Pumpkin Enjoys His Scone at the Outdoor Market
I've been finding it hard to post much lately. I've got a pile of things to blog on sitting next to me, but I haven't seemed to do much. I had a couple of posts to write that went with some pictures I took, but I accidentally deleted the pictures when I downloaded them. Oops.
I've also been so tired and do the bare minimum around the house that I'm not getting any writing done. I'm at 29 weeks and starting my midwife appointments every two weeks now. It's hard to believe I'm on the downhill stretch! I never seemed to get my energy back like I did in the first pregnancy. Doubt it will happen now! Life is going very well right now for us. We are happy and healthy and enjoying our growing family.
All spare time right now is being spent converting our guest room/craft room into Pumpkin's new room and preparing the nursery for the new little one. It's a lot of work. It's hard to not just be able to bust through it all in a few days. Thank goodness Sweetheart is strong!
Right now we've moved the Hoosier cabinet from the room to the loft, rearranged the entire loft, moved the bed to the basement for storage, and I'm stuck in the mire of what to do with all the stuff that has lived in that room for four years. Several bags are in the trash, some en route to the Salvation Army, and piles are sitting everywhere in the loft and the room.
Books seem to be a major problem: we have too many! I've gone through the book self in our bedroom and moved out a bunch of books. I've replaced them with the books I love and reread the most. Now, I'm sorting through Sweetheart's books and my books and Pumpkin's books to see what to keep and where to keep them.
Sorting out the craft supplies has been easier than the books. I've reloaded the Hoosier with my favorite things and am filling up a tub of things I want to keep, but can store in the basement for now.
Plus, there's the fun part of trying to decide how to arrange Pumpkin's new room. I saw some darling sheet sets from Pottery Barn Kids. I love their Little Builder pattern, but it's too expensive for us. Sweetheart asked why we needed a theme. I told him: Grandmas! I think we'll just go with a lot of primary colors and some retro style toys and things that we already have tucked here and there.
I should have taken "before" and "after" pictures, but I'd of probably deleted them anyways... Now, I'm too embarrassed to post "during" pictures as it is all quite a disaster. Maybe I'll get it together by the end of the week and post some pictures then. Maybe.
Questions for you all: How did you transition kids from cribs to beds? Pumpkin's just 18 months and I'm not sure he understands to just stay on the mattress on the floor. He strikes me as the type who will be up at 5:00 a.m. playing with his toys.
When should we ditch the pacifier? What's worked for you? I'm leaning towards trying to get him settled in bed first.
Why is it Pumpkin loves to stick his entire face in the water in the bathtub, but screams bloody murder when I try to rinse his hair after shampooing it? Yes, it is a no-tears type, but he apparently can't read the label yet. Suggestions?
Last item: Pumpkin has allergies. How in the world to I teach him to blow his nose? He'll tell me when he has boogers (nice), but I can't seem to be able to get him to blow not sniff.
Sweet moment with Pumpkin reading the book God Loves Me:
Mommy: Who's this?
Pumpkin with Big Smile: Jesus.
Mommy: Who's this?
Pumpkin with Big Smile: Jesus.
4 comments:
Wow! I have advice to give. :) I feel like such an old pro (ha ha).
My oldest boy was 21 months when baby #2 came along. Instead of moving him into a bed (we knew he wasn't ready) we just borrowed a second crib from friends. We had 2 cribs going (in separate rooms) until my oldest was just past 3 years old. He happily went to a twin bed then. My youngest boy then got his crib. Just another idea to consider.
Neither of my boys knows how to blow his nose (ages 2 and 3.5). I think it is a pretty difficult skill for them to grasp.
For rinsing we just get the boys to look up, way up (and tilt their heads back) to avoid getting water in their eyes. I'm thinking of putting a cute poster up on the ceiling so they have something to distract them. Sometimes my DH will hold my son over the tub (just his head) while he's lying down on Dh's lap and rinse him that way. My son loves that.
Ooh, I saw all these questions and marked this post to come back to when I had some time. :o)
First of all, let me be real up front. I don't think there is an *easy* way of transitioning to a real bed. Much is going to depend upon your sleeping habits, the temperament of your wee one, your time of rising, your morning mood, etc. What works like a charm for one, may be your greatest disaster!
The older they are the easier it is. I think Sheila's idea of borrowing a crib is great if you have that option. We never did.
We always used the twin size mattress as step one out of the crib. We either put it on the floor, the bottom of a bunk bed or on bed rails with just a "bunky" board underneath (instead of a box springs with all its height). The difference has simply depended on what we had available and where other children were sleeping at the time of the transition. We have also used bed rails for ours when we put them in the mattress, so they wouldn't roll off at night. (Ours was just a single bed rail, so we kept the other side of the bed up against a wall.) We just threw that bed rail away when we moved. After five children - it was more than a bit raggedy!
*Follow* whatever bed time routine you already have established, or establish one - fast. Each of mine has had a lullaby tape that was only listened to at bed time. Playing that when they moved out of the crib helped them realize that this new place was a sleepy time place, too!
My children were never big on a binky, so it was always pretty easy to transition away from it at about six months. So I'm not too up on this, but *I* would not take it away until you had the bed transition down. I just don't think it's fair to hit a baby with too many changes at once. We don't like that much chaos, why should they.
LOL ~ screaming shampoo baby brings back memories. My mom used to know - over the phone - when I was bathing my baby daughter (the one now 11 yo). You could hear her screaming bloody murder a mile away. One thing I've found that helps is letting them control the water. A really big cup that Pumpkin can scoop up the water with himself and dump it on his own head may work. Then again -- it might not! LOL
Nose blowing -- okay, this isn't pretty but it's worked with mine. Mine have been able to blow by about 2. To teach this trick - you have to do away with tissues. They can't visualize what you're doing when you're hiding behind a Kleenex. I *DO* keep the box handy to wipe our upper lips as we play this game. Also, this is best tackled when they do *not* need to blow their nose.
I just make a big game of it by taking a big breath through my mouth, wrinkling up my nose and blowing. Then I see if I can get them to do it (just like making faces with sound effects). I keep repeating that we're "blowing our nose." Then we wipe our noses (or - err- upper lip). Some of mine love to make a run to the trash can after each tissue use too. Whatever keeps them happy and learning the game.
Once I can get them to grasp the concept (after playing the nose blowing game several times), I introduce blowing into a tissue. I show how I can make the tissue fly when I blow my nose (which they should now know how to do). After they *fly* the tissue, I show how I can squeeze my nose and blow. I hold the tissue, and get them to blow (while I hold down one nostril); ditto the other side.
Always emphasize mouth breathing because once he really *needs* to blow he won't be able to breathe in through the nose.
I hope I haven't bored you to tears, Kimberly. This is a lot of detail for such a basic task, but I'm not sure how to explain it otherwise.
I'll be praying for your sweet family during this transition time. It's good your getting the bed situation handled before the baby arrives. Wee ones, while excited about a new brother or sister, can feel displaced so easily.
Hugs to you! and Pumpkin! :o)
Dear Sheila and Jodi,
Many thanks for your comments and ideas. It must be nice to be such old pros. ;) Hee hee hee! Not that you're old, by no means.
I think experience is such an important thing,as is perspective. I'm trying to work on perspective myself. Actually, my asking everyone for advice is a pretty big step for me. I'm one to usually try and tackle everything by myself. I'm sure glad you all are here. Too bad you can't all be physically closer! Although, I'm not sure if I want to hang out at Jodi's on nose blowing lesson day... Eew! Just kidding! It's a great idea. I'll also be working on your tub tips. Many thanks!
I'm not sure if you'll see this as this post has gotten buried near the bottom of the page now, but I wanted to comment on the binky dilemma.
My first born was VERY attached to his binkies. He went through several.
When he was either 3 or 4, I told him one day, "When this binky has to get thrown out, I'm not going to buy you another one. This is your last one, so take good care of it." He had taken to biting holes in them, he was so old for one, lol.
That afternoon he bit a hole in it. It was tiny, but large enough so he couldn't get any suction. I took him with me to throw it out after his napt. I thought the transition to no binky would be SO hard but it wasn't at all. He knew it wasn't suckable and that I wasn't going to buy him another one. It worked well for us and as he got older, I should say, he only got it at naptime.
I always bought good binkies too, for proper teeth development-don't buy the cheap ones!
I don't have any advice on the crib to bed question. Our boys would get off the beds and would have to be disciplined until they learned to stay on. It didn't take long.
The girls had little crib beds-you know the kind I mean? They each had one until we could afford a bunkbed.
joanna
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