Transitions

Yesterday during the rain storm we were a little bored around here. So I told the kids to go out and run around for a while...burn off some energy. It was perfect. They enjoyed every second of it and I took some pics.

It's been kind of a rough start to the summer. It's so hard when the 2 big kids want to do things and my options are this:
1) Say "no" because Ayla really needs a nap
2) Say ok, wake Ayla from her nap and have her crabby the whole time.
Either way, someone gets the shaft. So we pick and choose and the kids really are all pretty agreeable. I don't have much to complain about.

Ayla is transitioning from the easy stage to the "oh my gosh, we have a mobile child who cannot be left alone for a minute" stage. I had forgotten. My babies have all been pretty easy babies. Eat, sleep, poop and do it all over again. But now we are heading into that more difficult stage. When Ayla doesn't get her nap she gets what I call "negative". She literally tries to pull my nose, ears and lips OFF MY FACE. She scratches at my face and finds pleasure in my scream of "Ouch Ayla!" She smiles when she draws blood. I don't know what this means for the teen years, but I am finding for today it means that she needs her naps. She's not so easy to tote around in her car carrier. She's growing up...quick. So we're still adjusting...8 months later.
Today the kids are swimming with my mom and I'm at home with Ayla debating whether or not I should load her up and skip her nap to get in an hour at the pool, or if I'm better off sitting at home, letting her claw my face off until she falls asleep.
I think I'm going to go get my suit on...