Carissa has always been my spunkiest.
She’s fun-loving, fearless, likes to laugh–and make you laugh!
It’s been interesting: she is our first to really struggle with her “place” or her “security” in the home after the birth of a new baby.
Mara and Micah each showed great excitement when the new one came along. Riss–well, if I’m holding the baby, she’ll point to the nearest place he could go and say, “Seat! Seat!” or “Bed! Bed!” (She wants me to put him down and do something with her.) She’s coming around. She loves him, she coos over him and kisses him, but there are times when she really wants her place as “baby” back!
She has been taking two naps a day since she was probably six months old and all summer she has slept only through the morning nap. I knew it was coming time to go down to one nap/day, but honestly with bedrest and pregnancy and then recovery, I really needed her to at lest be in bed while the others napped.
For the past several weeks I have been trying to transition her to one afternoon nap (at the same time as the older two). That hasn’t gone well. She mostly walks around the house all morning, clutching her “Blanky” and sucking her fingers. . . Leaving me to ask “Where is my spunky Riss? and who is this little girl?!”
Every time I gave her a morning nap, she would not sleep at all in the afternoon and she would end up keeping Mara from sleeping too.
I missed my spunky Riss.
Well, I have a solution. And I say “a” solution, because there are things I don’t like about it. But it is what it is–for now.
I’ve decided to let her take a morning nap, and use her afternoon naptime for Mommy-and-Carissa one-on-one time. She does very well with that, and come to think of it, that’s what she’s been doing for months! Napping in the morning and playing in her bed in the afternoon.
It’s limiting to me in some ways, since having all the kids nap at once definitely frees me to do housework much more quickly and leaves the option of a nap if I’m up all night. But in some ways, it works better. Since David likes to sleep most of the morning, the littles are down in the morning–I just have Mara and Micah, and in the afternoon, they’re napping and I have Carissa and David.
This morning the littles napped, while the older two played with Playdoh. They had a great time with the “Fuzzy Pet Parlor.”
Then we had lunch and this afternoon Carissa and I spent a lot of time together. We set up the Melissa & Doug “big red barn” and made animal sounds. Then Carissa knocked the barn down “BOOOOM!” and started stacking all the wooden pieces higher and higher, with trees on the very top. I think it was good for her motor skills, because she kept knocking it down accidentally and having to rebuild and be more careful. We sang nursery rhymes and children’s Bible songs. We sang active songs like “Head and Shoulders Knees and Toes.” We did ABC charts and sang the ABCs; after we practice letters and sounds, she lovvvves to point at the objects on the chart when I say, “Where’s the [zebra or pumpkin or elephant or apple]?”
I am just beginning catechism with her. And her spunky spirit came out in this conversation:
I asked her “Who made you?. . . now, you say, ‘God made me.'” and she wrinkled her forehead and said, “Why?”
When kids are this age–especially this child, I never know if they’re repeating their favorite “why” or if they are genuinely asking (probably not). But I give them the benefit of the doubt. So I tried to explain on a 19-month-old level why she should know that God made her.
Then I said again, “Who made you?’ Can you say, ‘God’?”
She shook her head and said, “Nope.”
So I got a little stern with her–obstinate little thing!–and said, “Carissa. . .”
And clear as day, she said, “God!”
Good grief. She can totally do this.
I’m learning that she definitely talks. She talks in whole sentences. Just rarely out loud.
Last night Carissa kept running to the back door, stepping on the step stool to look out the window saying, “Moon! . . . In sky! . . . See it?!” over and over and over–must have been over a dozen times (except she has a lisp, so it was more like, “Moon! . . . In th-ky! . . . THEE it?!?!”
I went to “THEE” and yes, it was an extra-clear night and the moon was beautiful!
When Daniel came home, Carissa ran to him, shouting again, “Moon! . . . In th-ky! . . . THEE it!!!” And I love this about my husband–he went to “see it.” We all went to see it. . . last night. . . and again tonight, at Rissa’s request. . . even baby Davey went to see the beautiful moon.
She’s not the “baby” any more, but she’s still my spunky Riss. She brings something so very special to our lives every day.
