Bradley's bed...updated

Bradley's still doing great going to bed in his own bed by himself! The only problems we have are hitting his head on the wall and making a loud "thunk" noise. It doesn't hurt, but the noise is loud and would wake up anyone. We resolved this by putting pillows all the way around the wall. The other issue, is that he slides to the side opposite the wall and slides off the bed during the night. He's apparently a little wiggle worm, and ends up half off/half on his bed. Whenever this happens, he wakes up and cries because I'm sure he's scared and mad that he woke up. So, today he and I went to Wal-Mart and got a bedrail, so he won't fall off his bed anymore. I realize the "fall" isn't far from the mattress to the carpet, but it still is no fun when you're sleeping soundly! We also picked up some "Cars" sheets the other day and are trying them out. I hope he likes the new set-up tonight!

Bradley's Big Boy Bed Update

The transition to the big boy bed could not have gone any smoother! I'm very happy with how well Bradley has done. I'm not naive enough to think that we're "done" and will have no other issues, but we'll take every victory we can! The first night, he was so tired from missing his nap, that he fell asleep while I was reading to him, so I just laid him in his bed asleep. He wasn't even aware that he was in his new bed. This worked until 11:00pm when he woke up, very upset and disoriented about where he was and why he was on a mattress on the floor in his room. I went in and comforted him. I rocked him for a few minutes until he calmed down and then said we were going to lay in his big bed. He seemed fine and laid down with me. Then, I told him I was going to get him a juice and left the room. He got very upset and started crying. When I came right back, he wouldn't get into bed. I tried putting him into his bed twice and he just got back out. So, I laid down in his bed and got comfy. Bradley stood in his bathroom doorway, with his back to me and cried for about 45 minutes. He would run to the bed and put his arms out and I'd say, "come lay down with me" and he'd run back to his bathroom and cry some more. I figured he was going to have to work through this and it would have to be his decision when he was ready to get back in his bed. So, I just laid there, very comfy, and listened to him cry as he worked through the situation. He finally looked at his bedroom door, which was closed, and said "dow" and banged it a couple of times. I said, "come lay down" and he said "dow" a few more times, walked to the bed and got in. He was fine then. He stopped crying, settled down, said "dow" a few more times and then went to sleep. I fell asleep too and woke up at 1:00am and went back to my bed. He slept until 6:20am and when he woke up, I heard him say, "where ma?" I listened to him to make sure he wasn't going to get upset. He never panicked or got upset about being in his room by himself. I was thrilled that he had done so well by himself.

The next night, I laid down with him until he fell asleep and he slept through the night. Since then, we have read him a book, laid with him for a few minutes, and then left while he was still awake. He fusses for about 2 minutes and then settles down and puts himself to sleep. Last night, he was awake for about an hour, roaring like a dinosaur, but he never got up, never cried and eventually fell asleep! We are so excited at how well he's doing with his new bed!!!

Tooth Update

Rachel's mouth has gotten better and better since she knocked out her tooth. She is able to eat just about anything now and it really doesn't give her any trouble. The missing tooth is hardly noticeable and a cute little look for her. The only thing we were concerned about was the discoloration in her two front teeth. They've turned a gray color and we weren't sure if this was a bad thing or not. So, we were lucky enough to get to see Matt yesterday. He offered to check her teeth for us and fit us into his busy schedule. They took an x-ray of her mouth and then we talked with Matt. The x-ray scared Rachel a little bit, since she had to go in the room alone and bite down on a "cracker" that was really an x-ray film. This kind of freaked her out and she was upset when we got to the room to talk to Matt. He was so kind and gentle and just touched her front teeth and looked at her x-ray. He really said there was nothing to worry about. Her teeth are discolored because of the hemmoraging from the trauma. He didn't think they looked that bad anyway. He said the front two teeth were probably loose initially, but they had tightened up as her mouth healed. They usually come out at 7, and there's a possibility that she could lose them earlier, but maybe not. I was very relieved to hear that everything had healed great and her teeth were going to be fine. I really appreciated Matt working us in and relieving our worries! We're so thankful that the whole mouth injury turned out as well as it could have!

Pre-School Update

Thankfully, school is still going great! Rachel is still very excited about getting up and going on school days. She still loves the rules and routines that she must follow in class. She still loves playing with her friends, Mimi K and Kate and loves when they have a birthday celebration at school. She's just really enjoying the whole process! I'm so thankful and happy that she is enjoying her school so much and thriving from all the new stimulation!

A few funny things. She has picked up on a few new sayings, I'm assuming from her friends. They're quite cute coming out of her mouth, and we're glad they're not too bad in the scheme of what she "could" have picked up from a playmate.
"Duh"...she has used this a few times. You can tell she's trying this out and she uses it pretty accurately. Our only problem with it is when she says it to us, because it's disrespectful, so we've had to remind her that it's not appropriate with adults. The other day she was on the potty, asking us a question about something and when we answered her, she said, "duh!" Nick immediately said, "excuse me?" and she backtracked pretty quickly, saying, "I mean, I already know that, daddy." (In a very polite tone!) Pretty funny to hear!
"Oh snap!"...this was hilarious when I first heard her say it. I've heard it on High School shows and it's slang for "Oh darn!" or "Oh man!" but it was really funny hearing it come out of Rachel's mouth. She used it the right way. Yesterday, as we were driving home from a long errand, she asked if we could go to Chick-fil-a. I said, "no, we need to get home and rest" and she said, "Oh snap!" I couldn't help but laugh at this, which only made her say it more and more.

On another note, at the beach, she used "idiot" very accurately but inappropriately. It had been a long day and I'm sure she was tired. I had given her a tootsie pop and she was trying to eat it on the beach and keep sand off it. She had already gotten some sand on it and I used my bottle of water to clean it off. She licked the sucker it again and then handed it back to me saying that there was still sand on it. I said, "where?" She said, "on my sucker, you idiot!" As soon as she said it, she covered her mouth and knew she shouldn't have called me a name. In my head, I was thinking that it was pretty funny, but luckily I very sternly got onto her for calling me a name and told her I didn't want to hear her use "idiot" again. She apologized and that was that. But, it was pretty funny. I can probably blame her hearing "idiot" from me and SpongeBob.

Nap Mission: Failed!

Sound asleep in our bed...yes, it's unmade...everyday!
Still holding his dinosaur toys, though!

New big boy bed!

It's just a twin mattress on the floor.

I tried to get Bradley to take a nap yesterday, but it just didn't work. He sat in his bed and played and talked and then started yelling. He was probably in there for about an hour, so at least he got some rest, but no nap! Oh well! We played hard yesterday and even went outside to the playground during the blustery wind in the afternoon. It actually felt great not having the usual humid heat! Bradley found the only water in the whole playground and sat in it and got nasty. So, when we came back inside to get dinner going, I stripped him to his diaper, gave him some juice and let him go. I started making pancakes and the kids decided to watch tv on our bed. About 10 minutes later, Rachel came in and told me that Bradley was asleep. I thought, DARNIT!!! It was 5:15...almost time to eat and WAY too late for a nap! So, I let him sleep for about 30 minutes just so we could eat in peace. We knew it would be the grumpy Bradley who woke up from such a short nap, and it was! But, he finally worked it out, ate a very late supper and then went to bed without any trouble. He just played and talked in his bed for awhile before falling asleep. Today I didn't even try to get him to take a nap because we bought him a big boy bed today and we're HOPING and PRAYING that he goes to bed easily in it tonight. We'll see! We've prepared ourselves for some resistance and we'll just see how long it takes for him to get the hang of it!

Big boys don't need naps!

Bradley has been trying to convince himself and us that he doesn't need a nap anymore. I admit we messed him up while we were on vacation. I didn't even try to put him down for a nap while we were gone and if he got a nap, it was because we put him in the car and drove around. Since we've been back, he's taken some naps, but other days he's just sat in his room and talked and even cried until I got him out. If he cries, I don't make him stay in his room...what's the point? And, frankly, I don't really care if he takes a nap unless he's just miserably tired in the evening. So, yesterday we had been playing upstairs and it was about 3:45 and I decided we needed some fresh air. So, we headed downstairs to use the potty and get shoes to go outside. I was changing Bradley's diaper and he had a little diaper rash. He got upset and kept crying about his rash, so I took off his diaper again and got a washcloth to try to soothe it. This made him cry more and I thought, we'll just leave the diaper off for a few minutes to give it some fresh air. I could tell that his rash was hurting, but I could also tell that he was really tired. So, he laid his head down on my leg and started to settle down and then he fell asleep! It was so cute that he was curled up in my lap with his head on my leg and no diaper on and he was asleep! I called Rachel in and she got me his blankies. I put one where my leg had been so I could lay his head on it. Then, I lifted his leg and put a diaper on him...he never opened his eyes. I couldn't believe how tired the poor little boy was! I covered him with his blankie and left him on the floor and he slept there for almost 2 hours! We had to wake him up because it was already way too late for him to take a nap since bedtime is at 8:00. Anyway, I decided that he is obviously not ready to give up naps yet, and I'm going to have to work a little harder at convincing him of that! Today he fell asleep on the way home from the store after picking up Rachel from school, so it was very easy to put him in his bed. We'll see how tomorrow goes!

2nd day of school!

Today was another success! Rachel was very excited this morning as she got ready for school and when we got there, she was ready to start! Bradley and I kissed her and scooted off! I wasn't sad today and Bradley and I had a great time playing together. It has never really occurred to me how much I don't give him my undivided attention. But, today we went home and played with play-doh, which he loves! He loved to squish it and stack it and poke it and I just couldn't stop looking at him and enjoying his facial expressions as he "created" like a 2 year old. We also played in his room with his Little People Noah's Ark toy that he got when he was 1. I was fascinated with how he liked to put all the animals and Noah, into the big boat door and close it, one at a time. He was so precise. He was just so cute and I really enjoyed the one-on-one time with him. Of course we missed Sissy, and were very glad to pick her up, but there are definitely going to be advantages for both kids with our new schedule. By the way, Rachel had another great day. She got in the car very excited about what all they had done at school. She told me about the yummy snack, which she couldn't pronounce and I couldn't figure out. She also said she played with Kate today and ladybug girl was nice to Mimi K. Thank goodness! Can't wait till Monday!