family vacation

Laurelei is currently down for a nap. When I say down I mean, she is in her bedroom fighting the idea of actually sleeping tooth and nail. She is currently trying out her arsenal of different protests such as screaming, banging, and just plain crying. We were making so much progress before we left for vacation on going down for naps twice a day, but since our return she is a bit of schedule. Sunday went just fine with naps, yesterday daddy rescued her in about 5 seconds each time, and today I am trying to give it at least 5 minutes. We are such softies its no wonder she knows she can get what she wants!

Anyway, we had a great time at the beach with my family. Seeing Laurelei's reaction to the water temperature and the sand was priceless. She cried immediately every time we put her little feet in the ocean water. The crashing waves were just too much for her to handle. We took her on long walks everyday during which she would usually fall asleep on our shoulders, but before this could happen, she would clench onto us, eyeing the water woefully until she was certain we were not going to attempt to put her down again. We are hoping for better results with that next year! 

As for the sand though, she was a huge fan. She loved picking it up and throwing it and covering her little feet with it. We are quite lucky that this was her feeling, however, since her first experience with the sand was on the first day when she rolled her self off of her sheet and directly, face down into the sand. It was quite sad! She was such a trooper about it though, and didn't begin to cry until after she was all cleaned up. 

Overall, we were so proud of her attitude the whole trip. She sat patiently during dinners out every night, took naps whenever she was tired and even slept the majority of the 10 hours car rides there and back. We can't believe how lucky we are to have such a sweet, even tempered baby. It was truly priceless to share this first family vacation with her. We are looking forward to many exciting trips to come!