and needs to sleep, but the excitement of me being around is too much to handle. She is quite a trooper though.

My sitter has been a rockstar in helping her to handle the transition and can put her down in a snap. Dave, too, has had good luck with it. It makes me feel really special that all she wants is to play with me :)

We'll make it through the transition, just as we have the others. There will be some tears, but in the end, we'll all grow up as a result.