Big Boy Bed

Joey has always loved his crib.  So much so that he calls it 'Cribby' and has a terrible time sleeping anywhere else.  We've never had to worry about how we were going to get him to stop sleeping in our bed and start sleeping in his own, that's for sure.  When he was tiny we were very conscious to not let the habit start of him sleeping in our bed and it apparently worked well because he will not sleep with us.  There have been times when he was sick and I really wanted to keep him with me, but he couldn't fall asleep until I finally gave in and put him in his crib.  He'd wake up in the middle of the night, I'd bring him into our bed, he'd snuggle in and settle himself down and then ask to go back to his Cribby.  He loves his crib.

This, combined with the fact that he normally sings, and plays, and flops around for quite some time before he actually falls asleep had us totally spooked about letting him out of the confines of his crib.  Ultimately, we decided to make the switch and did so on New Year's Eve.  We talked up the idea of his bed, he helped his dad build it for a bit, and then played over my mom's so we could rearrange their room.  We planned to take the rocker and night stand out but in the end decided to keep it for now.  Eventually, we'll switch things around a bit more once Grace is older.

 We let Joey skip his nap in hopes of totally tuckering him out that day.  It was New Year's Eve, so we went to Joe's sister's house as we normally do and then came home around 8:30.  We talked up the bed and how he was big now and got to sleep in big boy bed like mommy and daddy's and Sissy would be sleeping in the crib because she is a baby. I tried to make it more special by emphasizing how his bed is just for big boys and Grace couldn't go on it because she is too tiny and it was just special for him but he corrected me with a quick, "Sissy can come on it. Her can share it. I will share it with her.  I will yet her."  And, of course, he did.   

 We read a story that night, The Cat in the Hat, a new tradition in his big boy bed.  The major reason we went with a twin instead of a toddler bed is that I have long been dreaming of being able to snuggle up and lay with him in his room as we read a story before bed.  And now we're there and it's going unbelievably splendidly.

And, truth be told, we shouldn't have expected anything else.  He's two and a boy and all things that come along with that, but he is really just one fantastic child.  He more than rises to every occasion and just makes us feel like the luckiest parents.

So far he has yet to get out of his bed at all. He rolls right over after we finish our bed time story, I turn out the light and come back to him and say, "Love you to the .." and he fills in "moon."  I say, "Goodnight, sleep ..." and he fills in "tight". And then we each say "I love you" and give a kiss.  We've done the same thing ever since I can remember, even before he was old enough to fill anything in.  I will never forget his little baby voice trying to say moon and it coming out as "noon" for the longest time.  I will also never forget the exact same smile he gave me for months every time he said "noon."  On the day before he turned two, his last day of being one, I took pictures of everything all day long to document his last day of him being one.

In his crib, on his last day of being one, telling me "noon."

And so, this has so far been a wonderful change.  He still is taking his naps in his crib. When I bring him up at nap time he says, "Where's I going? Cribby Crib or Beddy Bed?" Ha! So I'm thinking 'Beddy Bed' is starting to rank right up there with 'Cribby Crib' and all is well.    

 A little bit of a funny story -

On the morning of Joey's second night in his bed I went in to get him, turned to face the bed as I walked into the room and couldn't find him.  I'm not lying when I tell you I'm pretty sure my heart literally stopped beating for a second and I totally felt the panic you would expect to feel when you can't spot your two-year-old. I have this crazy fear of someone coming into our house and stealing our kids so of course this was my first completely rational thought, then I flashed to where he must be hiding as I walked toward his bed.  And then I saw him, sleeping with his but up in the air like a six-month-old does, totally scrunched up where his pillow should be, with his body in the complete opposite direction that it should have been. He basically had lined himself up exactly how you would place your pillow, scrunched into a ball, and fell asleep like that.  If you scroll up you can see the bookcase that is by his bed.  It protrudes from the wall just enough that it completely hid his body at the top of his bed. Let me tell you, in that moment he looked sooo tiny in that bed .. he in fit in the pillow spot with room to spare.

We're so proud of our big boy and how adaptable he's been.

We're also so proud of how unaware he seems that he can actually get himself out of the bed. Ha!

Hopefully it's a looong time before that changes.

She's Talking! :o)

Grace said her first word on Sunday night.

We were unsure whether or not it was a fluke and if we should 'count' it but she was "talking" all day yesterday.

I was hoping her first word would be MaMa and we could even the score but it didn't work out for me ;o).

This makes two for Joe and zero for me.

We'll just have to have more babies so we can even things out ...

........juuuussst kidding :o)

Stand Strong Little Grace

I have a pretty strong will.

So does our daughter.

She looks sooo sad.

And after dabling in the delectable world of pears, she decided

she would not be eating peas anymore.

And so she put down her proverbial foot and made her will known in the best way she knew how. 

And it was loud. And it was pitiful.

I sang her songs and pet her head .. to no avail.

Eventually I sent the boys upstairs to play.  It didn't seem right for Joey to have to cover his ears during dinner while his sister protested hers, so he got some playtime with Daddy.  I didn't have to tell him twice that he could leave the table.

In the end, distraction worked best.

The lid to her baby food was enough to distract her from her fight.

And no, that's not baby acne, she gave herself hives by getting so upset ... over peas. Oh my goodness.

Should I start fearing her teenage years?

In the end, we worked it out and she finished those terrible terrible peas.

And then ate only peas for the next four days.

It's going much better now.

And don't worry, as soon as Grace was finished her mean Mommy whisked her up, gave her a good snuggle, a warm bath, and pea-free jammies and all was forgiven.

See.

There's Gracie Pie.

No more hives.  I think they washed away in the bath.  ;o)

I was even so kind as to let her get away with no blow-dry which leaves you with a few glimpses of the rarely seen curly headed Grace.

Her little fluffy tufts curl right up if you don't do something to stop them.  I love this about her but when we let her hair dry curly and then brush it it just gets super crazy and there is nothing that can be done to tame it until she gets her next dip in the tub.

Reunited after her fiasco and he's helping her feel better.

Joe calls her natural look the Grace Hawk.  

It's not hard to tell why when you see her from the front.

According to my husband, she gets it done at the salon, of course, and it takes at least ten hours .. in case you were wondering or wanted to adopt the look for yourself.

The have this adorable Daddy & daughter thing blooming.  She gets sooo happy when he comes home from work.  I love watching them. 

Watch Grace Grow - Six Month Edition

 Baby Girl got quite a bit more hair, a little more strength, and even a little more personality this month.

We are loving watching her grow!

Snow Babies

 This basically sums up their reactions to the snow this year. Joey is in love with it and Grace ... kind of doesn't know what to think about it.  She needs another year or two to come around.

Our snow babies <3

Joey is very into shoveling this year.  He asks to go out and shovel every time we have a dusting of snow.  We haven't had snow deep enough you can shovel since October so he finally got his wish after a long wait.

Throwing snow. He found it thrilling, her not so much.  I think she just didn't know what to make of it all.

He's pretending to be a 'snow cow' and eating snow.

More snow for the snow cow.

He was really into eating the snow.  This was the first time he was allowed to do this, or even realized it was possible I think.  A childhood rite of passage.  You can even see the wonder on his face in the second picture. So sweet.

Today was Grace's first time to get down in the snow but her real first snow storm, the first time she saw snow, was back in October, at three months old.  These were from the first time our little monkey saw snow :o)

She was too tiny to partake in the fun that day so she had to stay snuggled with Mommy and watch her brother from the porch.

Next snow storm we plan to get both of them on a sled.

This Moment

<3

Also, for your viewing pleasure, 

                                   a day shy of 10 weeks                                               6 months and 1 week

A little more hair and sporting piggies, but apparently this child just doesn't outgrow her clothes. ;o)

Dear Grace {6 Months}

Sweet little girl,
It has been a whole half of a year since you have graced our lives with your beautiful presence. On one hand it seems like the last six months have flown by, and yet on the other hand it's hard to even remember back to the time before you joined us. You have been nothing but sweetness and you just keep getting better.

It has been interesting for me to watch you grow after only having had a son before you. You are only six months old and yet you are already so much 'a girl.' You are coy and inviting and do this thing where you hide your face in my shoulder after smiling when other people talk to you. It's like you are feigning shyness, or maybe the shyness is real, but either way it's so very endearing. You are more pensive than your brother was at this age, a little more cautious of people not in your immediate circle, and definitely more picky. You love baby dolls and smile so big when someone makes one of your babies talk to you. It's so so cute, especially because one of your favorites is basically the same size as you.

You have had a big two months and have completed the transformation from newborn to baby. You are sitting up pretty well now and like to play with toys in this position. We still have to stay very close by though because you just let yourself tumble over if you get excited or distracted. You are rolling easily onto your stomach from your back and then, most of the time, act mad. We know you can get back over, as you learned how to get off of your stomach first, but for some reason now you prefer us to do it for you. No crawling or pulling up yet. You love to bounce yourself when held in a standing position and will "walk" if we hold you up ... but not well. The "walking" has been slow going for you.

You had your first meal on Thanksgiving. The first one went well but then it all went downhill, pretty fast and pretty far down the hill too. Your sleep at night became terrible, you would cry and cry if anyone held you other than me at night, and you would cry when we tried to feed you too. You seemed to completely lack the instinct to open your mouth for food and could not get it to the back of your mouth to swallow. After a week we realized the connection with your sleep and temperament, and that, combined with the fact that you and I were both stressed, led us to stop feeding you and wait until you were six months to try again. This was a great decision! You are now doing so so so much better. You are opening your mouth and eating like a pro. You have had sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, and peas (in that order) along with cheerios, puffs, and baby yogurt melts. You love your "baby snacks" and squash is by far your favorite vegetable so far. You've even starting taking water from a sippy cup. We're so proud of you!

Your brother is still head over heals about you.  He tells you're his "bes fweind" and I just about can't take the cuteness.  Every morning he is asking for you and he needs to see you whenever he comes back after having been somewhere without you.  You love to watch him and want whatever he has.  He also wants whatever you have, especially your cheerios and puffs.  He says he's sharing when he takes a toy off of you ... apparently he doesn't quite have the concept down quite right just yet.

We think you are seriously just the cutest little thing.  You have such a little button face still with your big blue eyes and fluffy dark hair that seems to get just the slighest bit lighter every month. Your little fluffy tufts have now gotten long enough to eek them into a little pony tail, or two, on the top of your head. You have graduated from the land of only head bands and hats.  At your six month doctor appointment you were 15 lbs 14 oz  and 26 inches and you are now in a size 3 diapers, though they are little big.  3-6 month clothes still fit you best.  You are just the sweetest, most amazing, smiliest little baby girl we could have hoped for.

  You and you brother fufill our every wish and surpass our every dream.

We are so honored be to your parents.