Singular Nap-or-at-tus

What?!? Wait a minute. No, how is this possible. I wasn't ready for this. (sound familiar?).

Once again I worried and fretted and researched when we should transition Riley to one nap. Transition! What a joke. I had nothing to do with it.

Riley has been sleeping twice a day for about an hour each time for months. She generally goes down at 10:30am and 2:30-3pm. My life revolved around this schedule. I showered and ate during the first nap and got Isaac started on homework during the second. Sure it made going places tricky because you had to aim for the ever changeable "between naps" window, but it gave 2 short breaks from Riley.

A few days ago Riley slept 3hrs during her morning nap. I was transported back to the first days of her life when I would check on her thousands of times while she slept. Suddenly, the quiet stillness was too much to bear. I assumed it was a fluke, but kept her up until bedtime since she'd slept so long.

The next day her morning nap lasted 4hrs. I was organizing my desk and making a new banner for the blog when I suddenly realized how long I'd been working uninterupted and graphic scenes of Riley injured in the next room flooded my brain. She was fine, but it was too late in the day for her to sleep before bed, again.

At that point I was convinced it was the cold she was recovering from and these long naps wouldn't last. Over the weekend she routinely slept 3-4hrs and on Saturday when I made the mistake of attempting to put her down for a second nap she made sure I paid for it. I was a deaf, basket-case when I gave up an hour later.

It was that afternoon that Mike said "I guess we've moved to one nap." Oh, wow! Oh...wooooowww. Duh. I hadn't realized what was happening until it was over, again. Why is Mommy always the last to get the memo? I had been too close to her to notice a change had occurred. I guess it'll always be that way. I'll only really see her growing up when I look at old pictures or when someone else points it out.

Not to be melodramatic, I'm fully aware she switched nap schedules. It's not like she's off to college, but it is another reminder that she's not a baby any more. She's a toddler through and through. I feel just as torn about the general direction of things as I do about the specific adjustment.

There are a few important pluses here: more hours awake at a time and a longer consectutive break from baby. It also means earlier lunch, ready for bed earlier (which sounds good but means she's up earlier in the morning), and messes with the nap schedule at day care.

How did we get here? She was just this tiny little bean that slept more than she was awake and now she picks out her clothes some mornings and tells me about her day with more words than babble.

Another step, another change. She sure knows how to remind Mommy who's in charge.