tossing the routine

We woke up at 7:30 this morning, which in this household is already considered late, putting Ziv's schedule off-kilter. He wasn't tired enough to take a morning nap at 9 so I decided to take a walk with him around the block instead. 

I wasn't completely in it at the beginning though. Even if we were already outside the flat, my motherly conscience was bombarding me with thoughts like "Ziv should be sleeping," "Ziv needs his nap," "oh he's gonna be in a bad mood later, you're so gonna pay for this."

Then I noticed, it was a good day to take a walk. The sky was a clear blue, the sun was shining and there was a gentle breeze which reminded me that Christmas is almost here. So as we stepped onto the sidewalk, I let go and left the guilty mother behind.

Along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4

Our walk made me remember those days when Ziv was a three/four-month-old who didn't want to nap. That time, strapping him onto his stroller and taking him on long walks was the only surefire way to put him to sleep. He was such a small baby then, and I was a stressed out newbie mom. At that time, it felt that Ziv's short or zero napping thing would never end and my body would never stop aching for naps. But he learned to sleep somehow and I learned to stay awake on five to six hours of sleep.

Life is much, much better now.

Well, it wasn't really bad in the first place. It was just, uhm, new.

After our stroll, we sat at a park bench. I watched the palm trees dance with the wind while Ziv busied himself with shadows, holes on the bench and stroller straps. It was so nice to relax and not be concerned about putting the baby to bed or doing any chore. 

Ziv exploring the park bench

I guess sometimes doing something out of the ordinary can be a good thing.


Postscript:
Ziv unexpectedly stayed happy the whole morning. He only asked (via whining) to be put to bed at 12:30. He slept from 12:45 to 2pm, which was good enough.