I'm not sure at what age these children begin to put 2 and 2 together, but for Reeves, it happened a while ago, and he has now mastered the technique. This is good and bad (but mostly good). On one hand, I can tell Reeves that after he takes his nap, we will go to the beach. This is good. He immediately and happily goes down and sleeps for at least two hours. When he wakes up, he remembers and wants to put on his bathing suit. On the other hand, I can't always make the promise of a trip to the beach as a definite reward for taking a nap. This is bad. Needless to say, Reeves was initially less than enthusiastic about taking his nap on Sunday, but with visions of the beach running through his head, he drifted right off. Once up, he and I headed out. He loved it. I loved it. Other than the mud bank of the gully, it could not have been better - except that B had to volunteer out at the Senior PGA and couldn't join us. We really missed him. Reeves would ask for him from time to time, and I hated telling him that we would have to see Daddy at home, that he couldn't come to the beach this day.
He insisted on bringing his baseball glove with us, worn on the wrong hand, of course, and for the entire trip to the beach, down the path, over the dunes, until I pulled out the kite.
He loved flying it, except that he couldn't look at it as it was right in front of the sun. I pulled him on the boogie board. He was a bit nervous on it in the water, but balanced himself quite well. He loved when I would pull him on the sand, and while his 25 pounds may not be much for his age, it seems to increase exponentially with each lap up and down the gully. We even swam across the gully to play in the waves. I'm not sure I have ever seen the child so excited! I, who am a pretty laid back mom, actually got nervous as he showed absolutely no fear. If I had let him, he would have been halfway to the jetties. 
And then, there's nothing better than being pulled back, salty, sandy, and wet, in the wagon. I wish I could tell him how much he should relish these times of being waited on hand and foot, and get him to truly appreciate them because it won't be long before he'll be complaining about how hot and tired and sticky he is, and how the sand or the road is so hot and hard on his feet, and the bag is so heavy, and why does he have to be the one to carry all this stuff? Or was that just me?
Monday, just to test again whether or not this nap motivation truly worked, I told him, at the Bair's that if he took his nap, we would go in the boat when he woke up. Worked like a charm. He went right down, only to wake up nearly three hours later with "bo-at, bo-at" dripping from his lips. I'm glad we were able to oblige. Wish we could do it everyday.
He insisted on bringing his baseball glove with us, worn on the wrong hand, of course, and for the entire trip to the beach, down the path, over the dunes, until I pulled out the kite.
He loved flying it, except that he couldn't look at it as it was right in front of the sun. I pulled him on the boogie board. He was a bit nervous on it in the water, but balanced himself quite well. He loved when I would pull him on the sand, and while his 25 pounds may not be much for his age, it seems to increase exponentially with each lap up and down the gully. We even swam across the gully to play in the waves. I'm not sure I have ever seen the child so excited! I, who am a pretty laid back mom, actually got nervous as he showed absolutely no fear. If I had let him, he would have been halfway to the jetties. And then, there's nothing better than being pulled back, salty, sandy, and wet, in the wagon. I wish I could tell him how much he should relish these times of being waited on hand and foot, and get him to truly appreciate them because it won't be long before he'll be complaining about how hot and tired and sticky he is, and how the sand or the road is so hot and hard on his feet, and the bag is so heavy, and why does he have to be the one to carry all this stuff? Or was that just me?Monday, just to test again whether or not this nap motivation truly worked, I told him, at the Bair's that if he took his nap, we would go in the boat when he woke up. Worked like a charm. He went right down, only to wake up nearly three hours later with "bo-at, bo-at" dripping from his lips. I'm glad we were able to oblige. Wish we could do it everyday.
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