As we get closer to Cameron’s first birthday, I can’t help but appreciate how lucky I’ve been this year. In addition to just having the opportunity to stay home with him, he’s really made me look much better along the way. He’s pretty easy to care for. He has very predictable behavior. I know why he’s upset. I know when to feed him. I know when he needs to be changed. And I know when he needs to nap. Or at least I used to know when he needs to nap.

For almost 10 months Cameron would nap twice a day, every day. Give or take a half hour the start times were 10:30 am and 2:30 pm. Like clockwork. Then a couple of weeks ago he just stopped taking that second nap. His first nap didn’t lengthen, or start later. It didn’t suddenly start at noon and go until 3. His second nap just disappeared. And that stinks. Some days the stay-at-home gig can be harder than others. Staying busy is key, and when you plan the day, you block off a couple of 60-90 minute blocks for naps. Filling that extra hour every day can tough.

Tougher still when your 11-month-old can now pull himself up and army crawl all over the place. There really isn’t anywhere that he can’t get to anymore. His recent triumph is our stairs. He’s a mini-mountain climber now, surfacing all four flights of stairs that run up our house. I spend most of day picking him up and putting him ten feet away. Over and over again. I’m starting to feel a lot like Fred Flintstone when he dumps the Saber Tooth Tiger outside during the closing credits of the famous TV cartoon.

So my “free” time to do things around the house has been cut in half. And the time spent in our “playroom” has been reduced to chasing Cam up the stairs. I was warned all along that things like this change quickly and without warning. That is proving to be very true, and I’m still working on making the adjustments on my end!

I’ll need to work quickly, Sara is going away next week for four nights. Even though I stay home with him all day, everyday, I’ve never done an overnight solo. I’ve recruited some help for a day or two, but I’m on the hook for the better part of 100 hours. So this could get interesting!