Big Boy Bed

When Saylor turned 2, we moved her out of the crib because we needed it for baby brother. It went great at first, but it was only a few months later that all our sleeping troubles began. Night terrors. I don't want to go to bed. I don't want to stay in bed. I want to wake up at 6 a.m.

You know the drill.

I know this had more to do with age (and will) than it did actual sleeping location. But still, the two were closely associated in my mind. My baby slept great in her crib. Then she became a big toddler and sleep became difficult.

I was completely determined we would not be doing that this time around. No baby on the way. No need to move to the bed. Keep him in the crib as long as possible. In my head I was thinking at least 3, maybe even 3.5.

Unfortunately, my plan did not prevail.

Last week, our little man officially learned how to climb out of his crib. One night we put him to bed and he popped up a few minutes later, beaming, so proud of himself. We figured it was a fluke and put him back to bed. Again, he climbed right out. We tried being more stern. We tried lowering the mattress all the way down. We quickly realized, our plan wasn't working.

So we surrendered to the big boy bed.

(Just as a side note, this process was most definitely sped up by Saylor, who a few days prior, "helped him out of the crib just a little bit.") The consequence of having the kids bedrooms upstairs and a broken video monitor means I don't always quite know what they are up to). 

With Saylor, I talked about the big girl bed for weeks before we made the move. I bought a book about a little girl who moved from her crib to her bed. I did everything I could to prepare her.

For Gray, I just gave in and put him in the bed. We didn't even look for the bed rail in the attic until the next day. We were too tired!

And tired we have stayed! How can a boy go from sleeping so soundly in a crib to so restlessly in a bed?

I keep consoling myself that this phase will end. I know I will be sleeping uninterrupted through the night again by the time he turns four. 

All in all he has really done ok. It could be much worse. If I have to see someone at 1 a.m. every night, I am happy for it to be G. And it's only been a week, so I need to be patient.

I just miss the crib.

And there is something so final about the big boy bed.

My baby is gone. I was trying to hold on just a little bit, but I really can't any more.

 To his delight, a bed just means more room to take a million trains and books with you to sleep...ha!

 Our big boy! I guess all that's left now is potty training.

This is not related, but how I found him the other night while I was finishing up Saylor's bath. He tucked himself into her bed, ready to read a book. :)

Palestine Train

Last week the kids, my parents, and I made a trip down to Palestine to ride the train. Matt was hard at work so he couldn't join us. This trip is something we did with Saylor when she was just 2 months old.

We wanted to do it again so both kiddos could enjoy it. We rode the train from Palestine to Rusk, stopped for a picnic lunch, and then rode it back. We had fun day!

When we first got on the train, Gray was SO excited, he was all smiles. But then the whistle started blowing. We were sitting right by the engine and it was very loud. He was not a fan of that whistle. :(

 It got worse before it got better. There was a lot of whistle blowing. :) It was hard not to laugh because he was so sensitive about it.

 Snuggling with Nona helped calm G down

 After lunch on our ride home, we were far from the engine, so this time the whistle was FUN. Here he is pulling his own imaginary whistle (which he did a lot). Gray had more fun on the way back!

Saylor and Nona

 My girl enjoying the ride. How can this be the same baby we did this with just four years ago????

 I can't remember what my dad was telling Saylor about, but it looks very serious. :)

Thanks for a fun day, Nona and Dave!

Growing up

Sometimes I am taken by surprise at how much our sweet Saylor is growing up. We definitely still have our moments or rough days, but in general, I am noticing a lot less whining and tantruming and a lot more big girl behavior, responses, and conversations. Like when she brings a bib and a spoon over to the table for Gray without me asking. Or comes downstairs in the morning fully dressed. Or when she brings their laundry downstairs to help me "do our chores." The other day I asked what she did at summer camp and without missing a beat she said, "I don't feel like talking about it right now, mom." Like she was 15 or something.

Tonight, as I was putting her to bed, I told her I missed her while I was at work, and then I said, "what am I going to do when you go to kindergarten and I don't get to see you except in the afternoons and on the weekends???? I am going to miss you SO MUCH!" Right away she said, "well maybe you can work more days besides just Mondays and Wednesdays, mommy."  Then she asked about Gray, and I told her I would be home with Gray, but that me AND Gray were going to miss her when that time comes. She took my face between her hands and said: "let's not worry about that right now, mommy."

Ummmm, ok are you four or FORTY? For a very brief moment I felt like she was the mom, comforting me, the kid.

Love my big, GROWING girl, so much!

Saylor Says

Saylor was telling me about one of her substitute swim instructors:

"you know mommy, the one who talks in a dark voice."

Hmmmm. Always interesting to see the way their mind works. I'm still not sure exactly what she meant.

Mommy, it's ok if you want to take a nap today since you're grumpy.

Called out by my four year old! It happens all the time.

Talking about a trip Matt and I are taking in September:
"What is hiking? Walking in the mountains? Are you going to walk on the mountains? You should be careful. They are pointy and gray. You might fall off."

A small injury for G

Last night, Gray was having a ball spinning in circles as fast as possible until he fell into his train table. He hurt his lip and chin and there were lots of tears and a fair amount of blood. UNTIL he realized it meant a Buzz band-aid!

 A kiss from sister helped, too. And he requested an extra one for his tummy which we granted. :)

 No more tears! Actually quite proud.

Oh, how I love this boy! Yesterday, I took the kids to a "summer camp" for the first time where they will be on M/W while I work. I was worried G would cry when I left since it was an unfamiliar place. We were walking in  and I told him he was going to have a great day. He said: "I miss you, mommy!" He is just the sweetest boy ever. He actually didn't cry at all, and when I picked them up, his teacher marveled at how sweet he was too! :) Love him!