Nakey Time, Party Babies™ & More New Tricks

I've been meaning to write a post about Nakey Time and Party Babies™ for far too long. If only there were more hours in a day – the lament of mommies everywhere, I suppose. The new tricks don't help either because Nate and Seth are learning new things every day and getting into and up to more than you can imagine. But I digress... 

Nakey Time: If you've ever wanted to see two babies go absolutely bananas, feel free to drop by any night after they've had their supper because that's when the clothes come off. It's the most ideal time of day to get nakey since it's (almost) guaranteed the worst thing I'll have to clean up is a little pee.

Even though we've been doing this for months now, it still cracks me up to see how lively they get playing nakey in a crib. The location alternates, so sometimes the party is at "Seth's place" and other nights it's at "Nate's place". Whoever is hosting gets nakey first – it's the rule. At this point it's 50/50 on whether I'll need to change a sheet* when all is said and done, but it's worth risking what amounts to a small amount of effort to see them having so much fun (also I've become an expert at a fast sheet change). They typically average 15-20 minutes of non-stop nakey energy, which gets a big thumbs up from me because it helps get them nice and worn out for bed.

Or at least it used to, but I'll get to that in a minute.

I wrestled with posting photos, but after I took some anyway I realized these aren't too incriminating. So, for the first time at the OP we proudly present...

NAKEY TIME!!!

Classic nakey:

Nakey with interesting poses:

Unfortunately I just missed the high-kick Nate was doing with one of his legs while working on his headstand. 

And lastly, skinny nakey:

No wonder the pediatrician was raising an eyebrow. Won't somebody get this child a sandwich?

•   •   •   •   •

Party Babies™: Party Babies™ is a newer phrase around these parts. Before the parties started everyone would have Nakey Time, followed by a bottle and then it was straight to bed.

Now we party. Or rather, we PARTY!!! 

This is the nursery pre-party:

And this is the nursery post-party:

Well, mostly post-party. I think Seth took some of the party to bed with him. 

Enough said.

It all started after we had barely recovered from our first cold. Maybe the boys were so glad to be feeling good again it gave them renewed energy. Or maybe it was just a coincidence.

*shrug*

Instead of having their bottles and going straight to bed, they have their bottles (or a portion thereof) and then playtime is back on. Everyone is in a good mood, nobody is tired. Well, no babies are tired. Their mommy is another story, of course.

Unfortunately, this meant bedtime started getting later and later. In the pre-party days, Nate and Seth would drift sweetly off to sleep between 7:30 and 8. After the partying started bedtime was more like 8:15.

8:15 – OK, that's doable.

But then 8:15 became 8:30, and 8:30 became 8:45, and 8:45 became 9:00. I think you can see where I'm going with this. I was living for Daylight Savings Time kicking in last weekend since by then the Party Babies™ had managed to shift their bedtime all the way to 9:30. This was not good by the way. Oh sure, they slept in later in the morning but even so it was getting to be a pretty crazy schedule.

And then it was finally the big day. I turned the clocks back an hour and thought, "this is going to fix everything".

Ha!

It took exactly 3 nights for them to get back to business as usual. Last night I finally managed to get everyone to sleep just after 9PM – it's definitely time for Plan B. Don't worry, I have one. And no, I won't be surprised if it doesn't work. Those are some crafty (and determined) babies after all.

And now for the new tricks... 

•   •   •   •   •

New Tricks: At our last appointment with the pediatrician she asked if the boys were sitting unassisted yet and I admitted they were not. Sitting unassisted is a big 9 month milestone. I knew this. I see babies younger than Nate and Seth sitting quietly and playing all the time. Around here, however, no one is interested in sitting because they would both rather be moving.

All. The. Time.

Also, sitting still is for suckers. Just ask Nate and Seth – they will tell you. Or show you as they bulldoze their way over you.

Of course, all bets are off when the clothes are off because for the last week Seth loves to sit during Nakey Time! Maybe it's the confined space since they're in a crib, but whatever works. See?

For the record, Seth still does not sit up when the clothes are back on and Nakey Time has not afforded Nate the same super-powers, but I'm not too worried. In fact, I suspect it will be a long time before Nate has any interest in sitting still because...

Nate is standing!!!

Two nights ago as I was putting Seth to bed (post-party of course), Nate was still roaming about the nursery floor. I was just doing up the zipper on Seth's sleep sack when I looked to my right and saw Nate pull himself up on his knees, place his hands on the white toy box and ta-da! All of a sudden he was standing up. Unfortunately I didn't have a camera in my hands last night, but no worries... there will be plenty of opportunities to get a picture. He already pulled himself up on the Haba™ wagon yesterday morning.

It's the end times. As in the end of any hope that I'll be able to sit down for 5 minutes during waking hours. Nate just learned how to crawl two weeks ago. Now he's cruising the nursery.

I'm in big, big trouble.

And I love it.

- L. 

*If your babies also love Nakey Time, but tend to be a little leaky one of these under the sheets is a must have. It's everything it claims to be and then some.