Sunday, February 27, 2011

A rose by any other name

Lately I've been working on all our names with Ben. He has his own down, so if I ask him what his name is he says, "Ben Borders." He says my first name if I ask, though he doesn't always remember my last name. He can't remember Heath's name, though. So when I asked him this morning what Daddy's name was, Ben replied, "Ben Borders' Daddy."

Monday, February 21, 2011

The Easy Button

Last Wednesday we took apart Ben's crib.


We replaced it with a twin mattress on the floor.

He was excited through the entire process. He was jumping all over the place, on and off the mattress.

I'm not usually the type who's all, "My baby's growing up" *sniff sniff* but I was getting sad as we took apart the crib. He really is growing up. Look at that picture up there. He almost fills up the entire crib mattress.

It seems like these transitions are often much harder on me than on Ben because his first night in the big boy bed was perfect. It was like any other night. And it's been that way ever since. Naps, bedtimes, it's like nothing has changed. Plus, we have the added bonus that sometimes when he wakes up he'll play for a little while before calling to us. Extra sleep, FTW!


So much of parenting can be a fight or a hassle, it's wonderful when something is just easy.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Future mountain climber?

Most of Ben's playgroup friends sleep in toddler beds or mattresses on the floor. Of those over 2, Ben is the lone hold out still in his crib. We figured, why mess with a good thing? Having him in a crib is much easier than having him in a bed and he's never shown any interest in or inclination to climb out of his crib.

Until Monday.

He was very opposed to a nap Monday afternoon because he'd fallen asleep in the car for all of 15 minutes. I was on my computer, listening to him yell about not wanting to nap, when all of a sudden I heard a THUMP and a scream. By the time I got to his room he was standing at the door crying, so I have no idea how he landed, but he was fine, aside from biting his tongue.

Our friends' son Colin climbed out of his crib exactly once. Apparently he fell like Ben and it scared him, so he never attempted it again. I was hoping Ben would be the same way, because he's a strange combination of daredevil and cautious. But the daredevil side won out. Yesterday morning he greeted Heath at his bedroom door. Heath asked Ben to demonstrate how he climbed out and according to Heath, "He was like a ninja."

So, it's time for a big boy bed, which will take the form of a twin mattress on the floor for now. I'm planning to take Ben to Target to pick out some sheets this afternoon, so hopefully it'll feel like an adventure. I'm worried about how he's going to sleep (and thus how we will sleep)... But in the past when we've had big transitions like this (giving up the bottle, taking the pacifier away during the day) he's barely registered them, so I'm hoping this is the same way. I'll keep you posted!