What to do about naptime...

Smartie was a great sleeper at night but not so great at napping. She gave up naps completely at 18 months. I fought hard to keep naptime for another 6 months, but eventually I realized it wasn't going to happen. We started doing a "quiet time" instead, which worked great.

Sweetie was completely different. While also a great night sleeper, she took a good 2 hour nap every afternoon until almost 3.5. When she finally gave it up this past summer, she joined her sister in quiet time.

With the twins, I have one of each. Sassy would gladly nap 2-3 hours every afternoon. Monkey hasn't napped at all this past week. The problem is that Monkey does not understand the concept of quiet time, or if he does he has no desire to actually do it. Nap/quiet time is a necessity at our house, too, because it's when Smartie does her school work.

I can't just put him in his crib and let him play. He and Sassy share a room, and will need to for another 2.5 years or so. If I put him in his crib with books, he very quickly starts yelling at Sassy to wake up and play with him. I can't let him play in the basement or living room, either. He'd never stay there, and he'd disrupt school time constantly.

Suggestions welcome. What do you do with a non-napping, active 18 month old boy for 2 hours every afternoon?

The "older" twin

I can't believe Sassy and Monkey are 18 months already. They are growing up so fast. I'm definitely seeing the close bond they share. As I'd heard from other twin mamas, my two have their own language. In fact, they don't use a lot of English, but they sure do talk a lot.

I read years ago in The Birth Order Book by Dr. Kevin Leman that it's not unusual with twins for one to take on the role of older sibling and the other the younger. That's definitely true in our house. I'll share some recent stories to see if you can guess who's the "older" twin.

The twins spent the weekend at my parents. They found a toy Jack-in-the-box that has handles on either side. They each grabbed a handle and proceeded to fight over it. Monkey screamed. Sassy smiled. Monkey screamed! Sassy smiled. Monkey screamed! Sassy looked at Grandpa with a smirk and let go. Monkey fell on his tush and started crying. Sassy laughed and laughed.

In case it's not clear, here's another one. This morning I was going through some mail. Our church had sent out a postcard reminding us of an upcoming event, and there was a beautiful photo on the front. Out loud I wondered, "Who did this?" Without a moment's hesitation, Riley pointed at Gavin and said, "Bubber!"

Oh, dear. We see this over and over. Monkey is bigger and more physically aggressive, but Sassy is in charge.

Races

Papa Runner and I spent a long weekend in Phoenix for the Arizona Rock and Roll Marathon. Papa ran the Half Marathon in 2:20:17. It was great to get away together. We ran into some Team In Training friends we had met at our San Diego race in '08.

Next up: the Disney Princess Half at the end of February. I haven't put in as much training as I'd hoped, but now that we have a treadmill I'm able to put in more miles.