Interlochen (part 3: Who Gets to Sleep?)

While we were boating, Parker was doing a bit of this, with Grandma. And I do believe she enjoyed every moment of it. Ray and Andrew made a run to Karlin Deli for jerky, and went and checked us into our hotel.

And when we got back from our boat ride, we got Maia changed back into dry clothes, and Ray tried to get her down for a nap. It was probably a good 15-20 minutes of "No"s and crying, then maybe 5-7 minutes of settling down a bit... and then back to the crying. Knuckling her dark-circle rimmed eyes and assuring everyone she was not sleepy. Eventually we gave up, and gave her some "quiet" time watching Lion King with Lydia in the motorhome while we got dinner ready and I fed Parker.

MmMmMmmmm... hot dogs slow roasted over a fire. YUM.

While dinner was prepping, Lydia brought over her new friend, Mylah. Maia was fascinated by Mylah (not sure if it was the name or what) but Maia kept grabbing Mylah's hand and telling her to touch Parker, and telling her his name, and that he was her baby brother (Bee-bee bruthuh! Das Pah-kuh!). Over... and Over. And Over. Poor Mylah. I don't think she knew what to make of the situation, but she was tolerant. Since there is never a shortage of people wanting to hold a newborn... Parker was handed around while people ate in shifts (totally not necessary, as we had his buzzy seat, and I'm fairly adept at eating with one hand, although it's trickier when I'm trying to get Maia situated too).

Maia ate 1 1/2 hot dogs, half a bun and a bit of fruit (surprise!) and was re-energized again for a while. She did a pretty good job staying away from the fire (even though we were all quite anxious), but did not do such a good job keeping her hands out of the dirt (and the dirt is dark and sandy at this campground!)

Now. Here's where the fun really begins. After dinner, we packed up Mr. Chill and Little Miss No-Naps, and headed to the hotel. We were already about an hour past her bedtime.... and she, of course, started to fall asleep in the car.
Ray decided he did not want her to sleep in the car, for fear she would get a second (or 5th) wind once we got to the hotel and not go to sleep. So he pestered her until she woke up, and I sang songs and made Maia finish the lines (ME: You are my.... MAIA:(in a very small and quiet voice)"suh-shiiine" ME: My only... MAIA: "suh-shiiiine")
Then we got to the hotel and Maia walked up to the room with us. Still sleepy, rubbing eyes, fingers in mouth and actually admitting being sleepy (that may be the first time I'd ever heard her admit that!). Then we got in the room, and it was a new world to explore. So we got her dressed for bed, and Ray decided to give her a bath to get her into a bedtime frame of mind. And I read her usual bedtime books and brought a familiar blanket. And that was all well and good... and she laid down on the big queen bed and started talking, and asking questions, and calling the bed "Grandma's bed" and rocking back and forth on her hands and knees and insisting that "Momma lay down to me." And then maybe some singing, and some flopping around. And some wiggling. And some sitting up and talking some more. And this went on. And On. And On. We cajoled and threatened and offered time outs and cuddles, and "That's its!" and "Last ones!" I finally sent Ray to go get a few things, wondering if fewer people around would be helpful. It wasn't. 8:30 lead to 9, 9 to 9:30... finally about 9:45 or 10, Ray was back, and decided that it was time to try a car ride, and told me to try and get some sleep. I tried to make sure Parker was well fed, changed and would hopefully make it through a nice long stretch, and dozed off. They returned around 10:30/10:45 p.m, Maia asleep. He put her on the bed and tried to settle himself down for sleep.... and eventually we all drifted off.

Parker woke up at 2:30 a.m. I tried to catch him at first fuss to feed him. Usually I change first (and he cries) and then feed him, but to keep him quiet, I tried to do it in reverse. But eventually I had to change him, and I needed a little light to do that. Either the fussing or the light woke Maia, and she was sitting straight up in bed talking to Parker.

I got Parker situated (got lucky, too, as he pooped while I was changing the diaper, but I managed to get the dirty diaper back up in time, and didn't even have to go through a second diaper! Yay!) and back to sleep. Then it was time to focus on Maia. Again. She wanted water. She wanted me to lay down with her. She wanted something to eat. "I awake now!" (Oh, darling... I know you are!) She wanted to sing. So I would lay down with her, and if she misbehaved, then I would go back to my bed. Within a few minutes, she would be climbing in next to me.

In the dark, she did get a little disoriented, and several times asked me "Who issat?"

Finally, I laid down in her bed, said goodnight, and turned my back to her and said nothing more, but modeled lots of "Magic Breaths" for her. After a little while, some more flopping around, she cuddled up sidewise on the bed, with her head behind my knees and drifted off to sleep. At some point, I woke up, covered her with a blanket, took her pillow (because she wasn't using it, and those were some flat pillows!) and went to bed next to Ray.

I woke up at the usual time... around 7 am, and hoped that she would sleep a little longer, even though we'd intended to make it back to camp to have breakfast together at 8:30. I laid back down, but Little Miss Early Riser was awake and chatty within 10 minutes. We did, amazingly, manage to get all of us ready and packed up and to camp (with a brief stop at a grocery store for some cough drops for a very sick Ray) by about 8:45... and we may have made it on time, had we not had to wait for the cyclists crossing the road for their triathalon.

We did have a nice breakfast together (Scrambled eggs: one of Maia's favorites) and did a low-key birthday (Andrew, Dad) and anniversary (Kath & Andrew) celebration. We hit the road at about 11:30 for home, and Maia was out by the time we hit Cadillac. I tried to take a picture over my head (since she's still rear facing right now), because she fell asleep with her sippy cup on her shoulder, and her head resting on it, sunglasses on and her "crossword" (magna doodle-type toy) on her lap.

She woke up shortly before we arrived in town, chatty and ready to go swimming.