September...winter is coming!

But, hopefully not for a while yet. Although, you can feel a change coming. It sure cools off quickly and gets dark earlier. However, I did hear that we are supposed to have a warmer than average October. I guess, we'll just have to wait and see.

So, here I am with an opportunity to update this thing. I have been working very hard this past week to get Monica to nap on a more regulated basis. It has not been easy....in fact, it has been extremely difficult, but she is now at an age where I can reason with her, somewhat, and I think she may be getting the point.

Normally, she would only nap in my arms, resting her head on my shoulder, while I bounced and then rocked her. She has also been napping for only half an hour on a 2 hour rotation. This past week, though, I've been trying to break her of that habit and forcing her to fall asleep in the bed. Believe me, this is not an easy task to accomplish.

This is my first successful attempt at getting her to sleep and being able to leave her, without immediately waking her. So far, so good. If she makes it past the half hour mark without waking up, I'll be very pleased. We've gotten close to 1 hour before , but that was at night. I've yet to be able to successfully leave her during the day.

Ok, so now I'm back. After typing that last paragraph, Monica (surprise surprise) woke up. Now, she's eating some cheerios and watching Sesame Street. Well, she had about a half an hour sleep, so maybe that's all she needed, but I highly doubt that. Nap #2 comes at 1:00pm and it should be at least 2 hours long. Dare I try sneaking away? I'm probably going to have to stay through that whole nap just to ensure she gets a long enough sleep.

So, other than working on the napping situation, what else are Monica and I up to? Well, Monica is standing for longer and longer periods of time without having to support herself. On Wednesday evening, she took her first 2 steps towards me, but then fell down. So, it's safe to say that walking is, truly, just around the corner. AND...we're getting ready to move at the end of the month!

We have been living with Grammy and Grampa for the past year and, not that we don't love and appreciate being here, we are looking forward to having our own place. I think this will be good for both of us. It will be easier on Monica, only having to deal with her own schedule. It's been hard trying to get her into a routine, while upstairs she can still hear voices or movement. Even for me to sneak away, I'm kind of limited as to what I can do because this little girl hears every creak in the floor. Our new place is a two story, so seeing as the bedrooms are upstairs, I'm thinking it will be easier for me to go downstairs and get things done without waking Monica up. Well, here's hoping anyway.

Our possession date is Monday, September 26. At noon, we have our walk through and I will use the rest of the afternoon to do extra clean up (yes, I need everything cleaner than clean) and baby proof the house. There are stairs from the kichen to the basement and, of course, from the upper level to the lower level. So, we will be installing strong gates for the top of both of these stair cases. On the Tuesday morning, the movers will arrive with all of our stuff. Most of it I haven't seen in ages, since it has been in storage. I'm trying to imagine where to put everything, but I can't remember what all I have.

So, I guess that's it for any big September news. I'm not sure if I'll be updating again before our move, so it may be a while before we make an appearance on here again. Keep checking and you may get a surprise!

Have a great week, everyone!

-Denise & Monica