Ding! Ding!
Let the games begin:
Round 1: Mommy vs. Billy. Put him in bed. Doesn't want to go to bed. Can't find his meme. Wants a story. Needs a new diaper. Uh huh.
Billy wins Round 1.
Round 2: Billy attempts to change his own diaper. This time he actually needed a new one. After big stinky diaper change it's back to bed.
Billy wins Round 2
Round 3: Billy starts screaming that there's a problem. The problem is that he wants the ipod to play Barbara Ann by the Beach Boys and can't figure out how to open it. He got to the internet- he just couldn't find YouTube. *Fear* No music. I take the stereo out of his room and put him back into bed.
Billy wins Round 3
Round 4: Billy is in the kitchen looking for a lost toy. Starts screaming when he can't find it. Find toy. Put him back to bed.
Billy wins Round 4
Round 5: Billy starts screaming. He wants to sleep with his big boy underwear. 3 pairs. I can only find 2 (the others are in the wash). Insists I put on one pair and then cuddles with the other.
Billy wins Round 5
Round 6: Billy tosses toys and clothes over the gate in an attempt to get me to come to his room. Starts screaming. I gather toys and clothes and put them in another room out of sight, then close the door to his room. Don't put him back to bed, just close the door.
Billy wins Round 6
Round 7: Billy screams for me because he's bored. I ignore him. He is NOT in bed. Daddy calls. I explain the situation. And idea occurs to me.
Billy wins Round 7
Round 8: Billy starts pulling books from his shelf. I go up to investigate loud thunks. I tell Billy that Daddy is VERY disappointed in him for not being a good boy and going to bed. Put him in bed. 20 minutes, Billy is sound asleep without any more fuss.
The match is over. Mommy wins!
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Friday, November 16, 2012
November 15, 2012 ~ Free Range Toddler: Day 5
I knew things were going too easy.
Straight to bed without any issues? What a dream child. My dream child! Minus that first nap on the first day, he's been doing swimmingly with the toddler bed.
Enter Thursday.
When he got home from school he was extra grumpy. I mean, intolerable to be around grumpy. We all have those days. I think I'm going to start calling it 'toddler pms'.
And he was miserable. Cried over everything. Tantrums over everything. Even goldfish made him cry. Poor goldfish, all they ever did was be yummy. But sometimes being that yummy makes Billy sad.
Well, after struggling through dinner I decided he needed sleep. He was fed and still grumpy. Leading to the other main source of toddler bad moods- exhaustion.
I read him some stories to calm him down and then tucked him into bed, about 45 minutes earlier than his usual bedtime, but only 15 minutes earlier than his "I'm tired" bedtime.
Maybe I should have waited. Here's how my night went:
8:01 Doorbell rings with salesman. Wakes Billy up. Put him back to bed.
8:15 Loud bang. Investigate and find Billy dragging out the yoga mat in the dark. Put him back in bed.
8:32 Loud bang. Investigate and find Billy attempting to change his own diaper by getting into the unopened boxes of diapers and wipes in the closet. Change his poopy diaper and put him back to bed.
8:42 Loud bang. Investigate and find he has gotten books out to read in the dark. Put them away and put him back to bed.
9:00 All is quiet so I start a movie
9:24 Loud bang. Go to investigate. He has attempted to put on big boy underwear and has tossed his blankets and animals from the bed. Insists that I give him a toy from the high shelf. Settles and goes back to bed.
9:45 "Mommy!" Run upstairs. He has turned on the radio to the top hits station and is having a dance party in his room. Wants to know where the iPod is so that he can listen to classical music instead. (omg, really?) Hook up the iPod and get the music going. Put him back in bed.
9:52 "Mommy, planets missing!" He has futzed with his nightlight and now the planets aren't on. Fix the nightlight and put him back to bed.
9:57 He decides to start mowing.
10:04 He wants a drink of water.
10:12 He misses me.
10:16 He wants to know where Daddy is.
10:24 He can't find his binky. I bribe him with the promise of chocolate in the morning.
10:45 He wants another drink of water. And chocolate.
10:46 I give up!
10:47 I bring him downstairs to watch the movie with me.
Luckily I had chosen the most recent new release on Netflix, which happened to be only PG and a fantasy, so a little too old for him but not by much. He watches the movie with me, with the understanding that he can either sit on the sofa quietly and watch the movie or he can go back to bed.
11:32 The movie ends and it's now MY bedtime.
I have no illusions on how this is going to go. He's awake, he wants to play. I go about my bedtime routine, turn out the lights, and tuck him into bed with me. He tries to play in bed, but I refuse, even when he pokes me in the eye (lil bugger).
11:49 He finally falls asleep.
3:36 Get woken up by being kicked in the belly by a snoring Billy. Contemplate moving him to his bed...nope. Too tired.
Straight to bed without any issues? What a dream child. My dream child! Minus that first nap on the first day, he's been doing swimmingly with the toddler bed.
Enter Thursday.
When he got home from school he was extra grumpy. I mean, intolerable to be around grumpy. We all have those days. I think I'm going to start calling it 'toddler pms'.
And he was miserable. Cried over everything. Tantrums over everything. Even goldfish made him cry. Poor goldfish, all they ever did was be yummy. But sometimes being that yummy makes Billy sad.
Well, after struggling through dinner I decided he needed sleep. He was fed and still grumpy. Leading to the other main source of toddler bad moods- exhaustion.
I read him some stories to calm him down and then tucked him into bed, about 45 minutes earlier than his usual bedtime, but only 15 minutes earlier than his "I'm tired" bedtime.
Maybe I should have waited. Here's how my night went:
8:01 Doorbell rings with salesman. Wakes Billy up. Put him back to bed.
8:15 Loud bang. Investigate and find Billy dragging out the yoga mat in the dark. Put him back in bed.
8:32 Loud bang. Investigate and find Billy attempting to change his own diaper by getting into the unopened boxes of diapers and wipes in the closet. Change his poopy diaper and put him back to bed.
8:42 Loud bang. Investigate and find he has gotten books out to read in the dark. Put them away and put him back to bed.
9:00 All is quiet so I start a movie
9:24 Loud bang. Go to investigate. He has attempted to put on big boy underwear and has tossed his blankets and animals from the bed. Insists that I give him a toy from the high shelf. Settles and goes back to bed.
9:45 "Mommy!" Run upstairs. He has turned on the radio to the top hits station and is having a dance party in his room. Wants to know where the iPod is so that he can listen to classical music instead. (omg, really?) Hook up the iPod and get the music going. Put him back in bed.
9:52 "Mommy, planets missing!" He has futzed with his nightlight and now the planets aren't on. Fix the nightlight and put him back to bed.
9:57 He decides to start mowing.
10:04 He wants a drink of water.
10:12 He misses me.
10:16 He wants to know where Daddy is.
10:24 He can't find his binky. I bribe him with the promise of chocolate in the morning.
10:45 He wants another drink of water. And chocolate.
10:46 I give up!
10:47 I bring him downstairs to watch the movie with me.
Luckily I had chosen the most recent new release on Netflix, which happened to be only PG and a fantasy, so a little too old for him but not by much. He watches the movie with me, with the understanding that he can either sit on the sofa quietly and watch the movie or he can go back to bed.
11:32 The movie ends and it's now MY bedtime.
I have no illusions on how this is going to go. He's awake, he wants to play. I go about my bedtime routine, turn out the lights, and tuck him into bed with me. He tries to play in bed, but I refuse, even when he pokes me in the eye (lil bugger).
11:49 He finally falls asleep.
3:36 Get woken up by being kicked in the belly by a snoring Billy. Contemplate moving him to his bed...nope. Too tired.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
November 13, 2012 ~ It's Murky Up There!
Out there in the sky there is a planet. I have no idea which one. I guess I should hop on the interwebs and look it up. But, when we were getting out of the car and Billy saw it in the sky, I decided it would be Jupiter. It's probably not. But, well, I wanted to sound confident. So, today it's Jupiter.
Billy has a picture of the planets projected on his ceiling. Sometimes at night we name them:
"Mercury, Venus, Earth- that's where we live!, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus and Pluto- shh! Don't tell him he's not a planet."
We point to the planets as we name each one. He loves pointing to the planets. He'll ask me to play the planet naming game, "Mommy, more Mars?" Well, that's what he means when he asks that.
Today, though, he decided to actually 'name' the planets for the first time. (aka say out loud).
"Murky, Venus, Err, Mars, Jupter!"
Billy has a picture of the planets projected on his ceiling. Sometimes at night we name them:
"Mercury, Venus, Earth- that's where we live!, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus and Pluto- shh! Don't tell him he's not a planet."
We point to the planets as we name each one. He loves pointing to the planets. He'll ask me to play the planet naming game, "Mommy, more Mars?" Well, that's what he means when he asks that.
Today, though, he decided to actually 'name' the planets for the first time. (aka say out loud).
"Murky, Venus, Err, Mars, Jupter!"
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
November 12, 2012 ~ Free Range Toddler: Day 2
What's that jingling sound I hear? are Santa's elves early?
Nope.
Those would be the tinkling of little bells attached to some toys in Billy's room. Huh. It's WAY past bedtime. Why are the toys moving around of their own accord?
Maybe because a sneaky little toddler brought a bunch of toys into bed with him and was up late playing with them. Yep, that's probably why.
At least bedtime hasn't been an issue like naptime. *Fear*
This morning? He forgot he was in a big boy bed and cried and cried for me to come and get him. Daddy fetched him, since I'm all sickly and stuff (thank you daycare plague- yet again).
So far, not too bad. But what will today bring???
Nope.
Those would be the tinkling of little bells attached to some toys in Billy's room. Huh. It's WAY past bedtime. Why are the toys moving around of their own accord?
Maybe because a sneaky little toddler brought a bunch of toys into bed with him and was up late playing with them. Yep, that's probably why.
At least bedtime hasn't been an issue like naptime. *Fear*
This morning? He forgot he was in a big boy bed and cried and cried for me to come and get him. Daddy fetched him, since I'm all sickly and stuff (thank you daycare plague- yet again).
So far, not too bad. But what will today bring???
Monday, November 12, 2012
November 11, 21012 ~ Free Range Toddler: Day 1
It's official. Billy is sleeping in a toddler bed now. And that means... free range toddler.
Saturday night was our first trial. He was up late and went down without any issue. Actually, let's look at some photos from Saturday...
We were all over at Grandma's cutting down a tree. Billy was bored. So I broke out the My Little Ponies. Yes, mine from when I was a girl. There is a limited supply of toys at Grandma's. And when Billy is bored he tries to play with anything dangerous within a twenty mile radius, like razors and lighters and prescription medications.
Well, the pony set I found was a dress-up kit with a pony. He was THRILLED. And then he wanted to put on his own hat and his own earrings, just like the pony. Lucky for Billy, Grandma had a box of costume jewelry floating around. He insisted on putting the earrings on. Only the fish would do. He wore this for over an hour.
So, he ate dinner and went straight to bed and slept like a baby in his big boy bed. In the morning he waited (and cried) for me to come get him. Okay, this whole free range thing is going to work out!
Wrong!
Bring on nap time. Or rather, I-refuse-to-nap-time.
First, I found him in the dark with a feather duster, dusting his room. He thought I couldn't hear him. Next, he was playing with the door, again thinking I couldn't hear him. And then there was the falling out of the rocking chair and crying for Mommy incident. Let's not forget the part where I came in and found all of his diapers on the floor. He wanted to change his own diaper. So, He made a pillow pile under the dresser so he could get to the drawer with the diapers to get them all out. He got out the wipes too. He got everything onto the floor. Then, he got out all of his big boy underwear and tried to put them over the diaper first. When I found him he had both legs in one leg hole of the underwear. To be fair, he did have a stinky diaper.
Eventually, I gave up.
He joined me for watching some stellar Ravens football. Here he is enjoying a snack during the game:
That little box of fries is worth the price of admission. Daddy bought him a happy meal for lunch. These are the fries. Think about how small Billy is. The fry box may look proportional in the photo, but he is only 2.
Okay, so what's going to happen at bedtime?
He got into his toddler bed with no trouble and went straight to sleep. He did get up- I found evidence in his room, but it must have been brief and he went right back to bed.
This morning, however...
I found him hiding in his closet trying to dress himself. He still had on his jammies, but had put on a pair of shorts- on his arms, and a onesie- also on his arms. I think he was hoping to get dressed before I saw him, but he was hopelessly stuck.
What will Day 2 bring?
Saturday night was our first trial. He was up late and went down without any issue. Actually, let's look at some photos from Saturday...
We were all over at Grandma's cutting down a tree. Billy was bored. So I broke out the My Little Ponies. Yes, mine from when I was a girl. There is a limited supply of toys at Grandma's. And when Billy is bored he tries to play with anything dangerous within a twenty mile radius, like razors and lighters and prescription medications.
Well, the pony set I found was a dress-up kit with a pony. He was THRILLED. And then he wanted to put on his own hat and his own earrings, just like the pony. Lucky for Billy, Grandma had a box of costume jewelry floating around. He insisted on putting the earrings on. Only the fish would do. He wore this for over an hour.
So, he ate dinner and went straight to bed and slept like a baby in his big boy bed. In the morning he waited (and cried) for me to come get him. Okay, this whole free range thing is going to work out!
Wrong!
Bring on nap time. Or rather, I-refuse-to-nap-time.
First, I found him in the dark with a feather duster, dusting his room. He thought I couldn't hear him. Next, he was playing with the door, again thinking I couldn't hear him. And then there was the falling out of the rocking chair and crying for Mommy incident. Let's not forget the part where I came in and found all of his diapers on the floor. He wanted to change his own diaper. So, He made a pillow pile under the dresser so he could get to the drawer with the diapers to get them all out. He got out the wipes too. He got everything onto the floor. Then, he got out all of his big boy underwear and tried to put them over the diaper first. When I found him he had both legs in one leg hole of the underwear. To be fair, he did have a stinky diaper.
Eventually, I gave up.
He joined me for watching some stellar Ravens football. Here he is enjoying a snack during the game:
That little box of fries is worth the price of admission. Daddy bought him a happy meal for lunch. These are the fries. Think about how small Billy is. The fry box may look proportional in the photo, but he is only 2.
Okay, so what's going to happen at bedtime?
He got into his toddler bed with no trouble and went straight to sleep. He did get up- I found evidence in his room, but it must have been brief and he went right back to bed.
This morning, however...
I found him hiding in his closet trying to dress himself. He still had on his jammies, but had put on a pair of shorts- on his arms, and a onesie- also on his arms. I think he was hoping to get dressed before I saw him, but he was hopelessly stuck.
What will Day 2 bring?
Sunday, November 11, 2012
The Sunday Post ~ Toddler Rail Review
First, what the hell is a toddler rail?
It's an accessory to the crib. You remove the front panel of the crib and replace it with the toddler rail. It's similar to the front panel, only shorter and has a section of bars cut away so that the toddler can climb in and out on their own. They also make toddler rails for adult sized beds. The idea being that they can get in and out on their own, but the rail part of it helps keep them from falling out of bed at night.
I don't know about you, but I grew up without one and turned out just fine. (Minus a few ticks and the fact that I'm nuts... juuuuuuuuuuuust kidding!).
But there we were in the expensive baby store (no, actually, it was not Babys'R'Us) looking around at all of the beautiful baby furniture. Daddy and I had differing opinions on cribs. He wanted a black sleigh bed crib. I wanted a white anything-but-a-sleigh-bed crib. We compromised and bought a white sleigh bed crib.
Once the crib was picked out then there were the options of matching furniture. We passed on that, opting to look for other pieces elsewhere. The nice thing about white furniture is that it matches other white furniture. So, you don't have to buy the set. That worked out because we found some awesome other pieces later.
Back to the crib. Then we had to decide if we wanted the toddler rail and the bed converter kit (converts the crib into a double bed). What to do?
And there I was, bulbous, glowing like the shine on new baby toys, needing to pee, sit down, eat something and pee again. And trying to decide what's best for baby on the way. There we were paying lots of money for a beautiful crib, and the idea of getting to keep the little bundle of joy in it longer seemed like such a wonderful notion. How could be not? And, we're being safe and neurotic parents by having the rail to prevent falls, right?
(By the way, we did not buy the converter kit. Daddy said no son of his would sleep in a white bed. I was thinking more along the lines of preparing for baby number 2- and no, Sheila, I'm not pregnant. I figured by the time Billy was ready for a bigger bed, we'd need the crib for number 2.)
Well, we just installed the toddler rail on the crib. It was easy to install, at least on our model of crib. I'm not a fan of how it looks. They cheaped out on making it (the manufacturer) and the rail does not go to the top of the sides or all the way to the floor. So, it looks like it's just jammed on the front. But Billy likes it so far. He slept like a baby in his new "big boy" bed.
Is this better than a toddler bed? Probably about the same. Better than a twin mattress on the floor? Maybe a little nicer looking. I think it just depends on your taste. At least, he's comfortable with sleeping in it, since it's still his old crib, just converted to a bed now. And since we don't have baby on the way, we need some place to store the crib. Storing only the front panel is much easier than the whole thing. So, there's that.
Now, without the stars of pregnancy in my eyes, I'm not entirely sold on the toddler rail, except that we already bought it so we'll use it. More than anything, I'm not so sure about this free-range toddler concept. Billy on the loose? I'm going to have to sleep with one eye open!
It's an accessory to the crib. You remove the front panel of the crib and replace it with the toddler rail. It's similar to the front panel, only shorter and has a section of bars cut away so that the toddler can climb in and out on their own. They also make toddler rails for adult sized beds. The idea being that they can get in and out on their own, but the rail part of it helps keep them from falling out of bed at night.
I don't know about you, but I grew up without one and turned out just fine. (Minus a few ticks and the fact that I'm nuts... juuuuuuuuuuuust kidding!).
But there we were in the expensive baby store (no, actually, it was not Babys'R'Us) looking around at all of the beautiful baby furniture. Daddy and I had differing opinions on cribs. He wanted a black sleigh bed crib. I wanted a white anything-but-a-sleigh-bed crib. We compromised and bought a white sleigh bed crib.
Once the crib was picked out then there were the options of matching furniture. We passed on that, opting to look for other pieces elsewhere. The nice thing about white furniture is that it matches other white furniture. So, you don't have to buy the set. That worked out because we found some awesome other pieces later.
Back to the crib. Then we had to decide if we wanted the toddler rail and the bed converter kit (converts the crib into a double bed). What to do?
And there I was, bulbous, glowing like the shine on new baby toys, needing to pee, sit down, eat something and pee again. And trying to decide what's best for baby on the way. There we were paying lots of money for a beautiful crib, and the idea of getting to keep the little bundle of joy in it longer seemed like such a wonderful notion. How could be not? And, we're being safe and neurotic parents by having the rail to prevent falls, right?
(By the way, we did not buy the converter kit. Daddy said no son of his would sleep in a white bed. I was thinking more along the lines of preparing for baby number 2- and no, Sheila, I'm not pregnant. I figured by the time Billy was ready for a bigger bed, we'd need the crib for number 2.)
Well, we just installed the toddler rail on the crib. It was easy to install, at least on our model of crib. I'm not a fan of how it looks. They cheaped out on making it (the manufacturer) and the rail does not go to the top of the sides or all the way to the floor. So, it looks like it's just jammed on the front. But Billy likes it so far. He slept like a baby in his new "big boy" bed.
Is this better than a toddler bed? Probably about the same. Better than a twin mattress on the floor? Maybe a little nicer looking. I think it just depends on your taste. At least, he's comfortable with sleeping in it, since it's still his old crib, just converted to a bed now. And since we don't have baby on the way, we need some place to store the crib. Storing only the front panel is much easier than the whole thing. So, there's that.
Now, without the stars of pregnancy in my eyes, I'm not entirely sold on the toddler rail, except that we already bought it so we'll use it. More than anything, I'm not so sure about this free-range toddler concept. Billy on the loose? I'm going to have to sleep with one eye open!
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