"PackBack"

We had a nice 4th, fairly laid back.  That morning, I woke up and thought "we should go to a parade," remembering how fun it was last year for Chloe and me.  So I looked it up and found one.   15 minutes later, we were smelling the horses go by.  There were actually some honest to goodness floats at this one!  Sorry, I know the pictures are kind of hard to see, esp. with this new background, but clicking on them should help.  The candy was pretty lame though, all taffy for some reason.  And I understood why there are certain stereotypes about certain minorities.  There was an annoying group next to us.  It was fun though.  We were glad we went.  The weather was just perfect!  As soon as the parade was over, the sun came out and we went swimming.  The pool was wonderfully empty, so we had a nice swim.  Swim time is always way better with daddy because it's hard for me to juggle both kids - hince the push to get Chloe taught to swim.  The pool here has some really goofy rules and interesting swimmers.  It made me start daydreaming about the day we can have our own pool in our back yard!  I tell ya, by the time this is all over, I'm going to be SOOO trunky and house-hungry I won't be able to stand it!

Anyway, today was a nice day too.  We didn't really do anything but eat and sleep.  Chloe took like a 3 hour nap!! And Everett (who only ever has time for one nap) actually took two today.  He'd been frustrating me too with his sleep habits because swim lessons were cutting into his nap time.  It's hard having a baby again in that Chloe and I itch to get out and be active, but with the two different schedules, I've always got one needing to eat or sleep - which also means, I rarely get to nap.  But anyway, today was a good day.  I actually felt like getting stuff accomplished rather than avoiding my chores.  And the kids were happy and obedient for a change!  Chloe was a lot of fun.  She carried this "packback" book around all day sticking things in the little pocket on the front.  She came out from playing with daddy in her room, got her shoes on, and said "ok, I'm ready to go to school!"  She just played really well and was a joy to be around.
I guess the thing that has changed (why she's sleeping better) is that things are more stable lately.  Mommy and Daddy are happier and less stressed.  We've also started opening her door and putting up the baby gate so her room stays cool, but the curtains don't move.  (For those of you wondering, the reason we didn't just take them down is because, it didn't help.  Her blinds still moved and we can't take those down.  So, with her permission, I put the curtains back up.)  Shawny, you're right.  Kid's have so many phases that once you figure one out, they have a new one to figure out.  This certainly won't be her last anti-sleep phase, (since we can't eliminate stress or perfect the way we handle it) but at least for now, things are better.  I really enjoy her and hopefully, she'll be good while her grandparents are here next week.