We arrived on Saturday afternoon, leaving extra time so we would be there in plenty of time to watch the Michigan State Final Four game against Duke (alas, that did not go well). The poor game experience (at least for me) fed into the bedtime routine, which took approximately 2 hours before Maia finally collapsed in fatigue. We always joke that this is Maia's revenge - as she was a great sleeper as a baby, so she's putting us through the ringer as a toddler. Due to a combination of factors over the last several weeks, the bedtime routine has been consumed more than its fair share of time, and last Saturday was no exception. So it goes.
We woke early the next morning (Maia's a little like the character Anna, in the movie "Frozen" right now - "The sky's awake, so I'm awake!"), and took, as Jackie refers to it, "our army" to church. The "army," consisting of the two of us, some new toys, Papa and Grandma, actually led to an enjoyable experience. Maia lasted the longest she ever has as a toddler during a service. I then took her down to the Church's area for toddlers, which led to a couple of the great moments of the weekend. Being a somewhat larger congregation, they had both a room for babies/infants and for toddlers. As we walked past the baby/infant room, which had a few babies being rocked by workers/volunteers, Maia got nervous, as our Church has on room for everybody. I think she was concerned she was going some place boring, or really wanted to go see the babies, as she is a bit baby-obsessed at times (there are a couple of babies, at the sitter and some friends, who have a restraining order against her). But we approached the toddler room, where several kids were playing with an assortment of toys, blocks, and puzzles, on tables and other work spaces. The coordinator for the room saw us standing at the door and asked Maia if she would like to come in. Her answer - a very loud and emphatic "Yeah!" The type of excited where I don't think she even processed me putting her down and leaving. After the service, Jackie and I walked down to get her, and the room has a window on the outside that lets you look in without the kids really being able to see you. We watched Maia grab a container that had Mr. Potato parts in it, and start playing. In the moment, as she displayed the "independent" play that we seemingly observe so rarely at home, she instantly became less toddler and more little kid.
But, as she is still truly a toddler, she struggled leaving the playroom, in part, we know, because of her lack of sleep. One thing that consistently works for getting Maia some sleep is to drive around. I know that many talk of doing this with their children when they are babies. We sometimes feel like this is the only we get naps with Maia right now. It forces her to stay still. In any event, we left church and drove around, wanting to get Maia some sleep before Easter lunch with family. She quickly fell asleep. We then parked at a shopping center for about an hour to give her that opportunity for sleep. Such is life.
Back at Papa and Grandma's, we engaged in some of the other customs of the holiday - eating too much food, going through baskets brought by a freakishly large bunny and searching for eggs out in the yard. I think Maia enjoyed all of it.
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Searching for eggs while wearing a new hat. Doesn't get much better than that![/caption][caption id="attachment_957" align="aligncenter" width="338"]
"What do you mean there's nothing else in my basket?!?"[/caption]
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