Bedhead and why naps may not be worth it

Graesen took a nap today.  The first real nap he has taken in over a week (maybe two).  Taking away his pacifier totally threw him off.  But here's the thing, even before we took the "meemie" (the name he gave his pacifier) away, naps during the day meant a very late night.  If Graesen napped he wouldn't be able to fall asleep at night until at least 9:30, sometimes as late as 11!  Yet, he was cranky without a nap.  It made it hard.  I either got him napping, which put him in a good mood in the evening but kept him up late, or he was cranky and went to bed early.  Well, today Graesen crashed in the car on the way home from Costco.  He slept for about an hour and a half and then I loaded him back in the car to head to work (that's when I took the pictures of his impressive bed head-which I fixed as soon as we got to work).  Now guess who is wide awake and singing to himself?  It is 10 at night and he cannot calm down!  That one little nap means that I now have a kid who is wired when he should be asleep.  I even drove around for about 50 minutes after work trying to get him to fall asleep.  He sang to himself almost the entire time.  I am hoping my next child will be a better sleeper!

A little fish

*I tried to post this last night, but something went wrong with my computer so here it is today!
Graesen is about to turn into a little fish.  The kid loves swimming.  Today we went to visit my friend, Mikaela, at her parents' house.  She grew up around the block from me and was in town this week for her baby shower (she is expecting her first baby-it's the shower I went to on Saturday).  Graesen took a little dip in the pool with Mikaela while we were there.

Water slides

We took Graesen to a pool just a couple of miles from us today before work.  They have a great kids section with mini water slides.  We only made it there once last year, but I am hoping we go several times this year.  Graesen loves it!  He won't climb up onto the play feature alone, but he will slide alone.  He doesn't seem to like that one your way up the stairs you get sprayed very hard in the face by water.  Who can blame him?  But as long as either Evan or I were with him he was fine.  He didn't want to leave when it was time to go, but Evan and I had to work and Graesen's lips were starting to turn a little purple.

Graesen and I both managed to trip walking up the steps today, so we have matching skinned knees.  Graesen is so tough.  He didn't stop for even one second.  I actually find it kind of weird that my toddler rarely cries from injuries (unless he is faking it for attention).  Seriously, there have been times when we have been playing outside and I suddenly notice that Graesen has blood running down his leg.  I have no idea when it happened, because he falls ALL THE TIME and when he does get hurt he doesn't make a peep!

Backyard

After our run today Graesen had some fun in the backyard.  He is happiest when he is outside:)

A full day

We took Graesen up to a local farm today to play in the pea pit and eat some yummy ice cream.  This afternoon we went for a run then went swimming at my parents' house.  They weren't there, but my sister and Phoebe were.  Graesen and Phoebe loved the water even though it was a little cold today.

Because it was so much fun last night...

Evan and Graesen went back to the park while I was at a friend's baby shower today.  Evan was on picture duty...

Kids at the park

We had zero potty training success today.  There was a lot of cleaning to do :(  Tonight we met up with my parents and Phoebe for pizza before my parents leave on a trip.  Graesen was awful in the restaurant!  He used to be so good, but the past couple of weeks the kid has been very wild and naughty.  I forgot to mention that we took away his pacifier on Sunday morning.  I am wondering if this has something to do with the lack of sleep, which then leads to the less than stellar behavior.  Today he started saying, "I don't like it" when he doesn't want to do something.  Little stinker! 
After pizza tonight my mom and I took the kids to the park.