Napping's Alter-Ego

According to Wiktionary, a nap is defined as:
"1. A short period of sleep, especially one during the day time."

R doesn't like naps, so there hasn't been much napping around our house in the years that we've been married. She says it makes her feel ill. These days, naps have become a necessity, because we have to get up in the middle of night to feed baby Scott. Feeding is not my job, per se. R does the actual feeding, while I am there to change Scott's diaper, burp him, and surf the internet. It's all very tiring, even though I typically only have one shift.

Between the late-night feeding (11pm-ish) and the breakfast feeding (7am-ish) we typically have to get up for one or two night feedings. While R's mom has been here, she has gotten up with R for the first shift, and I have gotten up for the second. When R comes back to bed from the first shift, she tells me to set a 4 or 5-hour alarm, so we can go in and feed Scott if he hasn't woken up yet. Usually, I am so disoriented when she comes in that I can't set the clock properly. R has to coach me through it, step by step, or I'll screw it up. This goes on every night. You can see why the naps are necessary

While we take "short periods of sleep" (ie: naps) during the day to get our rest, we've noticed that Scott does the opposite -- he takes "short periods of consciousness" during the day, mainly associated with his feeding schedule. Basically, he isn't awake unless he's nursing. What do you call that? It's the opposite of napping, but I don't think it has a name (awaketime?).

In an attempt to give Scott meaningful activities that will stimulate his mind and invigorate his body, we took him today on a walk by the tulip beds at Dows Lake. Every year since the end of World War II, tulips have been planted en masse in the capital. The tulips were originally gifts from the Dutch Royal Family for Canada's help in liberating the Netherlands and giving safe haven to the Crown Princess during the war. The National Capital Commission augments the Dutch supply with their own purchases, planting nearly a million bulbs in Ottawa each year as part of the Tulip Festival.

The tulips aren't all blooming yet, but we wanted to show R's mom what it looks like, so we all went together. Shortly after our arrival at Dows Lake (which is very near our house), Scott decided on a short break of alertness -- he was hungry. R had her first experience trying to nurse in a semi-public location (a park bench). She has a nice shroud that J & L gave her to help cover up, but a brisk wind threatened her attempts at modesty on a few occasions. Since there was no internet to be had, I satisfied myself with taking photographs.

Scott went back to sleep after the feeding and still hasn't budged. That was more than three hours ago. Perhaps it is time for him to have some more awaketime.

I'll go check his diaper. I just heard a nasty sound coming from there.