but I was thinking about trying a push mower.

A self-powered one? Those are good for exercise, but require their blades to be sharpened periodicly.

Push mowers work well if you 1) cut the grass frequently and 2) there aren't things like the evil seed pods from the liquid amber/sweet gum tree to stop the wheels ( I mean blades) from spinning. I like the push mower because it is easy to get out and lift if i need to.

A self-powered one? Those are good for exercise, but require their blades to be sharpened periodicly.

Also, the good ones are not cheap, and they don't work well on longer, seedier grass or weeds, which appear to just bend down and spring back up rather than getting chopped.

Which is why at some point, we need to break down and get a gas or electric mower.

I'll have to look at the yard more.

Also, I hope Emmett just has a residual leg cramp. I had growing pains in my feet and they were just awful. I wouldn't want anyone to deal with that.

I hate it when Annabel does this.

It's time for her morning nap. She's been fighting sleep for a full half hour now. Crying. Rubbing her eyes. Crying. Lying down for about a minute, making me hope she'll surrender at last, only to stand up and start crying again.

It's driving me crazy, but I feel like if I pick her up or take her to the living room to play, she won't sleep at all, and will get even more cranky and off schedule, so the only thing to do is wait it out. But it's maddening. I may have to leave the room in a few minutes for my own sanity.

Susan, could she be hungry? Usually, when Aidan fusses and won't go down, it's because he hasn't had quite enough to eat yet.

Doubtful. She ate her usual breakfast at the usual time, and left a little bit of it in the tray/jar, so it's not like she cleaned her plate and asked for more. Normally she doesn't eat again until around noon, after her morning nap.

It's a good thing Annabel doesn't usually cry much, because I just can't take this.

Dang, I was hoping for an easy solution.

Susan, I can't remember exactly, but I think around Annabel's age, my kids outgrew their morning nap. I don't know if she's still napping twice a day or not, but if so, this might be the beginning of the end of two naps. With all three, I ended up moving the afternoon nap earlier, once the morning nap phase was over. It all depends on the baby, though.

She seems to be drifting sleepward. At least, she's lying down quietly, eyes closed most of the time, and isn't whimpering.

It's probably just the adjustment after having an extra day of Daddy over the long weekend. She's usually a little grumpy on a Monday and worse after a long weekend or vacation.

We've definitely got a daddy's girl on our hands. And I have to admit I'm jealous.