Sleep challenged????

It is incredible how it feels when after a long morning of crying and screaming your toddler finally falls asleep for his nap.

He is a GREAT sleeper...has always been, for the most part. We put him down in his crib awake, turn out the lights, walk out and close the door. And for the past 10 months we've had a consistent sleep schedule:

Rise and shine: 6:30-ish AM
Afternoon nap: 12:30 pm to 3:30 PM (yes, a three hour break in the day!)
'night 'night: 7:30 pm

But just this past week, something has happened with his afternoon naps. He is CRYING and SCREAMING his head off everytime I leave the room! I don't know why. And I've just come from one of those sessions. It is now 2:15 in the afternoon and he has just fallen asleep. Yes, he screamed when I left the room at 12:30. At 1pm I took him out, let him play for another hour, then I said, "Ethan, time to go night night." He followed me into his room, and as soon as I put him in his crib "WAH WAH!". I finally just stood there at the side of his crib and watched him as he lay on his stomach, head cocked to one side as he stared at the animals on his bumper pads. My thougths wandered to all the things I was supposed to be accomplishing during his nap...grocery lists, home projects, dinner for tonight, laundry. My eyes looked at the sun shining through the drapes at his window. Ugh...what a wasted two hours with nothing accomplished! I then looked down again at my precious Ethan, and his eyes were closed. A wave of relief washed over me. I wonder if we'll have to do this again tonight?

It is incredible how it feels when after a long morning of crying and screaming your toddler finally falls asleep.