In case you're wondering...

...Ella still needs a nap.

This was the scene in my car on Tuesday at 3:30pm. Larry and I had to meet for an appointment at 4 which presented an issue - let Ella nap for an hour or so and have to (gasp!) wake her, or ride it out and let her crash and burn where she falls. I opted for the second choice. No one, and I repeat NO ONE, likes to wake Ella...especially me. We made it through our appointment with a drowsy child and then paid for that lousy 15 minute cat-nap the rest of the night (think fits, crying jags over undetermined issues) until we could heave her into bed for the night.

We may not have a child who sleeps through the night uninterrupted. In fact, I can't remember the last time she slept two consecutive nights without numerous 'wake ups'. We praise her with cheers when she does sleep straight through but it really is out of her control. It is one of her layers.

Napping tends to be a different ballgame. The girl can do it well. Very well. At least once a week, she pulls a three-hour snooze while she's with my mom. Nice, huh? So when I get the "Oh, maybe she's outgrown naps" I laugh. When I hear other moms say, "He hasn't taken a nap in over a year" I cringe. I simply cannot imagine Ella's daily behavior if she stopped napping at this stage in her life. I also cannot imagine life without the downtime her nap provides her (somewhat) older parents. When actual napping does become a thing of the past, we'll get creative with a timer and 'downtime' in her room (for our sake).

Despite the bitter, bitter cold here, I still can't keep socks on her feet.

I'm in double socks, she's in none. Thank goodness the sun has been peeking out this week. It is just about the only thing motivating us to want to leave the house in the morning.

And my African violets have been pleased with the sunshine too.

Tomorrow morning, Ella starts a four week drawing class at our art museum. I'm excited to see how well she does with this. She's made some interesting progress in the last week. Just last night, she picked up one of her train engines, held it in one hand and tried to draw it with the other. It was abstract, but she did get the key components on the paper. Go Ella, go!

Have a great weekend. ~H